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Post by victor on Sept 24, 2018 19:40:18 GMT
Anybody know anything about freezers? We've got a Zanussi ZEF 90W1 which we keep in a spare room (aka my office) and it has worked away quietly for about 12 years or so. It's an auto-defrost with 4 drawers and normally keeps everything frozen with no probs.
Lately it's been showing a red light indicating that the temperature has gone below -12 deg C which is the safe temp. I bought a freezer temp gauge, left it inside one the drawers for a few hours then checked it to find it's about -10 deg C. There's nothing wrong that I can see or hear, the red light will go out if I turn the temp down to about -22 deg C bug I get the impression it's running harder to keep the temp down. It's got plenty of space for air to circulate round it, the drawers are not all packed full of food but we've started to systematically empty it in preparation for 
I read that even auto-defrost freezers might have a build up of ice after a while and the best way to fix this is to switch the freezer off for about 12 hours or so to let it completely thaw out. I was also going to pull it out and clean out any dust that has accumulated in there. just wondering if there's any home appliance whizzos who could help me. TIA
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Post by bigjohnsparky on Sept 25, 2018 6:10:34 GMT
Hi Victor mmmmmm
Refrigeration engineer is who you need 😉😂😂😂
Oks have you checked the basics 1st
all air vents internal on evaporator
Don’t forget to check the drain plug which goes from the bottom of freezer at the back so evaporated water can drain to the compressor to evaporate water away.
The condenser which is the black flat rad is not blocked as air flow is needed around this and a certain air space as well ( have you moved position of freezer)
Is the freezer door air tight when closed if not check for any splits in seal.
Is freezer level as this could restrict refrigerant flow
Just a few things to check 1st 😉
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Post by victor on Sept 25, 2018 12:54:14 GMT
Hi BJS and thanks for your comments. Refrigeration Engineers are as hard to find as the proverbial rocking horse "maneure" so I'm explornmg all my options as far as I can. Need to get the freezer out from the wall to have a look at the back but I don't think there's much visible externally. Wonder if they need regassed like car AC systems and whether there's a recharge point on them or whether they just get a whiff of R600A at the fasctory and that's supposed to do them. I expect a freezer to last about 25 years, whots wrong wiv that?
The red light was on last night so I set the controls lower and when I checked it this morning the light was out and my test thermometer was reading minus 20. Might be a faulty pressure switch? I don't want to work the thing too hard, just read yesterday about the number of freezers which cause house fires every year. Scary!
Watch this space.........
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Post by bigjohnsparky on Sept 25, 2018 13:11:00 GMT
Hi ya For a safe quick fix regarding fire a plug in earth leakage breaker as in the ones for when cutting the grass as 100 Milli amp trip only gives you fire protection 32 milli amp trip gives fire and electrocution And if the freezer has a direct short on compressor it will trip the earth leakage breaker but not the plugtop fuse But if the freezer runs with the 32ma breaker plugged inline will give you fire protection just for example Victor rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F272661742361 |
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Post by victor on Sept 25, 2018 19:32:42 GMT
OK BJS, thanks for the tip, need to think about this. There was one of these things wired into my main board for the power feed to the garage but it would trip off periodically for no apparent reason. I asked a spark about it and he said even something like a light bulb failing was enough to trigger these things so seems ultra sensitive. I wanted to employ my fav electrics trouble shooting method ie put a nail across the fuse and watch for the smoke but SWMBO absolutely forbade it
These home freezers are expensive things, especially the auto defrost ones. Tried John Lewis, they used to do 5 year warranty on all their electrical goods but now extra £65 for that and £30 extra for a door kit to change it to open the other way (is it L/H or R/H i don't know how they designate it). Thought I'd made a find with Ikea at around £250 but they were manual defrost. Red light on again tonight after being off all day, checked thermometer and it was minus 10 Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrghhhhh.
