Hotpoint Combination 8564 f/f – Inside fridge leaking water

[o_ptic]

Hi all, I have an oldish (14 years) hotpoint fridge freezer (combination 8564) which has started to develop a problem of collecting water below the left side salad/crisp tray.
I have also confirmed that the leak off pipe is clear and without obstruction.
Looking in the fridge last night I noticed that the refrideration panel screwed inside the back of the fridge was a little icy; I removed the 3 holding screws and also noticed that ice was forming around the rear of the panel?

Could this be a thermostat issue or someting more serious?

many thanks for all the help.

[kwatt]

Re: Hotpoint Combination 8564 f/f – Inside fridge leaking wa

Either overfreezing and a thermostat issue or, more likely given the age, an insulation failure in the rear wall and unrepairable to all intents and purpose.

HTH

K.

[o_ptic]

Re: Hotpoint Combination 8564 f/f – Inside fridge leaking wa

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the information; Are the thermostats generally available as a 1st try? And I guess the over freezing a potential symptom of the stat issue?
The fridge is not in a rough environment so I’m not convinced that the insulation is damaged; I’ll have a good search and confirm if there are any splits or dents.

I quite often repair tumble driers for friends and relatives and can test them quite easily, do the fridge stats work in the same way and if so are the test’able?

Cheers

Steve

[kwatt]

Re: Hotpoint Combination 8564 f/f – Inside fridge leaking wa

It’s Kenneth. 😉

If the stat was faulty on a machine that age it would either cool continuously or not at all, it’s a simple, dumb, on/off. So, if it’s not an iceberg at the back and the tomatoes are like cannonballs then it’s most probably option two I’m afraid.

Insulation breaks down through time and water ingress and it happens to them all eventually unless it’s really well sealed. Notoriously Hotpoint’s are not well sealed and the fridge freezers especially suffered from premature insulation failure, usually in the base though to be fair.

I would guess that it’s solid ice you have, as per this article which will rule out air ingress. With that out the way, if everything in the fridge seems at a reasonable temperature and not frozen then you’re pretty much only left with one explanation unless someone knows any quirks with these machines that I don’t. However a stat will most likely, IMO, not cure the problem and would simply be a waste.

HTH

K.

[o_ptic]

Re: Hotpoint Combination 8564 f/f – Inside fridge leaking wa

Hi Kenneth (sorry about the name error!)

The fridge is pretty much workings as you would expect! The tommys are kept nice and cold…I would have noticed a small cannonball in my sandwich I’m sure?
I noticed this morning that there is a very thin clear skin of ice over the evaporator at the back of the fridge.

When you mentioned insulation I initially thought of the hard plastic inside the fridge but guess this could also refer to a door seal…maybe?

Thinking also about what I noticed whilst checking; a very small amount of ice is building up on the evaporator and then defrosting (perhaps from the leak? This is running down the front face missing the drip tray channel and sitting at the base of the fridge.

Oh well, I’ll check to see if any leaks are apparent but suspect that the doorway to fridge heaven is about to open 🙂

Whilst I have a very knowledgeable person looking at my thread would you recommend the Samsung range of fridge/freezers? The Wife has seen a RL41ECPS model (without the drinks dispenser), nice unit but are they reliable?

Thanks again for your help!

Steve

[kwatt]

Re: Hotpoint Combination 8564 f/f – Inside fridge leaking wa

Hi Steve,

No, the insulation is the foam between the inner and outer skins. It’s a blown foam full of little pockets of air to isolate the heat outside from the cool inside. What happens is that this breaks down eventually and the pockets collapse. this happens especially quickly if the foam gets water into it and on those old units where the pipes are through a hole it is a relatively common sight as you get condensation round the pipework, the water seeps into the insulation and you get an insulation failure.

Heat from outside air gets to meet the cool air in the fridge, condensation occurs and you get ice.

You can refoam them but it means cutting the back off getting ALL the affected foam dug out and then refoaming, then resealing it all. I’ve done it, it’s not a nice job at all which takes ages as you have to leave it open at room temp to dry out for a day or two as well. And, in my experience you’ve got a 50/50 chance of a successful repair at best. That’s why we don’t do it.

Samsung, I’d suggest a search of the fridge forum. 😉

K.

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