[DoctorStrangelove]

Re: Beko TLS480 Larder Fridge at 8 degrees

The fridge is in my kitchen at home. Thanks for your info. I have a soft spot for LEC so I’ll try and find one of them. As a stopgap I’ve dragged my old LEC back to the kitchen from the garden shed, put it on max and it’s showing between 2.6 and 3.8 deg C. This LEC is a 20+ year old fridge/freezer that was abandoned by a house seller! Compare this to the 5.9 to 10 deg range of the brand new Beko which had the advantage of a taped shut door! I would keep my old LEC but for the fact that I want more fridge space.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Re: Beko TLS480 Larder Fridge at 8 degrees

Yeh, I take your point Expertcat. I was thinking of buying a commercial fridge but they seem to have solid doors with no shelves.

Anyway, my third Beko TLS480 arrived and it also in 24 hours sealed door operation on coldest thermostat setting failed ever to get below 5.9 degrees and was generally in the 8 to 10 region.

The User manual says “When the appliance is switched on for the first time the thermostat should be adjusted so that after 24 hours the average fridge temperature is no higher than 5 deg C (41 deg F)”. Hah bloody hah. It’s going back.

So my experience is that these Bekos are bummers, apart from the first one which had a different compressor (as I recall held on with bolts rather than twisted metal straps and the spill tray was secured by a plastic tongue).

Can anybody recommend a good larder fridge in the 8 cu ft region?

[DoctorStrangelove]

Re: Beko TLS480 Larder Fridge at 8 degrees

Thanks for all your comments. I decided to get some real evidence so I lashed out on a remote max/min thermometer and monitored the fridge. Remember this is an auto defrost larder fridge and the thermostat had been established to be good. These were the results:–

Date; Fridge Temp; Min prev 24 hrs; Max prev 24 hrs
28.07.06; 7.9; 5.8; 11.6
29.07.06; 7.9; 5.1; 13.0
30.07.06; 5.5; 5.1; 12.7
31.07.06; 6.9; 4.9; 15.7

Notes: all column 1 readings taken at midnight when door not opened for
2 hrs +
ambient temperature of room between 21 and 22 degrees
door opening kept to minimum at all times
all temperatures in degrees centigrade
fridge about one third full with food, bottles etc.
controller on coldest setting

I sent that to the supplier and they arranged for the Glen Dimplex service man to come again. He said it was within the tolerances. I told the supplier we were heading for dispute and cited ISO 8187 (1991, amended 1997) which says, as I understand it, that average fresh food compartment temperatures should be in the range 0 to 5 degrees, although 7 degrees is permissible in the defrost phase. Additionally, no internal temperature should ever exceed 10 degrees in operation. I said obviously meat would spoil in this fridge. The suppliers said they would take it up with Beko again and lo and behold came back and said that as it was within 28 days Beko had agreed another swap out.

As the score so far is one good fridge and one bad out of two delivered we can but hope! I will post the outcome. I must say the suppliers have been pretty good, but I was persistent and avoided screaming at them.

Hope this helps someone.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Re: Swan fridges

Thanks for looking and replying, K. I also suspect they must be Chinese because there is absolutely no business information about a Swan company in the UK, also the prices are very low. Manual defrost, too, which is getting rare.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Re: Beko TLS480 Larder Fridge at 8 degrees

Thanks for that, Expertcat. It does seem that the operating ranges of the VT9 and the K59 are exactly the same. Going for a push defrost one or the Servis stat you mention could possibly work but now I think sod it, why should I embark on a voyage of discovery when I’ve bought a brand new product. The problem might actually stem from changing the door hanging. I followed the manual to the letter – it said lay the fridge down on its left side, with a diagram showing that is left as you look at the door. This puts all the contents of the compressor above the high pressure pipe. and from what I read on this site that is a bad thing. Although I left it for 12 hours afterwards I have a nagging doubt. I think it’s time to argue for a refund from the supplier and follow up with section 75 Consumer Credit Act against my credit card company if no joy.

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