Kelvinator B – Fridge part not cooling after manual defrost

[thetrueblue]

Can anyone help me help myself with my Kelvinator Frost Free fridge-freezer please?
On the freezer door, front top, it says Kelvinator B
The details inside read;
CP2913F/9K 3901095 9551 0159
Fridge 160 litres
Freezer 81 litres
The only temperature control is at the top, where there is a also a ‘Super’ button for the fast-freeze. The appliance is in the kitchen.

This is not the problem that has brought me here, but, for the last couple of years we’ve had problems with severe icing-up in the freezer, such that ice (solid -not ‘snowy’) creeps out of the grille in the bottom of the plastic cover at the back of the freezer compartment, and eventually stops one of the drawers opening by ‘growing’ over it. Behind the plastic grille I find the ice has swallowed up half of the fins and gas pipes, from the bottom upwards. I now know this is called the evaporator.
Suspecting that the icing-up might be due to air leaking in through a faulty seal, i’ve tried many times to see where air is getting in. I’ve taken the drawers out and, in night-time darkness, put a bright lamp in the compartment to see if any light escapes – None! I now presume (from information in here) that a heater on this evaporator has probably failed, or the thermostat controlling it has failed. I can’t test for open circuit on this because of the way it is fitted, but its failure would explain the sudden, and now ongoing, periodic icing up problem. The tightly fitted cable goes into the middle of the ‘honeycomb’ of fins of the evaporator, which i don’t think i should be messing around with. The other end is somewhere through the back wall of the compartment.

There is no de-ice option, so, my periodic solution has been to put the frozen food into freezer bags, put a bowl in the bottom of the compartment, stuff towels around it and, gradually pour hot water over the ice. A towel draped into the bowl draws most of this water into the bowl, although i do still end up with wet knees! The defrost drain channel is clear of food, but freezes up.
Of course the appliance is switched off at this time!
This week when i’ve finished doing it, the freezer continues to work (seemingly) as normal. However, the fridge part is not cooling, except for the effect the freezer has, by being under the fridge.
The fan in the top of the freezer compartment still circulates air around the freezer periodically. The motor runs on and off as usual. Everything ‘sounds’ as normal.
I don’t see any other fan that might draw cold air away into the fridge part, and I don’t see any flap that might open to allow the passage of cold air!
There’s no inlet/outlet hole in the fridge walls, so I assume the cooled air circulates outside the walls of the fridge compartment.
I know, from what i’ve read in here, and logically, that there must be SOMETHING to send/allow cool air into the cavity around the fridge, but for the life of me I can’t find it! I can only assume this occurs behind the honeycomb of fins, where I can’t see. There is also a silver coloured ‘backboard’ behind the evaporator.

In looking for this mysterious porthole that sends the cool air up, i’ve noticed little stalagtites of ice (already) on the lower fins and gas pipes hidden behind the plastic freezer grille/vent, and, with the machine switched off, I saw occasional drips of water falling down onto the fins/pipes. So my thoughts of warm-air ingress appear to have been incorrect. This is condensation, and, I now understand, quite normal.

The entire back of the appliance is covered with the heat dissipator, behind that there is insulation, and at the bottom is the motor/compressor, so there’s not much for me to inspect at the rear.

I’ve read as much as I can of the excellent articles in here, and tried to give as much information as I can about my appliance. If anyone is familiar with this model can you please tell me what i’m missing, in looking for whatever sends cold air around the fridge, and locate any spare parts I may need?

Yes, the appliance is some 10+ years old -bought direct from the Bromborough factory before it closed, and i’ve had good use out of it, but until this week it has still been working fine, so if I can get it working again, i’d like to do so. For the moment, food requiring refrigeration is kept in another fridge. I’m only keeping drinks, jellies, fruit etc in the fridge part of the combo.

Kind regards,
Tony

[thetrueblue]

Re: Kelvinator B – Fridge part not cooling after manual defr

I think the above can now be disregarded. We have softening food in the freezer, so I think this unit is on its way to freezer heaven. Now looking for a replacement.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
Regards,
Tony
(Yes, the defrosting food will be quickly prepared, eaten, cooked prior to freezing, or disposed of.)

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