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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
hi been reading all the quotes above about all the problems everyone has with this model.
my problem is that the freezer is going perfect its the fridge part at the top that dosent seem to be cooling anything there seems to be no cold air coming out.
i have stripped the bottom of the freezer out and used a hair dryer to defrost it all but still the same
problem at the fridge end.
be obliged if some can help or show me what i need to change or do to fix this problem.
thanks for any help.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
If anyone needs Technical bulletin for these email me at airkool@hotmail.co.uk
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paddyboy
hi been reading all the quotes above about all the problems everyone has with this model.
my problem is that the freezer is going perfect its the fridge part at the top that dosent seem to be cooling anything there seems to be no cold air coming out.
i have stripped the bottom of the freezer out and used a hair dryer to defrost it all but still the same
problem at the fridge end.
be obliged if some can help or show me what i need to change or do to fix this problem.
thanks for any help.
how i fixed the problem ?
the problem is basically of drain choke due excessive ice accumalation over a period of time , with the defrost heating element not able to provide sufficient heat exchange to melt the ice in defrost cycle being controlled by defrost sensor .
solution
change the sensor location to increace defrost cycle time , instead of sensing coil temp , relocate it to sense only evap air temperature thereby increase in defrost time ---- more melting of ice
more wattage / resistance heater means more energy units , design a heater so as to increase its surface contact with the ice at the bottom of evaporater like two heater coils in bottom or w loop in bottom
use a foil heater in the drip tray where drain hole is located to melt the ice from bottom and sides
increase drain hole dia
copper\al wire 3 inches down the hole (free end) , other end coiled to surface of defrost heater
thats how i fixed it .
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Hi thanks very much for your advice you saved me a lot of money and the job took all of half an hour, but i noticed on the drain hole there is a slight ridge before entering maybe causing the first few drips of water to freeze forming a barrier causing it to freeze, but thanks for all your advice and now i can have a cold beer.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
I have the same Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer which had been fine for about 3 years :) but now it has started to leave a puddle on the floor and ice build up under the bottom draw in the freezer compartment. :(.
I assume from reading this forum it is a blocked drain hole, can someone please confirm this please.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
yes you have a blocked drainage hole with ice. hang a length of copper wire from the bottom of the defrost heater and put the other end down the drainage hole. when the heater comes on it defrosts the hole aswell.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
hi i have had the same problem for the past year,i feel let down by hotpoint,for selling sub standard items such as this i wondered if anyone had conntacted watchdog about this ,the engineers just take the freezer back panel off wack the ice and tell me its sorted,so have had enough and purchased a new one,but have still kept the old one at mo,as too good to chuck but not good enough to sell with the on going problem.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
You dont need to chuck these fridges yes they had design fault same as 70% of domestic refrigeration on the market, you only need to spend few pounds to get these running correct, not the bodge it way of putting copper wire down drain hole like some Bodge it and Scarper companies.. with the correct info and parts anyone with bit of common sense should be able to fix there fridge..
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
tonto33 i gave him a way to fix the problem not offer to send him tech details off someone else that he wont understand. No wonder so many people have arguements on here with idiots like you around. Your post did not help anyone so what was the point of it
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Cool freezer - warm fridge - just removed my ice block and my fridge is now cooling to 1 degree C :-) Thanks to others for posting on this thread.
For anyone else reading not trained in fridge repair, make sure you pull off the second panel with the fan to reveal the cooling element - at 11pm at night this second panel confused me for a while. All in, took around 30 minutes to remove the panels and hair dryer the block off.
Have also bought a thermometer with an alarm to let me know when it needs doing again. Sure beats paying >£100 to "engineers".
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Yet another of the same problem.....Warm Fridge, Cold freezer..
Owned the FF200E for about 3 years and never had a problem with it until today.
Having found this forum and read all the posts i removed the panels in the freezer compartment to find that it was totally blocked with ice. I have managed too remove all the ice and i am now waiting to see if the fridge will cool again.
Thanks to all for the posts on here.
Anthony.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cameraman
Thought the Hotpoint Engineer would have posted this. Known fault on the full range ( FF187/200 HOTPOINTS AND BAN134/144 INDESITS )
The gap below the evap blocks up solid with ice.
Parts for the modification are listed as follows to cure this fault
After production serial number 71008
DEFROST HEATER KIT - C00259475
GUTTER HEATER ASSY- C00140585
LINK HARNESS ASSY - C00141294
If the serial number is before 71008 the harness and gutter are the same part numbers but the defrost heater kit is C00259476
The new gutter heater fits up into the air duct to keep it clear and the defrost heater kit has extra passes and a new elth defrost stat/thermal fuse. The extra passes hang loose in the void down to the drain hole and keep the ice clear. The link harness is used to add the new gutter heater and defrost heater together. Next time Hotpoint come out or you have to ring them, just quote the parts to them. In theory, the appliance had a fault from new so the trading standards 6 year rule would apply.
