UK - Fridge/freezer, fridge warm - needs replacing??

Hi,

I know very little about fridge/freezers & could do with your help! I've got a Whirlpool fridge/freezer that's built into a fitted kitchen that was already here when we moved into the house about 5 years ago (It's probably a very cheap one , the rest of the bits in the house are!).

It's got a single thermostat control for both the fridge and freezer (the fridge is on the top, freezer at the bottom). The thermostat control knob is in the fridge, there aren't any controls in the freezer. Recently the fridge has started to get too warm (currently 10 degrees centigrade) but the freezer seems to be working ok. The compressor doesn't run constantly, it turns itself on/off just as it always has. The thermostat control has no effect at all on the fridge temperature, I've defrosted it for 48hours to clear any hidden ice blockages with no improvement!

I've had a refrigeration engineer out to look at it, he came on a Friday afternoon & stayed all of 5 minutes, all of the time he was here the compressor was running.

He opened the fridge door & left it open for a couple of minutes and when the back interior wall of the fridge didn't get colder he concluded that it didn't have enough refrigerant and that it probably had a leak & the best thing would be to by a new fridge rather than keep refilling the refrigerant.

Only after his initial verdict did I remember to say that the compressor still turned itself on & off and doesn't run constantly, he still said 'get a new fridge'.

Does his 'get a new fridge' statement ring true or is it worth paying for someone else out to look at it??

I don't mind buying a new one if that's what's needed, I'm just not convinced that he didn't investigate properly so he could rush off & get home for the Weekend!

Any advice is VERY much appreciated!!!

If compressor is turning on/off with warm fridge than it may be that thermostat is not causing that action. It may be that compressor internal temperature protection (if fitted) or compressor overload relay is acting. That could be because of refrigerant leak.

Usually they have a fan cooled condenser the fan should run with the compressor ,pull out the fridge and check (a) if the fan is running/siezed (b) that the condeser is clean, any of the above would cause the compressor to trip. If still not running cold a blocked capillary/drier would cause the same problem, an easy enough job if you can find a good domestic fridge engineer, capillarys block usually after overheating and they block 9x out of 10 in the 1st inch or so coming out of he drier
hope this helps

Personally I would remove the thermostat and light assembly from its fixing on the interior wall.
The thermpstat phial on these units runs in the inner wall through a sleeve.
Pull out the phial (sensor) looks like a metal silver wire, and with the light bulb removed as the light switch will not turn it off while the housing is hanging loose. leave the phial(sensor) to also hang free in the fridge.
Shut door and allow to run for an hour or so. If unit continues to run and lower the tempreture you probably got a duff stat. These units have no fan at the rear. If the temp does not drop, gas, weak motor could apply.

Thanks for you excellent replies!!

One thing I had noticed (only noticed it recently) but didn't mention is that when the compressor turns off it sounds like there's a click, like it's tripped a relay or something (like the protection relay mentioned in Nike123 & Jasperreefers replies), so it looks like you could be spot on (time to pull it out & do some checks!!

Thanks again to all 3 of you, I appreciate your time!!

hi, actually need information your fridge condensing unit(discharge pipes) inside fridge wall or out side the wall?check the wall by hand is it warm or cool did you transferred the fridge other place or installed same place?your freezer making ice?touch the compressor is it very hot?please answer i think there is some leakege of refrigerant in your fridge.