Fridge icing and won't drain

hubb

Bogwoppitt said:

Had a Hotpoint Mistral for 15 years, which I believe is a record for a Hotpoint FF. I was unlucky/lucky enough for it to fail inside warranty and the repair guy from Hotpoint didn't have a scooby and so replaced everything that he thought it could be whilst I hovered and watched, then he left the old parts - so I got a set of working baffles, an evap fan, thermistors and all sorts of goodies. It's not all that hard, I'm female and managed to maintain it myself after that.

Well I don't have any spare parts or intend to try and find out how to repair it myself. It just swings ridiculously between freezing and too warm by adding or removing food in the thing. As we have never really liked it, too small and noisy for one, it might be worth cutting our losses and trashing it for a more quiet, decent brand with better storage space.

silvercar

I had a similar problem with a different brand. Tech guy suggested defrosting it completely and leaving it empty and turned off for 2-3 days. There could easily be a build up of ice behind the back wall that you can't see. You aren;t defrosting it for long enough for all the ice to melt away. You will know when it has completely defrosted because the back wall won't feel cold to touch.
The noise could be the fan hitting ice behind the scenes also.

hubb

Well defrosted it for a couple of hours (not practical to do this for 3 days in a hot summer as food will ruin) and its still not getting cool enough inside, despite turning the dial up to almost 5 (it usually gets cold enough around 3.5) but this weather is unusually warm. I just don't know why the outside temp should affect the thing. 

helensbiggestfan

During hot spells like this I freeze a couple of those gel packs you use for picnics and pop them in the fridge.  It helps keep the fridge cool without having to turn up the dial too high because like you I've found that If I turn up the dial I get issues with stuff freezing.  

It also helps use less electricity.  😂. 

If you don't have gel packs you could use frozen bottles of water. 

Petriix

My Hotpoint fridge-freezer had a heating element wrapped round the cooler. When it blew the whole thing iced up which stopped the fan from blowing cool air into the fridge; causing pretty similar symptoms. I was able to replace the heater and it has worked fine ever since.

ElephantBoy57

grumbler said:

The only way is to clean the plastic pipe thoroughly and to do this regularly to stop it getting blocked again. I believe that using some bleach can kill the mould inside. For cleaning I think you need something more flexible.

My 18 year old LG GR-252SBD  fridge freezer is icing up at the back. I have totally defrosted but still doing the same.

I will do it again and check the drain hole. Bleach, rather than poking something down the hole? But where would it drain to, I haven't seen any puddles in the kitchen.

cymruchris

When my fridge started to raise in temperature to about 9 or 10 degrees - I found the cause of the problem was an ice build up behind the back wall of the freezer compartment. It’s a frost free fridge freezer - and the ice was solid block in form behind the back trim as you look in from the front. Removed the shelves - undid the 6 screws holding on the top plate - took off the plastic cover - and there was a sheet of solid ice an inch thick. Got to work removing it all, put it all back together and ever since it’s been running at 3 degrees or just under for the fridge and -20 for the freezer. It’s been fine for about 2 months now. Not quite the same problem but might be the same solution. Search your fridge model to see if you can remove the back trim of the freezer easily. (It was my freezer affecting my fridge) 

hubb

My problem is a thick block of ice building on the back of the inside of the fridge and the dial is almost on 5 which is maximum. Its constantly working hard and the temp inside is getting higher, to around 15 degrees. Dam this sodding hot, muggy weather.

ElephantBoy57

hubb said:

My problem is a thick block of ice building on the back of the inside of the fridge and the dial is almost on 5 which is maximum. Its constantly working hard and the temp inside is getting higher, to around 15 degrees. Dam this sodding hot, muggy weather.

I was reading online that the solution is to defrost and then make sure the drain hole is clear by pushing a straw down the hole.

hubb

ElephantBoy57 said:

hubb said:

My problem is a thick block of ice building on the back of the inside of the fridge and the dial is almost on 5 which is maximum. Its constantly working hard and the temp inside is getting higher, to around 15 degrees. Dam this sodding hot, muggy weather.

I was reading online that the solution is to defrost and then make sure the drain hole is clear by pushing a straw down the hole.

Yes, I have done that some time ago. I have also checked the seal but that seems fine.