Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

[vince69619]

I have bought a new thermostat for my RLA30 from the online shop here, it’s the right one no question of that but things are worse since I fitted the new stat.

The symptoms are the compressor running all the time. No obvious damage to the door seal and before I changed the stat, slapping the top of the fridge would usually cause the stat to drop out and turn off the compressor.

Now I have the new stat in there it never turns off. I am 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} sure the wiring is on correctly, I haven’t connected the live and switched output to the ground points, that would give these symptoms. The grill at the back of the fridge has ice on it and I put a thermometer inside and it read 4.5 degrees after an hour of sitting in there.

I did take the cover off again and disconnect the switched return from the stat and the compressor didn’t run, so in terms of wiring if the stat goes open circuit the compressor will stop.

Could I have bought a bad stat? I was very careful to not stress the capillary tube when I rolled it out to feed it down the guide tube.

Vince.

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Question first – why did you change the stat in the first place??

[vince69619]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Because reading the forum it seemed that if the door seal wasn’t faulty the stat was the next likely cause of the compressor running all the time. The fact that a slap on the top where the stat is located would immediately cause the compressor to stop suggested to me that the contacts on the stat (probably a microswitch) may have started to stick together.

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

I note that you changed the stat on this some while ago in an earlier post. What you need to establish is if the appliance is getting down to the correct temperature first. If the temperature in the larder fridge gets to below freezing then you likely have a stat fault, however if the lowest it reaches is +4.5C you may have a shortage of refrigerant or problematic compressor. The stat uses a bellows arrangement to activate the switching not a microswitch.

[vince69619]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Thanks for your answers, the stat change wasn’t a while ago it was two days ago. The 4.5C was in the middle of the compartment and I can hear a swirling refrigerant noise every few seconds if that’s a clue at all. About a week ago we did have frozen drink in the next shelf down from where I put the stat, so it’s a bit inconclusive to someone who doesn’t work on these things all the time.

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

The swishing is a good indication that you are short of refrigerant. You need a fridge engineer not a diy job.

[vince69619]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Hello,

Thanks for that info, I have a friend who can sort that out for me. I don’t know why I didn’t think of him before!

Best regards
Vince.

[vince69619]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Things have changed with regards to my fridge, it has started to freeze the soft drink and I put a thermostat in the same rack as the drinks and it went below zero (that’s the lowest it goes, it’s an electronic room stat). So am I back to my original question? Is the fridge thermostat faulty?

My friend who can recharge the gas (if it is that) has asked how much charge it takes. Can I find this out for an RLA30P?

Thanks so much.
Vince.

– Just checked and the stat is set to 1 out of 5 so it’s not set wrongly.

[vince69619]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

In the interests of fault finding I have done some more testing.

How long should it take a fridge stat to open if it’s exposed to freezer temps? It’s taking 8 minutes for the new stat to open if I put the capillary tube in my 4 star freezer.

Vince.

[admin]

Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Hi vince

If you have a mate who can regas if it’s needed then wouldn’t it be far easier to get the repair completed by him which will sort out the problem.

Bryan

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Look I appreciate that you just want an answer to the problem but you are giving conflicting information. Earlier on you stated that it would only go down to +4.5 degrees now you are saying it goes below freezing. So to explain, the thermostat sensing element is looking for a temperature around -25C which if the gas charge is correct. Once reached the unit goes into defrost and all ice drops off. If however the sensed temperature is say only -15C the unit will run constantly and freeze up things and produce ice on the back internal wall. So first off using the replacement thermostat does the appliance switch off and at what temperature if it does??

[vince69619]

Re: Hotpoint RLA30 running all the time after stat change

Sorry for the conflicting information but that’s because it’s changing it’s behavior, I can’t help that and am telling you about it in order that I can try to understand as this is not by normal field.

Thanks for the explanation about the temp ranges, with the new stat it never switches off so that takes us back to low gas. Does anyone know what the charge is for an RLA30?
Thanks for helping.

Vince.

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