[Jaspersharpe]

Our integral fridge / freezer appears to have packed in.  At least the weather's turned cold and we can put stuff in the outhouse for now.....

Anyone in Sheffield recommend someone who will come and have a look at it and not charge me £££ to let me know that it's dead and that I'm going to have to fork out for a new one?

And yes lagers, it does appear that I'm copying you again. First the foot, now stuff in the house being fucked......

[tommytwotone]

Bad new Jas - having just bought a new one with the house moving I can tell you they're not expensive (think ours was £250) so might be as cheap to replace?!

[tomtom]

To truly follow lagers you need a sauna and a non plumbed in fitted dishwasher

[Jaspersharpe]

Bad new Jas - having just bought a new one with the house moving I can tell you they're not expensive (think ours was £250) so might be as cheap to replace?!

Yeah I'm pretty sure this will be the case, just wanted to check it's completely dead before replacing.

[tomtom]

Bad new Jas - having just bought a new one with the house moving I can tell you they're not expensive (think ours was £250) so might be as cheap to replace?!

Yeah I'm pretty sure this will be the case, just wanted to check it's completely dead before replacing.

J - might be worth checking that the back of the fridge gets enough ventilation.. sometimes with these fitted appliances they can get too hot/warm all cooped up behind the units.. If you get a new one - get it online from J.Lewis - you get a two year guaruntee included etc.. (often same price as other places too)

[lagerstarfish]

have you tried plugging it in to another socket (via extension lead)

changed the fuse?

no point in trying these if the light is turning on

[Jim]

I predict that your fridge is fine, most have a drip tray over the motor that collects condensation and the theory is the heat of the motor is supposed to evaporate this water away but generally it doesn't and needs to be manually emptied every now and again (years not months) because there is normally some sort of high level type sensor thing that when it detects the tray is full it shuts the fridge off.
Best is to get the fridge out and have a look at the back at the bottom at the motor and see if this drip tray is full?
probably worth checking the fuse first as well

[Jaspersharpe]

The plug is fine as the light works.

Will try that thanks Jim.....

[SA Chris]

There are a few online how to guides for diagnosing fridge problems, most of which included the steps described above. Assuming you haven't done this already.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

When our built in one died, it was easiest and cheapest just to replace it with the same model rather than try and repair it. B&Q wanted around £400 but found an factory seconds place that did a brand new one possibly with a minor exterior dent for about half that. Remembering it's a built in one so an exterior dent or two matter little.   

If it comes to it check Ebay etc for 'graded, dents, factory seconds' etc
Ours was something like this...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOTPOINT-HM325NI-BUILT-IN-50-50-FRIDGE-FREEZER-ROCHDALE-/181585736361?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Kitchen_Fridges_Freezers&hash=item2a475a72a9

[Jaspersharpe]

I think that's exactly the same as ours.

My builder mate is going to give me a hand taking it out to see if it's the drip tray thing Jim suggested.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

That wasn't the place we got ours by the way. Went up to Leeds Bradford way to collect one. Found it on eBay.

[lagerstarfish]

turn it upside down and leave for 24 hours, then try it

used to work 10 years ago for dicky fridges

(air bubbles and condensate issues)

[namnok]

how old is it? check the warranty.

I ask cos ours packed in during the summer after 4 years, regular 2 year warranty was long gone. called out the panasonic recommended engineers for a fee and told us it was the compressor or something. got refunded bar admin fee cos they couldnt fix cos of the cost of the job.
found out the compressor was actually covered for 5years under the warranty extended solely for the compressor. panasonic called john lewis, john lewis sorted it out for us.
ended up with a New fridge, £100 difference refunded and kept the microwave that came free with the old fridge.

[tomtom]

turn it upside down and leave for 24 hours, then try it

used to work 10 years ago for dicky fridges

(air bubbles and condensate issues)

Hmm.. be careful with this - not sure about fridges but for freezers (same technology but colder right?) this really knackers them.. if they've been moved/stored on their side you're supposed to leave them for 12-24 hours upright before turning on...

On the refrigeration tip, one of my colleagues told an amusing tale of how he was chucking out his fridge - and the council would come and take it and do a cfc/eco friendly recycle/removal. He put it out at the requisite time/date and after 1/2 hour the local scrap merchant came over, walked up to it with a pair of pliers and cut out the compressor - leaving the rest - and of course allowing all those CFC's to fly up towards the ozone etc.. classic.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

how old is it? check the warranty.

I ask cos ours packed in during the summer after 4 years, regular 2 year warranty was long gone. called out the panasonic recommended engineers for a fee and told us it was the compressor or something. got refunded bar admin fee cos they couldnt fix cos of the cost of the job.
found out the compressor was actually covered for 5years under the warranty extended solely for the compressor. panasonic called john lewis, john lewis sorted it out for us.
ended up with a New fridge, £100 difference refunded and kept the microwave that came free with the old fridge.

Which is the reason why buying a decent brand to start with is worthwhile. Unfortunately with integral appliances that's not always possible or an option. We have Siemens/Bosch white goods which mostly keep on trucking, good repair service when we did have an issue and easy to get a part for when one was out of warranty and I wanted to fix myself. But the options for a 50/50 fridge freezer that fitted a B&Q carcass was pretty much limited to one model.

[lagerstarfish]

He put it out at the requisite time/date and after 1/2 hour the local scrap merchant came over, walked up to it with a pair of pliers and cut out the compressor - leaving the rest - and of course allowing all those CFC's to fly up towards the ozone etc.. classic.

this is exactly what happened to us - it was in our front yard ready for me to take it to the tip and some twunt came and ripped out the coppery bit and left it to bleed in the gutter

[Jaspersharpe]

Quick update. Cheers for the advice but it's definitely fucked (& not covered by warranty).

Bought a new one, meh.

[shark]

If anyone wants a large standing fridge freezer for not much money let me know 

[andy_e]

This was one of the most gripping threads on UKB for a while. I'm sorry for your loss Jasper.

[Jaspersharpe]

Thanks Andy. It's obviously difficult to deal with, especially at this time of year. But the kind thoughts of others and the new one being delivered on Saturday have made it easier to bear.

[Sloper]

Just don't try a touchingly niaeve ceremony and bury it in the back garden, let alone cremation.

[tomtom]

I think the fridge should start posting in Power Club... does it have a twitter account yet?

[Sloper]

Aims for 2015
a steady 2 degrees c.
don't run out of milk.

[tomtom]

Aims for 2015
a steady 2 degrees c.
don't run out of milk.

What kind of fucking shite fridge is that? Meh. Correct aims are:

Aims for 2015
a steady 2 degrees c.
don't run out of beer.

or for the more bourgeois punter

Aims for 2015
a steady 2 degrees c.
don't run out of champers. Wot Ho.