Freezer problem - any clues??

[MadAlicesDad]

Sorry for the long post but hopefully the info will help someone help me!
I found a pool of water under our Kyoto (Iceland own-brand) KU96FF frost free freezer this evening. The power light and the red 'too warm' warning light were on. When I switched to fast freeze, that light came on too, but the compressor did not kick in.
This is what I did:
I turned the power off for ten minutes and then turned it back on, still nothing.
I removed the front trim to access the PCB (see photo below - note the photo has been rotated 180deg so you can read the PCB) and checked the connectors were tight. When I disconnected the red plug (marked CON1), the fast freeze and warning light started to flash and the compressor kicked in. I reconnected the red plug and the compressor continued to run and the FF/warning lights stopped flashing and stayed on.
I turned off the power, turned it back on and it didn't start; removing the red connector had no effect.
I turned the power off, left it a few mins, turned power on. It didn't start immediately but when I removed the red connector the compressor started and the FF/warning lights flashed as before. I reconnected the plug, the lights stayed on and compressor kept running.

I left it running, the low temp lamp went out after about 10 mins and it's still running now (over an hour later).

Hopefully it's a one off problem that has been fixed, but can anyone suggest what the fault may be and/or why removing the red connector once the power has been off for a few minutes makes it work?

Untitled

• MadAlicesDad
• 26 Jan 2012
• 1

Not sure its related or just pure coincidence but earlier today I had an electrician come and check and connect a circuit I'd installed in my kitchen. At some point the power had been turned off and he'd also done the RCD trip tests etc on the new circuit. Could this have caused the problem even though the freezer is on a different circuit?

TIA Mike

 

[JohnD]

frost-free you say?

this may be nothing to do with it, and I am not a fridge man, but a very common fault is that the cold air ducts in the back of the FF freezer become choked with ice, and block solid. The freezer part then warms up. To free it you have to turn it off and empty it, and leave the doors open in a warm room until it has stopped drippiong, inside and into the dish at the back, and is fully dry. This usually takes at least 24 hours. You can't get at the ducts because they are inside the back lining and frozen into place.

Cook and eat all the food.

 

[MadAlicesDad]

It has now run ok for nearly a day with the compressor kicking in and out as expected. But turn the power off and back on and it won't restart unless left for 3-4 minutes and the red plug is disconnected. The same happens with the white plug also.
I've removed the panel to get access to the chiller; it doesn't look iced up, just a thin layer of 'frost' on the coils. I can see a few wires around the coils - I'm going to see if I can trace the red and white plugs to them to work out what they do.
Mike