Brandt Fridge working intermittently!

Camdec

Hello out there, fridge that we have is not working properly. We get a smell on opening the door. Just happened a day or so ago. It turns on as we can hear noise coming from back, but it doesn't stay on for long, (10 minutes or so) then turns off. We have it turned up to the highest setting but to no avail, not cold enough inside. Hope this makes sense. Is it worth getting fixed or what should I try myself. It is about ten years old. Appreciate any feedback that is offered. Thanks

The Red Ace

what kind of fridge is it, undercounter/fridge freezer/american style? is it frost free or does it make ice that you can see. if a regular unit and it is making ice it has the symptoms of a faulty stat, if a frost free it may need a manual defrost

Camdec

The Red Ace wrote: »

what kind of fridge is it, undercounter/fridge freezer/american style? is it frost free or does it make ice that you can see. if a regular unit and it is making ice it has the symptoms of a faulty stat, if a frost free it may need a manual defrost

The RedAce: Thanks for getting back. It's a Brandt fridge. We have it under a press but as you can see from pics it is not an undercounter model. It's basically a larder fridge frost free with no freezer compartment within. Sometimes it can create ice at the back of the fridge and we just remove it or defrost it. Should we just defrost it as you said manually, and that should not take long as it is not too cold? I think the Brandt name is a model made in France if that is any help. We have attached pics of front and back and inside stat. Thanks very much - Camdec

Camdec

Camdec wrote: »

The RedAce: Thanks for getting back. It's a Brandt fridge. We have it under a press but as you can see from pics it is not an undercounter model. It's basically a larder fridge frost free with no freezer compartment within. Sometimes it can create ice at the back of the fridge and we just remove it or defrost it. Should we just defrost it as you said manually, and that should not take long as it is not too cold? I think the Brandt name is a model made in France if that is any help. We have attached pics of front and back and inside stat. Thanks very much - Camdec

Would a stat be very expensive and are they hard to install? If it is the stat? Anything else I can try?. I haven't defrosted it yet but I reckon it would not take long to do that as it is not very cold inside. Thanks - Camdec

The Red Ace

if it is making a lump of ice at the top of the back wall and continues to run I would suspect that it has a refrigerant leak which would be common enough with a ten year old fridge, an internal leak is not repairable

Camdec

The Red Ace wrote: »

if it is making a lump of ice at the top of the back wall and continues to run I would suspect that it has a refrigerant leak which would be common enough with a ten year old fridge, an internal leak is not repairable

The Red Ace: Thanks for your patience. What I said about it making ice at the back was some time ago now (weeks or a few months), sorry. At the moment there is no ice where it used to be a few weeks or months ago and it is not really cold at the back of the fridge. There are a few droplets of water (at the back) that can be rubbed away with my hand, that's all. Still it keeps turning off and on so I'm slow to give up on it! Only other thing I can say about it is that the motor at the bottom near the floor is slightly warm, but maybe that is normal, but I don't know. Thanks again -Camdec

The Red Ace

definitely a gas leak, time for a replacement

Camdec

The Red Ace: Thanks for your time and patience, appreciate your help. Out with the old now and in with the new - Camdec