BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge – puzzling behaviour –

[cfam]

Well this morning I went to the larder fridge and noted that the milk was warmer than I expected (‘:(‘); it was bought yesterday and was put in the fridge within ten minutes as my local supermarked it just around the corner. Strange I thought then I decided to check the freezer compartment. I had noticed yesterday when I took out some ice cubes that they were – for want of a word “slippery.” I noticed also that ice – from condensation – that normally appears on the drawers had melted. The food items in the freezer also appear partially defrosted. Mmm, I thought looks like the freezer has packed-up.(‘:cry:’). What to do! What’s the cost? And how much time! (Along with my broken glasses and a near-dead car battery this would be the “third” bad event. My Mother says these events occur in threes!) Call an engineer – on a Sunday! Well I like my Sundays so I’m sure our Engineers like theirs also. Quick search on the internet revealed loads of horror stories for repairing fridge-freezers. Their operating complexity does not lend them to DIY solutions. So thought it would be best to bite the bullet and buy a new one (‘:?’) But which one?! (‘:idea:’) Ah-ha, I thought. The last time I had a problem with domestic whitegoods was when my washing machine failed. The diagnosis and replacement part was from some website called whitegoods. So after some fumbling around with Google, I find myself back here; and pleasantly surprised to find my account is still valid.

I thought let’s see what advice the site has for replacing my fridge-freezer. I have read all the articles about the technical workings of the fridge-freezer; the declining quality of whitegoods; the nefarious behaviour of the price comparison websites (my friend and I have different opinions on these – he says they save money; I just think they are another search engine that point to other search engines and so are a waste of my time); and sadly I note that independant retailers are now few and far between so unlikely to be realistic to act as a supplier. (In the small town where I live only the family butcher, bakers and the Co-op remain – but I fear their days are numbered now that Tesco has opened a new superstore at the edge of town. Oh to compare with the small trader market in France from where I have recently returned from after a businees trip.) However, I digress.

————————————————–
Some basic facts:

Make – BEKO,
Model – LC 120,
Capacity – 4.4 cu.ft
Age ~ 5 or 6 years (was bought as an emergency replacement)
Description: Silver finish, Larder fridge (with freezer at the bottom) each approximately 2.0 cu.ft.
Previous problems – none – it has worked reliability since its purchase.
Original cost ~ £300.

Problem – as inidcated above – the fridge and freezer compartments not mainting optimum temperatures.

Observations – ice in the freezer compartment has built-up over the years.

Solutions – could simply defrosting get things working again?

————————————————–

From the reference material provided I judged either the thermstat may have failed – in which case this should be a DIY replacement; the defrost cycle has got stuck so related to the thermostat or the compressor has failed – in which case a new fridge-freezer is needed.

I understand that fault finding for frost-free (which I assume my model is classified) is notoriously difficult and no guarentee that it can be repaired. The result is that the cost of the investigation could be as much as third or half the cost of a new fridge-freezer. So to short cut the situation and save on time and money I accept that a new fridge-freezer is probably the optimal solution. Fortunately, money is not a problem as I maintain a household kitty for such emergencies as they arise. I reckon a budget of £350 would be sufficient.

BUT – I have just returned from making a cup of tea and I can hear the faint hum of the compressor on the fridge-freezer. So what does this mean – is this a false dawn; can the fish be saved from ruination 😯 ; will the green peas be safe and frozen :?; are last year’s crop of blackberries still good enough for the jam I have still haven’t got around to making :wink:; and do I really want to know what the green and red thing is 😳 …. (maybe the crushed remains of chilli – a case for CSI WhiteGoods UK? 8) )

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge – puzzling behaviour

Firstly do this for me and report back – when the compressor is running can you hear a hissing in the fridge compartment or is it more of a gurgling?? If you touch the condenser (the black thing on the back of the cabinet outside) does it go from hot at one end to cold at the other or is it just cold across the thing with the compressor running??

[cfam]

Re: BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge – puzzling behaviour

Hello Dales-Electronic,

Just read your message. Unfortunately, I have also just started to cook me dinner, so the kitchen is awash with sizzling sounds.

