Freezer only going to -5

hubb

We have an Electrolux fridge freezer that we have had for over 14 years. The last 2 years we have noticed the freezer temp becoming unstable and fluctuating between -5 oc to the ideal -10 oc.

Sometimes inside the fridge feels very cold (always been good at keeping salad fresh) but sometimes it has felt like it wasn't even chilled. We have defrosted it, checked for dust, fluff etc and it still never seems to run stable.

Is it time to get a replacement ?

Handsome90

I think the thermostat is faulty. That can easily be replaced by a repairer.

Figment

Firstly, the ideal freezer temperature is -18C

If it has auto-defrost, the temperature will fluctuate when the freezer goes into defrost mode.

That said it sounds like the compressor may be on the way out or low on gas, or possibly the valve that controls the flow of gas between fridge and freezer compartments could be at fault. At 14 years old it may be cheaper in the long run to invest in a new one as, apart from anything else, a new one should be more energy efficient.

Jivesinger

Are you keeping it warm enough?

Seriously though - if it lives in a place where it gets too cold (eg. out in a garage or similar) then it might not bother to switch on the cooling gubbins very often, especially if the only thermostat is on the fridge part.

hubb

It's in our kitchen which has no heating so gets very cold. However, even when it's warm weather and above 10oc it still isn't always right.

Ordered a new one to save on running costs as its an A+ rated. Cost only 32 a year to run. We are also having a radiator fitted in the kitchen this week. Funny enough, years ago when we got the freezer the kitchen was still as cold but it was working fine.

paddyrg

Jivesinger wrote: »

Are you keeping it warm enough?

Seriously though - if it lives in a place where it gets too cold (eg. out in a garage or similar) then it might not bother to switch on the cooling gubbins very often, especially if the only thermostat is on the fridge part.

This is spot on - cheaper fridge/freezers only have one thermostat to cover both halves, and it's located in the fridge part. In cold weather, the fridge stays closer to its target 4 degrees because the world is that or less, so it turns on less, so the freezer doesn't get its chilling. Could be that?

hubb

The kitchen is mostly above 10 degrees so no it can't be that.

Jivesinger

Depending on the climate class of your fridge, it may be designed to work in a minimum temperature of 10 degrees or maybe even 16 degrees! So 10 degrees is OK for some fridge-freezers, but you wouldn't want to go any lower.

Having said that, after 14 years it's maybe just worn out or lost its refrigerant.

It would be worth checking your new one to see what climate class it is, and how warm it expects to be kept!

Spankey

As an ex Zanussi and Hotpoint refrigeration engineer the most likely cause of this fault was worn out door seals, faulty stat,insulation leaking, or if frost free the defrost timer/thermostat/circulating fan or defrost heater not working correctly and allowing ice to build up blocking the frost free air channels.
weak compressor is allways an option too as its 14 years old.
you can check this by taking everything out of the freezer and you should have a good iceline on the veins on the cabinet all the way down to the bottom of the freezer floor. anything less and compressor is weak and probably red hot too as its never switching off because it never reaches switch off temperature.
But door seals were the most common.

hubb

Thanks but to be honest it is past it's best and not worth repairing. I got a new Idiset (best reviews on Appliances Online) which is an A+ rating. Should be cheaper to run. If it were only a few years old I would consider repairing it but not that old.

hubb

I forgot when I bought this fridge freezer 14 years ago I fitted a Savaplug to it. As my new fridge freezer is an A+ energy model, is it worth keeping this plug and fitting it to my new one ?