changing thermostat in fridge freezer

wellused

Anyone have any experience in changing a thermostat in a Hotpoint Iced Diamond fridge freezer as the fridge section of mine seems to be getting too cold even though it is turned right down to number 1 on the dial? I see that I can buy a replacement thermostat for around £16 but is it just a case of unscrewing one part and connecting the new part? Much appreciate any help.:)

garethgas

I've done mine about 3 or 4 times now but its a Zanussi.
Just remove the plug from the mains, remove thermostat housing and note the wire connections.
The fun bit is following the long copper wire thats connected to the phial. This can be a bit fiddly as its all hidden away and often goes outside the cabinet but its quite DIY able.
Let us know how you get on
Good luck

Avoriaz

What do you mean by too cold?

Between 2 and 4 degrees C is probably ideal.

Have you measured the temperature?

Unless you find some items starting to freeze, maybe the temperature is correct.

wellused

The fridge freezer is situated in a tall built in unit it has the fridge section above the freezer, the last one that we had which was housed in the same unit had a problem where the fridge compartment used to have ice forming along the top and it used to freeze anything stored in that area, I replaced the fridge freezer with a new one which has worked OK for several years but is now showing signs of doing the same as the first one with ice forming along the back at the top of the fridge compartment. It hasn't as yet started freezing items but I still think that the formation of ice is pointing to it malfunctioning,. I am guessing that it is a faulty thermostat?

victor2

It's not just a case of years of dust and dirt building up on the heat exchanger element is it? Could you just pull the fridge out and clean the back (where the element may well be)? Don't know if it would cause a build up of ice, but it would certainly make the fridge less efficient.

wellused

I'll have a look but the one which was displaying the same characteristics which I previously replaced was clean but still too cold, I think it maybe the fact that it is in a cupboard and getting too hot maybe, but then again lots of fridge freezers are situated in units of one kind or the other.

Avoriaz

Does the ice build up a little and then melt or does it keep building up to a considerable thickness?

As fas as I am aware some ice is normal . The fridge will occasionally heat the rear wall slightly to melt the ice. The water will flow away via a small drain tube and be evaporated outside.

I think your first step should be to buy or borrow a fridge thermometer and check the actual temperature at various heights within the fridge section.

wellused

The ice looks like rain droplets frozen and doesn't thaw just in the top six inches or so. The thermostat is turned right down as far as it will go.

Avoriaz

Provided the ice does not build up that sounds normal. Our fridge often has lots of ice droplets on the rear wall. Provided they disappear and then reappear that is the fridge behaving normally. The rear wall needs to be at or below freezing to keep the air and contents at about 2 to 4 degrees C.

Again, you need to check the actual temperature with a thermometer.