Zanussi freezone 61 – working out possible issue

[jshire]

Hi,
I’m one of those people that is interested in trying to work out what might be causing a problem even when fixing something isn’t viable. I have a Zanussi Freezone 61 that is quite old now so isn’t really worth spending money to fix. In short I need to replace it anyway, but as I said I’m curious to see if I can find out what has caused the current issue seeing as how its given years of good service.

It’s in a ‘lean to’ next to the kitchen & it gets quite cold in there in winter. A few weeks ago it seemed to have stopped working. No sound but the light comes on. As its really cold it was actually quite hard to notice much difference so for a few days I wasn’t sure it had stopped fully. Anyway, the freezer section was the sign that it had as gradually things in there become unfrozen, which wasn’t a problem as I don’t use much frozen food anyway. Since then every now & then most days it seems to start again – the freezer doesn’t freeze up again but the fridge gets back to its usual level, with the metal back plate inside the fridge showing a bit of frost.

I’ve cleaned the back, got rid of excess ice in the freezer, checked the seals etc. basically done all the ‘check this’ stuff but thought I might post here to see if anyone might know what the problem could be seeing as how it works sometimes. Again, simply for interest as I do intend to replace it. I did notice that the back of the fridge has slightly swollen due to some rain getting into the lean to quite some time ago (long before it stopped working). It’s a slight swell, but it touches the black element (?) in one place near the top.

thanks.

[electrofix]

is the freezer now working ok again ?

Dave

[jshire]

thanks for the reply. no, its been like this for a couple of weeks now. It briefly did this earlier in the year, again during a cold snap as I didn’t even notice at first, so could it be the thermostat ?

[electrofix]

dont know as at the moment all you have given me is a name which i cant look up

i need model and pnc number to look at the parts involved

Dave

[jshire]

it’s the Zanussi freezone 61/27 – this one; https://manualsbrain.com/en/manuals/946476/

thanks

[electrofix]

right all makes sense

the temp of the unit is controlled by the thermostat in the fridge

scenario
the motor runs and the gas goes into the freezer as a liquid and boils off first, when the freezer is frozen there is enough liquid left over to start cooling the fridge. the process continues till the eveporator at the back of the fridge gets down to the temp set by the stat. After that the stat is designed to allow the fridge to warm up to 2 degrees to allow the ice on the back wall to melt and drain away. the stat turns the motor on and it repeats

the problem comes when outside temps are lower then about 5 degrees or so. if the air temp was at 2 degrees then the stat would never turn on again so everything defrosts but the fridge feels ok as its still 2 degrees

basically you need to heat the room where the freezer is

Dave

[jshire]

thanks. will try moving it as that ‘lean to’ isn’t heated. As it’s always been in that space is it simply that the thermostat is wearing out?

[electrofix]

stats do go faulty and dont turn back on

give it a firm tap and see if the compressor starts then it should freeze down both fridge and freezer then stop

Dave

[jshire]

thanks. I assume you mean a tap on the compressor at the back of the fridge, at the bottom. I did try that if so.

[electrofix]

no the thermostat, the knob you turn up and down

Dave

[jshire]

thanks. yes, tried that a few times already. I taped it a couple of weeks ago & it started but that could have been a coincidence as it hasn’t done the trick since.

[electrofix]

could still be a faulty stat

to make sure of correct part no I need the pnc number of the unit

Dave

[jshire]

thanks. will take a look tomorrow.

[jshire]

can’t seem to find the pnc number in the places i’ve seen mentioned. Also, gave the thermostat a slight tap again & the light has now stopped working ! (typical) but fridge did come on a short time after that for a while.

[electrofix]

does sound like a stat

the label in fridges is often hidden by the salad trays

Dave

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