Been fitting these kits for the last couple of years to cure this fault. Hotpoint will not admit anything over the phone but we have done shed loads.
Hi newbie here,
just had independent engineer out to do the above mod,only problem is the plug on the link harness does not fit the plug in the freezer,the freezer plug has spaded connectors while the link harness has round pins,is there an adaptor available or could someone advise on a solution please
many thanks
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
I posted a long while ago about the same problem with mine. Started off with pools of water near the fridge freezer. Then ice build up at the back of the freezer and then a couple of days ago the fridge was just warm. I have been asking my husband to have a look at it and follow the advice on here for a good while but it was only when the fridge stopped working he decided to do something about it.
We have decided we have had enough and wanted a new fridge freezer. Unfortunately the one that I fell in love with is out of stock.
Has anyone noticed any pattern for how long it will work for once all the ice has been got rid of?
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Off topic - needed removing
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
ive been reading with great intrest all the posts about the ff200e as the fridge seems to have packed up on mine ie getting warm, im now in the process of defrosting it but am having great difficulty removing the panel from the back of the freezer. I have removed the 3 screws but it wont budge can anyone throw some light on this for me?
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
email me at airkool@hotmail.co.uk and will send u details of how to access fridge
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Had the problem mentioned of small pools of water in front of the freezer with ice forming at the base of the freezer. So pleased I found this forum, as followed the instructions to remove the back panel inside the freezer and the panel with the fan behind it and then defrost the ice in the drain hole and flush it through with boiling water.
To get it to fully drain properly needed to go round to the back of the freezer and see where the water drained out and squeeze the tube there to although some fluff to drain through.
Freezer seems to be ok now so far.
I had phoned Hotpoint and the cheapest call out option was £105!
So well happy today:)
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Hello all.
I too have had this problem - fridge warm, freezer too cold. I bought my FF200E two months ago second-hand "refurbished" for £150 and thought I'd been done over when I noticed this fault. Thanks to all who have posted here! I have followed the advice, switched back on and now just waiting to see if the fridge cools...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sjcaunt
ive been reading with great intrest all the posts about the ff200e as the fridge seems to have packed up on mine ie getting warm, im now in the process of defrosting it but am having great difficulty removing the panel from the back of the freezer. I have removed the 3 screws but it wont budge can anyone throw some light on this for me?
The above also had me stumpped for a while, there are 3 screws that you can see and another 3 longer ones set deep in the larger holes, you will need a long driver to get them out. Panel will then come out. The second panel just has little clips on the edge, a flat-blade driver might be handy to releasing these.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Service engineer arrived and removed the ice blockage and carried out a modification to relocate the defrost heating element to prevent the icing, the engineer was great and took the trouble to explain the reason for the fault and modification. Seems Hotpoint were aware of the problem and came out with a simple corrective action that makes sense, just a pity they were not more proactive and arranged the modification before they had customer complaint, however I am now confident the issue is resolved but only time will tell.
Hladnjaci
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
I have got somewhere with this now!
I ran some built in diagnostics and have come up with fault code F25, Freezer evaporator NTC sensor
open / short circuit.
Is this the Evap thermister that I keep reading about?
If so does anyone know where I can get one at reasonable cost?
I had a lot of trouble confirming which was the correct item on the hotpoint spares website. I called them and they were as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
I'm happy to buy the part but I need to confirm that I have identified the correct one.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Quote:
Originally Posted by
tonto33
wrong part
Do you know how to identify the correct part or can you tell me what is the correct part?
It isn't listed on the hotpoint site
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Please can you post a picture of where to the engineer moved the defrost heating element from and to. Thanks in advance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
macanante
Service engineer arrived and removed the ice blockage and carried out a modification to relocate the defrost heating element to prevent the icing, the engineer was great and took the trouble to explain the reason for the fault and modification. Seems Hotpoint were aware of the problem and came out with a simple corrective action that makes sense, just a pity they were not more proactive and arranged the modification before they had customer complaint, however I am now confident the issue is resolved but only time will tell.
Hladnjaci
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
There are a few problems that affect these models however all result in a warm fridge, depending on the fault affects the repair required.
There are 2 versions of these with a top mounted module and a rear mounted module. if you have the rear mounted board there will be a large black box on the rear LH side.
Top mounted board Models ONLY
The first thing is these shipped with a defrost cycle of around 30 minutes, this was found not to be long enough and was extended to around 50 minutes in later models, a reprogram of the module with the latest file will extend this cycle, however i would do this as well as one of the below as normally just reprogramming does not resolve the issue.
1st Problem. ice buildup on the evaporator, this can extend down to the gutter but the evaporator its self is frozen solid. sometimes you can see a gap where the gutter heater is melting the very bottom of it.
