Faulty fridge on Hotpoint FFA97 approx 18 months old

[saintjanet]

The fridge part of my frost free fridge freezer stopped working yesterday.

I did move it on Saturday to clean under it but was careful when doing so.

Yesterday morning i used some milk which did not appear to be as cold as usual, the temperature was set at 3 degrees cent and was still showing this on the panel door but there is a small arrow pointing upwards and flashing which according to the handbook comes on when the fridge is trying to reach a lower temperature.

It is still flashing today and still showing 3 degrees although there is no cold air whatsoever in the fridge.

The freezer section is at its normal temperature of -18 and working as usual.

Could I have damaged anything by moving it or is there a thermostat that could have gone wrong.

My normal repairer is of course on holiday for Christmas.

Any help or advise most welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Janet

 

[jj4091]

Is there a reset button?

 

[saintjanet]

Is there a reset button?

I will have to check,though i have no idea where it may be.Will look in the handbook,thanks.

 

[saintjanet]

I have not been able to find a reset button,the repair place is closed till the second,so i have put the fridge on holiday mode with nothing in it and left the freezer to work as normal.

Just hope no further harm comes to the fridge in the meantime!!,fingers crossed,I think it is a bad advert for hotpoint for a problem to happen so soon, plus this is the second one we have had, the first one we ordered had problems and had to be replaced the week after delivery.we had our old one 14 years and only had a thermostat!!

 

[saintjanet]

This has now turned into a right cock up,the firm we bought it from finally returned to work and suggested we had overfilled the thing and the air could not circulate,they said to empty the freezer part and leave it for seven hours,switch it on again and it would be ok.

Some hope,the freezer is now knackered too and we are awaiting ,a no doubt expensive,visit from Hotpoint.

Wish i had not bothered with frost free now!! not many people seem to know much about them,hence my lack of replies.Wont bother buying Hotpoint again for that matter,will try a BOSCH next time.

 

[zojo]

Hi

sorry to be cheeky we are having the same problem with ours and its about the same age as yours did you have any joy in resolving the problem?

Thanks

zoe

 

[JohnD]

Frost free are not so reliable so it is worth getting the extended guarantee.

Sometimes the internal defrost tubes block with ice, and by switching the unit off and giving it an old-fashioned defrost you can get it working again.

If the defrost heater has failed it needs repairing.

I got a Bosch one 2 and a half years ago from work, so far no probs, but I have extended warranty just in case. I have given it a manual defrost and cleaned out the drip tray at the back once, when I thought it was time for a thorough clean. I can't remember the make of the old frost-free FF, but it went wrong after a few years, and at the time i didn't know the defrost trick.

 

[saintjanet]

Hi Zoe, Well, the engineer came and guess what fridge freezer now working. He explained that all food in the freezer should be sealed, that is, no half open boxes or ice cubes wih no lid. The reason for this is that the freezer draws all moisture from any food that isnt sealed and clogs the freezer element at the back , this in turn switches off the cooling in the fridge. Really, the shop who supplied the frost free fridge freezer should in fact advise you of this when you purchase it.

Anyway, the best thing to do is empty you freezer, switch off, defrost for several hours, then start the fridge freezer up again.

I was advised to do this by the shop where I bought the fridge freezer but foolishly I did not leave it plugged in for long enough for the freezer to hit the correct temperature before the fridge then starts cooling again.

Good Luck.

 

[zojo]

Hi

Thank you for your reply i will give it ago and keep my fingers crossed that it is this

Thanks

Zoe

 

[saintjanet]

Hi

Thank you for your reply i will give it ago and keep my fingers crossed that it is this

Thanks

Zoe

It would have been interesting to know the outcome if you did try it,it may help others in the future.

 

[zojo]

Hi

Thank you for your reply i will give it ago and keep my fingers crossed that it is this

Thanks

Zoe

It would have been interesting to know the outcome if you did try it,it may help others in the future.

Hi

Plugged it back in today and fingers crossed so far so good seems to have worked

Thanks for your help

Zoe