Liebherr - old and maybe beyond repair

[garycoombs]

Folks,

I am new here and have an intriuging little issue for you experts to ponder in relation to my 22 year-old Liebherr 3823-1 (or 38234 - label no longer that clear to read).

Yes I know I should probably bin it but if I can get going again for a few quid it can chunder away in the garage or one of my kids' student pads until it really does die. After all it has given us amazing service over the last 22 years, including being transported right across Europe in the back of a van!

Anyway, it was stumbling along OK as a fully functioning second fridge-freezer until the weekend when it appeared to fall over completely, so we dashed out and splased out on an ex-display Miele on the basis that 22 years is a good life and we would otherwise loose 110 litres of frozen goodies.

Everything rescued, the old unit went in the garage to thaw out before going off to the fridge graveyard but today I couldn't resist playing with it to see whether I could get it going - and I did, well, partially. The freezer is fine but not the fridge but only if I put the temp dial on zero to effectively turn off the fridge (shame I did not realise that on Sunday).

So, the story to capture your combined brain power.

A few months ago the analgue temperature meter sank to -40 degrees but as the compressor seemed to be turning on and off as usual i assumed the meter had broken but that otherwise all was fine and we would just live with it like that.

A while later the fridge began freezing things and becoming iced up on the back. I assumed there was a problem with the thermostat and on Saturday (coincidence?) I decided to see if I could still get hold of one so took the thermostat housing off to look at it and note down any part number etc.

Having uncrewed the unit I turned the knob and it clicked and the compressor kicked into action - hmm, seems to be working, thought I. Fiddling around for a while I convinced myself that the thermostat was working and assumed it had somehow got its wotsits in a twist. I put everything back together, thawed out the fridge turned it back on and checked that the thermostat was working - job done!

Sunday we woke up to the red warning light being on suggesting the freezer was too warm. The fridge was clearly too warm and the thermostat appeared not to be clicking or working any more - darn it!

After a couple of hours of fiddling testing and head-scratching it was onto the web to find a possible replacement machine before the shops shut.

Today, having turned it all back on in the garage with the fridge thermostat turned to zero the freezer fired up and is stable at -20 (according to a cheap fridge thermometer) but only seems to function normally if the fridge is turned off. The meter still shows -40.

Also, if the thermostat is turned on the sound of the compressor changes and I am not sure whether the compressor is actually turning off but it is a warm evening and there is nothing in the freezer, so the temp sensor could be having trouble.

Now that it is only a question of patching up an old machine for "fun" and/or to tide over the kids in their student pad I quite fancy getting it going again as long as I don't spend too much.

My gut feeling is that it is the thermostat but your thoughts would be appreciated.

How can I test whether it work (I can get access to a multimeter but do not own one)

If it is the thermostat can one still get parts?

I am fluent in German so can order there if I can find the part number.

See, I said, something to grab your combined attention

Cheers

Gary

[Brian_UK]

Hi Gary,

Thermostats are everywhere, hopefully, you need something like a Ranco VL1 or similar...
http://www.ryanairconspares.com/ranc...at-p-1493.html



Or you could try Espares, I've used them myself for parts.

http://www.espares.co.uk/parts?k=fridge+thermostat

Good luck with it.

[garycoombs]

Hey Biran_UK,

Thanks for the quick response, really helpful.

I have done some more digging on the German websites as I assume that is my best chance of finding references to an old German fridge and am reasonably confident (famous last words) that I need a Ranco K54-H1102 (I think a compatible part might be K54-H1119 from what I have read.)

This is a link to the above - it certainly looks like the existing part and was arrived at by searching for the fridge reference KGK38231 and Ranco

http://www.elektronik-werkstatt.de/o...908N&thispage=

(sorry, you'll have to copy/paste and remake the URL by removing the space after the www as I have not been a member of this forum long enough to post links - ho hum)

The existing thermostat shows the following:

Across the top of the brown/red plastic is
8 2 0

Below that
3-2 0.2 (0.2)A - 250V~
then
3-8
3-0 0.1A - 250V~

I assume this is the rating of the item?

Can you tell if the German item is the same as the VL1, or that the VL1 is at least compatible?

Cheers

Gary

[Brian_UK]

Backtracked from the K54H1102 to Ranco K54, so data here..
http://www.invensyscontrolseurope.co...&langType=2057

Just trying to get some VL data, back soon >>>>
OK, data sheet..
http://www.invensyscontrolseurope.co...rch=vl1&page=1
So maybe a VL5=VS5

[garycoombs]

Brian,

Thanks for the links, which have enabled me to get a better understanding of what I am dealing with but not yet solved things.

In browsing the links I noticed that most thermostats seem to have 3 terminals plus earth whereas mine has 4 plus earth as it has a small module piggybacking on the top. Simply buying a K54 or whatever won't therefore provide a like-for-like replacement.

I therefore did what I should have done before and took the thermostat out of its housing and it turns out, now that I can see the sides that it is a Ranco but a K61-H3510 like this www .ersatzteilhalle.de/images/50147494100e2a8c6.jpg, (sorry still too young to post links) not what the German links appeared to suggest is compatible. Hmm...

I wondered whether I need to simply buy this extra module and clip it on, so wrote to Ranco, who say the whole unit is an OEM product only available from Liebherr.

I would prefer to buy in the UK if possible but have found it on several German and Austrian sites for about €30 plus up to €18 p+p!! Ouch!!

Does anyone therefore know if the K61-H3510 (or compatible model) is available here as Google does not seem to help me find one?

Thanks.

[garycoombs]

Just thought I would feed back that I picked up the necessary part while on holiday in Germany - pre-ordered over teh web - for €26 and it works a treat.

Trouble is my other Liebherr kgnves3846 has now started throwing a wobbly, so I'll now be posting a question for all you experts out there to see if I can fix that one too