Proline FF958 icing up

[JS]

Hello, I’m new to this forum and this is my first post.
I have a Proline FF958 upright frost free freezer, eight yrs old, which has started to malfunction. About 6 weeks ago it started to get noisy, it seemed to be coming from the ventilator fan behind the evaporator as though something was catching. It partially defrosted while I investigated how to get into it but had to give up as the contents were starting to thaw. However on restarting it appeared to be OK again. Just recently it started making the same noise again and I noticed a large build up of ice around the inside, i.e icicles hanging from the rear of the baskets. The evaporator coil was frost free.

Anyway thanks to information gleaned from this excellent site I have investigated further and everything seems to be working OK, basically the drain hole and collector plate under the evaporator were blocked with solid ice. I checked the defrost timer was switching OK, on and off, and that the defrost heaters were energised. The evaporator heating element measured 198 Ohms (about 250W) whereas the other heater, taped to the underside of the metal collector tray measured 3.3kOhms (about 15W). This heater is energised for the duration of the defrost cycle whereas the main heater can be turned off during the cycle by the operation of the defrost thermostat. The cabinet thermostat seems to work fine turning on and off the compressor as required. The ventilator fan runs when the compressor is running and if the defrost cycle is entered then the fan and compressor are switched off. This all seems to be as it should be so I am at a loss to account for why it has started to ice up. The door seals appear in perfect order. Any comments, advice gratefully received.

Just a final question; when I bought this model it was identical to a Hotpoint model in every respect apart from the name on the control panel, albeit about £100 cheaper. Can anyone tell me what the Hotpoint model was as it may be easier to source spares via Hotpoint than via Comet for Proline.

Thanks in advance
John

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Proline FF958 icing up

This unit was manufactured by Brandt who are a French company, as far as I know, Hotpoint never used any of their refrigeration products, they do or did use a couple of Dishwashers so it could be the case.

Unfortunately, the spare part codes that Hotpoint use to not cross ref to the Brandt one’s as they use their own so it’s hard to check to be honest.

It’s easy enough to cross ref the Brandt part numbers though as they are used by quite a few in the UK.

If you need anything, come back and ask please, we should be able to provide an answer for you 😀

Dave.

[JS]

Re: Proline FF958 icing up

Thanks for the info Dave. If I recall correctly it was manufactured in Italy as was the Hotpoint model I mentioned. I’ve just had another look at the rating plate and there is no mention of country of manufacture. If it’s any help the Operating Instructions bear the logo LNC – brescia.

John

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Proline FF958 icing up

It could be made anywhere to be honest, Brandt have factories all over Europe.

Can you take a piccie of the inside of the fridge and feeezer and email it to me, I may be able to identify it that way 😉

Dave.

[JS]

Re: Proline FF958 icing up

I’ll take a piccie tonight. It’s still partially dismantled at the moment but I plan to reassemble it tomorrow. I am more interested in any suggestions as to why it iced up or any further checks I could do while it is in this state. There doesn’t appear to be any failed component at the moment or even any problem that I can determine.
However it would be nice to positively identify it for any future spares requirements. The Comet (espares) range of parts available is pretty limited for this model.
Thanks
John

[Dave_Conway]

Re: Proline FF958 icing up

JS wrote:I am more interested in any suggestions as to why it iced up or any further checks I could do while it is in this state.

Sometimes with frost free units if the water doesn’t escape quickly enough it will freeze in the drain hole with no real reason.

If everything checks out OK as it appears to, hopefully all will be OK.

Dave.

[Author]

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