First thing is to Isolate the fridge power, remove the multi flow and defrost the evaporator, use a steamer ideally, wall paper one with out the end works well, DO NOT use a hairdryer or heat gun, water + electricity = A&E, also do not use tools to brake away the ice, catch a pipe its it skip time for the unit.
Next disconnect the plug and check the resistance of the defrost heater, the two white wires, you should get around 360 ohm, you also have 4 wires going to the overheat stat in the same plug, normally 2 blue and 2 brown, check for continuity between the two of each colour, if any of these are open circuit then there is your problem.
next on the socket in the cabinet where the plug was located find the two pins that the white wires for the defrost heater went into, this is the wiring to the gutter heater, check the resistance across these two pins, you should get about 3.6k on the meter. is its open circuit the defrost heater burnt out, see issue two on resolving this, if it ok read on.
If all are fine then its likely the Evaporator sensor has failed, moisture get into these and then freezes and kills the sensor, this is non replaceable HOWEVER there is a modification that can be made to bypass the sensor,the module then works on timed values rather than readings from the sensor, this can only done by Hotpoint or a service agent as it requires the board to be reprogrammed as well as the sensor being cut out. this modification is very good and does solve most of the problems.
2nd Problem, Ice building up in the gutter, the evaporator is mostly clear but a large block of ice has built up below it.
Again first thing is to Isolate the fridge power, remove the multi flow and defrost the evaporator, use a steamer ideally, wall paper one with out the end works well, DO NOT use a hairdryer or heat gun, water + electricity = A&E, also do not use tools to brake away the ice, catch a pipe its it skip time for the unit.
now on the socket in the cabinet where the plug was located find the two pins that the white wires for the defrost heater went into, check the resistance across these two pins, you should get about 3.6k on the meter. is its open circuit the defrost heater is open.
If the defrost heater is open circuit then there is a heater kit available that sticks on the gutter, depending on the type some have round pins and some have spade connectors.
If the defrost heater is fine then check the drain hole is clear, there is a larger defrost heater kit available that extends further down the gutter, sometimes this resolves the issue however not always, of the gutter heater is showing resistance you should not fit the extra heater kit because you could melt the back of the fridge out however i have seen this done and it has resolved the issue with out damaging the freezer, but this is not recommended at all.
If the gutter heater is fine but the ice is still building up you could try hanging a pice of copper wire from the defrost heater down the drain hole, wrap it around the heater and just let it hang, it helps stop it from freezing over, if all this fails then i would recommend the sensor bypass modification above. this should resolve the problem.
Rear Mounted Board Models.
Basically its the same as the above but the sensor bypass can not be performed on these units, so if after checking all the heaters and you are still getting ongoing issues i can't really suggest anything else, most get replaced at this point, its likely the gutter heater has moved away from the lining slightly, you could add the external heater kit but be warned it COULD melt the lining out.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Which, and how many, screws have to be undone to takeoff the freezer compartment back panel? Can the drain be accessed without taking off the panel?
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Hi All,
First of all, I need to say a big thanks for those who have given out useful advice on this forum - got my fridge up and running quickly... though I am worried it is only a temporary fix...
In order to help others like I have been helped, I took a couple of photos of how to dismantle the panels.
1 - open freezer section (no photo)
2 - remove all freezer drawers (no photo)
3 - remove first main panel - beware the screws "hidden" in the deep holes - lift from bottom and it should pop out quite easily (no photo at this stage)
4 - remove secondary panel - be carefull with the clips on both sides (and the top) (photo here and here)
5 - you now have access to the cooling coil (photo here)
6 - if you have ice build-up blocking the vent, it will be here (photo here or here)
I'm still getting some frost build up and don't know whether that is normal?
I have read about several solutions, and don't know which to follow to be honest.... too much advice kills the advice :P
From what I have read, there are two paths to follow:
1 - fit new parts (cost approx £110) that will ensure the defrost of the dripping tray area
2 - check defrosting cycle & parts work and unless it is a simple replacement of the defrost coil, you need to get it seen by and engineer....
Please can someone confirm I have summarised the above correctly?
Thanks again guys, and I hope the little I have brought above will also help others!
Cheers,
John.
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Re: Hotpoint FF200E Fridge Freezer Fault
Dear Mad_Angler1,
Thanks for your post - I have followed it to the letter and have found the following;
1- white wires connected to defrost heater coil show 360 ohm so OK
2- blue & yellow wires show closed circuit so OK
3- socket where white wires give me 1.6kohm... so less than you advise... OK or NOT OK?
From here I don't really understand where I am supposed to go... if the defrost heater is ok (it show 360 ohm) I don't understand what to replace.... you mention a heater kit (from other posts, I am assuming it is this) however this seems (just looking at the picture here) like replacing the defrost heater coil which is working (closed circuit?)... or have I missed something?
Thanks in advance for your help,
John.