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Post by bigjohnsparky on Sept 26, 2018 5:10:38 GMT
Hi Victor High pressure switch is for monitoring the refrigerant with in pipework. Plus moisture if moisture is detected then high pressure switch should drop out. This can be reset with botton on top of switch but this has not happened in your case The red light is only a high internal temp indecator which comes on when internal cabinet temp gets high be it door being left open to empty or refill or just not closed properly Have you checked door gasket for splits and is the door air tight once opened then closed the cold should draw the door closed making harder to pull open. Can you hear the compressor running is it hot to touch carefull they get very hot 🤬 Compressor should only run Power going to it and switched on 😉😂😂😂 when cabinet not at set temp door has to be closed compressor is only a pump to pump refrigerant around circuit plus could be as you say over 10yes old will have will have R22 which is now a forbidden gas re ozone layer items that have R22 refrigerant should be replaced with R23 refrigerant but to complete this job pipework needs to be emptied vac out any trapped air moisture befor regarding with R23 🙁 spheretech.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/R22_Banned-Refrigerant.pdf |
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Post by Dulac on Sept 26, 2018 9:41:20 GMT
Victor - my neighbour is a refrigeration engineer - albeit a commercial one for supermarkets. I'll let him see your original note and if he has any more useful comments I'll let you know.
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Post by victor on Sept 26, 2018 12:49:23 GMT
BJS, thanks for comments and suggestions:
I checked the door seal very carefully with a flashlight and it's in excellent condition, no splits, cracks or any deterioration. The landing for the seal is also clean and clear.
I checked the drain hole at the back behind the bottom drawer and there's no signs of any ice or frost build up.
Can you hear the compressor running is it hot to touch carefull they get very hot 🤬
> Yes I can hear the compressor running and it sounds normal. Can't tell whether it's very hot, still emptying the drawers so I can remove them before trailing the freezer out.
It's odd that the red light seems to come on in the evening and goes out through the night. I have shut off the radiator in the that room when this first started but it doesn't get overly warm anyway (bear in mind I'm in Scotland, none of your southern deep fry here. If we get + 18 of a summer's day the pubs are running out of beer  )
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Post by victor on Sept 26, 2018 12:51:15 GMT
Victor - my neighbour is a refrigeration engineer - albeit a commercial one for supermarkets. I'll let him see your original note and if he has any more useful comments I'll let you know. Thanks Dulac, it will be interesting to hear what he has to say.
I had a neighbour once called Mr Gardener - he was a Plant Engineer |
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Post by victor on Sept 26, 2018 19:07:43 GMT
Calling BJS; Found an electrical gizmo in the house it's a STATUS Model RCS-K09 with the following info on it:
BS5733
230V/50Hz
Max 2900W
433.92MHz
It plugs into an ordinary 13 amp socket and then has a socket for an appliance to plug into.
Is that the correct rating to protect against fire for the freezer?
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Post by bigjohnsparky on Sept 26, 2018 20:04:46 GMT
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Post by victor on Sept 27, 2018 9:45:22 GMT
Yes, that's the exact unit BJS, only thing I don't have the remote. Thanks for clarifying that, I've had a mistrust of all things electrical ever since I poked a knitting needle into a wall socket as a nipper. Big Bang is the phrase that comes to mind |
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Post by bigjohnsparky on Sept 27, 2018 9:53:29 GMT
Hi Victor
Out of curiosity what is the air temp in you freezer room as the outside ambient temp can affect freezer running temp
I’ve been told if the outside air temp is colder than the set temp. freezer will switch itself off.
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Post by bigjohnsparky on Sept 27, 2018 9:55:47 GMT
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Post by Dulac on Sept 27, 2018 19:01:11 GMT
Victor - my neighbour suggested three possible causes: 1. the compressor is on the way out; 2. there is an accumulation of fluff at the back of the freezer; 3. the system is iced-up. In his opinion, the compressor is the most likely cause on a domestic unit which is 12 years old. The cost of replacement and re-gassing, etc. will be close to the cost of a new freezer. It is possible to re-gas a unit but again the cost is relatively expensive and it is a long shot whether it will solve the problem. However, last year my auto defrost tall freezer was playing up (and making an unusual noise), so I turned it off for a few hours (with the door shut) and it was fine when it restarted. Ice had built up on the motor, out of sight. Being a mere 400 miles away, I will get some earplugs against the screams in case you are going to have to let the moths out of your sporran for a new one. |
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