The compressor is not active at the moment but I have made the following observations:

The compressor unit (the big black object at the bottom) is very warm; The gridded black panel, at the moment there is no temperature difference but I suppose that’s because the compressor is not operating at the moment.
The water in the ice-cube tray is now solid when compared to this morning; but I don’t consider this to be a reliable indicator if the freezer compartment temperature started well below zero to begin with;
The fast-freeze light is still switched-on from this morning.

Unfortunately, I have no fridge thermometer so I cannot tell if the fridge is back to operating temperature.

Will report back as soon as dinner’s cooked so that I can listen out for the compressor.

[cfam]

Re: BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge -> BrandT

Well, my fellow readers – I have been wondering why the instruction manual refers only to the fridge and not the freezer compartment. Lo and behold it is because it is the wrong instruction manual 😳 ❗ ❗ ❗

The fridge-freezer is in fact – now that I have removed the poster covering the manufacturer’s name – a BrandT Model COA-380-AU.

Now that I have read the correct user manual. I still believe the problems that have arisen still stand. However, the manufacturer does state that should ice build in the freezer grow to be > 5 mm thickness then the freezer should be defrosted. Well, it is with 😳 great embarassment 😳 that the thickness of ice is more like 50 mm at the top, and around 5 – 10 mm elsewhere. Therefore an emergency defrost is called for.

Following the manufacturers instructions, where feasible, I have packed the fridge with the more valuable frozen foods; and shut the door. Switched off the power. The fridge being in essence an thermally insulated cool box should slow down the rate of defrosting. The less valuable food stuffs will be disposed.

Noting that water and electricity are deadly combination – I shall not be using a hairdryer (I don’t own one) nor using a sharp implment (as the good advice here states) nor an electric fan heater (same as a hairdryer) but simple thermodynamics – a pan of hot water placed on a chopping board, the whole assembly placed on the middle shelf unit; the freezer door left open. Should take a couple of hours for the ice to loosen up.

[cfam]

Re: BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge – puzzling behaviour

Well, the freezer compartment is now fully defrosted. I have noted what appear to be the thermocouples are located on the top panel. I let the freezer compartment dry out. The door is shut, power is switched on, set the temperature controller to its maximum value (6) and set the fast freeze option. And … nothing appears to happen, i.e., the compressor unit remains silent. 😥 😥

————– correct model

Make – BrandT
Model – COA 380 AU,

————–

[cfam]

Re: BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge – puzzling behaviour

Hello Dales-Electronic,

Some good news, following my return home this evening, I noted that the freezer compartment had a thin film of ice on the tray rails.

I now have enough information to answer your questions:

When the compressor is running:

– I can hear a gurgling sound when I stick my head inside the freezer
– I can hear a loud hissing sound when I shut the door – I guess this is due equalisation of air pressure
– the radiator grill at the back – this is warm around the edge and cooler near the centre
– the compressor unit is warm when running
– I hear a faint gurgling sound at the rear of the unit

Alas, however, I fear that the fish is ruined, the peas are not frozen; the blackberries are a soggy mess and the green and red thing went to the bin. A small price compared to the cost of new freezer.

I shall continue to monitor the freezer’s operating performance over the next few days – just to be sure.

[kwatt]

Re: BEKO LC120 4.4 cu.ft Larder Fridge – puzzling behaviour

Running, not cooling probably means a compressor failure and, given it’s a cheap Beko fridge that’s four years old or so, it’s really not worth the bother.

Definitely some sort of refrigerant fault that you won’t be able to do yourself unless you happen to have gassing and brazing or lockring gear handy.

HTH

K.

[cfam]

Re: BrandT fridgefreezer – puzzling behaviour

Sadly I must conclude that the freezer unit has failed. Yesterday evening I placed a tray of ice cubes into the freezer. This morning I noted that the water had turned to ice but on checking the freezer compartment when I returned home this evening the ice had turned to water.

Thank you kwatt for your analysis. (Although I would add that the unit is not a Beko but a BrandT – my fault I was looking at the wrong manual – but I fear that your conclusion must stand.)

So the search for a new fridge-freezer begins – well, after a dash up North to visit my Mother – unfortuantely ill and complaining that the dishwasher doesn’t work properly;visit optician to get new frames to replace my broken ones; try to get my car to the garage – it has a flat battery – for its MOT; bad month so far; dash abroad for a business meeting for a week; on the return stopover in London for a one day meeting; then return South; so looks like mid-November before the review and search can start.

[Author]

Posts