Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

[Pigpen4]

This machine had completed an auto defrost (I suspect, because the tray on the comp was full of warm water), but it didn’t start to cool back down again.
Pretty much all of the food in the freezer had defrosted, with just a few bits of meat that were partially defrosted.
Fridge was warm, too.

The big capacitor at the bottom, near the compressor, was OK, as was the wiring, so I had a look at the PCB, which appeared normal.

After putting it back together, and squeezing the connectors before fitting them to the PCB, it started going again about 3 or 4 minutes after I had plugged it back in.

15 minutes later the compressor was still running and it was all cooling down nicely inside, so I believe the comp is not at fault ??

❓ Will a PCB change prevent this from happening next defrost, or might I have cured it by tightening the connectors?

She’s a good customer, who spreads my name about, so I’d hate for her to lose another freezer load of food if I got it wrong!

Thanks in advance,
Pigpen.

[HotDog]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

I heard on the grape vine the boards are a problem that may not come as a suprise

[gandh1]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

got a cust i reffered to hp with one of these, has had new internals, revised board, and since out of warranty a “defrost heater mod kit”, at a labour cost of £145 quid. just had new kitchen fitted so been switched off for 72 hrs and fridge failing has re-ocurred. weve stopped selling this model as they are so shoddy and even hotpoint dont seem to know how to fix them even when you pay them… AVOID!

Edit PS hotdog i dont htink its just the boards. i cant see how they can just fail, without other more serious issues leading it to happen! A sort of cause and effect issue… pcbs are relatively static components and only burn out due to external factors i.e dampness or other components malfunctioning

[Pigpen4]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

Thanks for that, chaps.
I’m going to fit a new pcb this afternoon, but not with confidence that the problem won’t rear its ugly head again, unfortunately.

Stupid Hotpoint fridges! – D’Oh!!

[loopey]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

its usually the black connecter on the pcb near the relay that gives trouble
just crimp it up 🙂

[Pigpen4]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

Well, the new PCB’s fitted, with connectors squeezed up again, and I’m just awaiting the outcome.

It hadn’t reached anywhere near the correct temperatures, she tells me, since it kicked back into life during my first visit.

She also tells me she’s never been able to keep icecream in it, since new, as it didn’t get cold enough. (I’d have been getting it looked at for that, myself!) Unless that’s just her excuse for eating the whole punnet?! lol.

If it doesn’t work, she’s going for a new one.
What would you recommend, Gandh1, that is also 174cm high by 55cm wide? (It’s in its own compartment in her fitted kitchen, so size is important).

[don]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

Hi Pigpen

Not many 55cm wide units out there nowadays in the 50:50 split of reasonable quality. Apart from the FFA52 your customer has there is the non frost version RF52, Bosch KGV28V01GB, Zanussi ZRB224NWO along with a couple of Lecs, after these there are just one or two Beko`s in the branded stock lines.

Don

[Pigpen4]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

Thanks, Don.
Which of these would you recommend for reliability, please?
Pigpen.

[don]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

It’s no secret I’m a big Bosch fan 😉 after that I’d go with the Hotpoint RFA52 the static version of the machine your’e customer currently has.

Don

[gandh1]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

im with don, h/p rfa52 and bosch kgv28, both are stalwarts of the family sized 55 range. rfa has larger freezer tho, and h/p bins arent as brittle when frozen as the bosch ones, not to mention fact her old shelves and bins from the ffa would be useful spares.

beko cda 554 is the other option, but its got wire shelves.

avoid the zanussi, its chinesey, and basically a fridgemaster. with same cheapy low quality internal mouldings and plastic trays.

PS every ffa52 weve sold, if the icecream is kept in the top half of the freezer, it never seems to stay frozen enough, plus if the doors have been rehinged/reversed, it also causes issues from day one if the freezer door doesnt get perfectly aligned…

[Pigpen4]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

Thanks, chaps.
I’ve recommended the RFA52 to her, as the pcb didn’t fix things, so she just wants to replace it now.
Interestingly, the doors have been reversed, so that could have had an input.
The machine’s standing on its head in my shed at the moment. I’ll invert it in a few weeks’ time, or whenever I get the chance after that, and have a play around with the door alignment, to see if it makes any difference.
Cheers,
Pigpen.

[gandh1]

Re: Hotpoint F/F FFA52P didn’t restart after defrost

Pigpen4 wrote:Thanks, chaps.
I’ve recommended the RFA52 to her, as the pcb didn’t fix things, so she just wants to replace it now.
Interestingly, the doors have been reversed, so that could have had an input.
The machine’s standing on its head in my shed at the moment. I’ll invert it in a few weeks’ time, or whenever I get the chance after that, and have a play around with the door alignment, to see if it makes any difference.
Cheers,
Pigpen.

no idea if it will make a serious difference now, but ive always been wary of it since a h/p “super” engineer went out to 2x ff187b we sold with “warped doors” – apparently it was a batch error, which would explain why portway had them on offer i guess, and new doors would fix them, well, both had been replaced and not been alerted of any issues, then i had a ffa with a dented door that had the doors replaced by hp, and it wouldnt stay cold enough, checked it out, and noticed gap on LHS was about 2mm and gap on RHS hinge was about 8mm, so realigned and not a prob. then we got a call to a ffa52 with identical probs where the cust husband had rehung doors on LHS, no gap issue but they were about 3mm too far to the lhs, not allowing a proper seal on the rhs…

well worth a go i reckon…

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