my fridge is boiling hot!.

maxfactor_3

I,ve got an old fridge its about 10 or more years old.It was my grans so no instructions.I,ve had it 6 years but moved it out of room to fit new lino temporarily,now excuse my ignorance I know fridges are supposed to get hot at the back.It has like this cannister thing fitted to the bottom of it at the back,its exposed theres no cover,it looks like a car battery and has very thin metal pipes attached the ones on the left are cold and the ones on the right are hot but its the car battery cannister thing Im worried about,I touched it and its that hot I didnt know if thats right,when I said its hot I mean as hot as putting your hand on a red hot cooker thats just been on.I expect most peoples fridges have a grill on the back so they wouldnt notice.Is it really meant to be as hot as I describe,It is old like I said.Thanks very grateful for replies.

ormus

yes they get hot at the back.
and cold on the inside.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/refrigerator.htm

maxfactor_3

Hi Ormus,thanks for the link Thres,s so many temperatures listed and my friends got a grill on the back of hers but it doesnt even feel warm.yet mine is as hot as a car battery that I cant even touch it barely.Does any one think it could be over heating or maybe it has a fan that doesnt work,if fridges have them.Is that poss?.Thanks again.

kittiwoz

It could be one or a combination of the following: You may run your fridge colder than your friend does, your friend's fridge may be an energy efficient model, your fridge may not be sinking the heat produced as effectively for example if there is not sufficient space around it for convection to carry the heat away or if your friends fridge is a frost-free type which will have a fan to aid convection. Essentially provided the inside of the fridge stays cold and it isn't labouring, i.e. has to be turned up to max even in cool weather and/or you can hear the pump running constantly, then there is no problem. As Ormus says fridges are supposed to get hot at the back. It is only overheating if it can't get rid of the heat it is producing and it is starting to build up and you would know about that because it would be labouring.

maxfactor_3

Thats excellent thanks for your help,I,ve got it in the middle of my living room at moment.It is an anti frost freezer,no frost whatso ever.So if it does this it must have a fan.? It is not labouring at all just when it needs to.If the fan was faulty would I know?Its soooo hot hence my worrying.The black cannister!Im trying to decide if I should dispose of this fridge freezer.But it does the job its supposed to do perfectly well!

babyangel10

Calm Down Dear!

You really can stop worrying - I had one which was about 4 million years old (up until a few months ago when it eventually died on me), but it was the same - a big cannister at the back which was VERY hot. I just ensured that there was nothing behind there that could touch the hot bit - like if you have it on a worktop, make sure there aren't any curtains or whatever that touch it.

There was no fan on mine that I can recall either, unless it was inside the workings of it somewhere.

If you are still worried then pop a quick e mail to the manufacturer, with the model number which you should still find located inside the fridge or behind it, and ask their advice, but honestly, it's fine.

HTH

kittiwoz

I think most of the frost free fridges do have a small fan underneath to force convection but if it isn't labouring then it obviously is working just fine without one. Fridges do get very hot at the back because they are putting out as heat the heat energy taken out of the fridge plus the work energy taken to power the cycle. The more modern ones probably have better coefficients of performance so they don't need as much energy to run them and so also get less hot at the back.

maxfactor_3

youre both brilliant thanks for your advice!.Yes anything that gets hot.Im a worry bee!.