DIY fridge repair

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gothcatgirl

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i've had the thermostat on my fridge replaced, now it's seriously cold. as in frozen yoghurt and milk cold.
the schmuck who fixed it (i had to call him back three times, since he couldnt do the job right), said that the thermostat needs to be adjusted, and i need to call him back to do that.
i have a job, and waiting around for him for hours on end while he mucks about, doesnt work for me.
where is the thermostat located? is it behind the evaporator plate? what does it look like, and how do i adjust it?
i had taken the fridge apart a few months ago to try and find a blockage, and if i can avoid going through that whole mission again, i will.
i had turned the temp dail to it's 'hottest' setting, and it's still getting frozen.

brief history of the fridge:
started getting hotter and hotter, untill it eventually was hot inside the fridge, and useless as such. called out the repair monkey, he 'flushed the system and re-gassed it'. problem persisted. then there was a 'leak in the gas system'. he came out again, fiddled. problem persisted. eventually i told him, replace the thermostat. he came out again, did that. hey presto! fridge works. 6 months on, and now the really cold fridge, is a frozen fridge. an issue when a bottle of wine asplodes in it.:wtf:


any ideas?
 
That knob inside the fridge is the thermostat, or more correctly, the thermostat is being controlled by that knob. If your fridge keeps freezing over on all settings then it is a sign of a faulty thermostat.
 
Oke may also have put the probe in the wrong place causing the fridge to think it's hot inside.
 
I had the same problem, but I just adjusted the temperature down. If you don't have an adjustable thermostat, then I don't know what you are going to do.
 
the bloke specifically said that he had to return to adjust the thermostat. so i'm assuming that there is some tweaking possible. it's a KIC two door fridge/freezer combo.
if i have to phone that idiot one more time to come fix this fridge, i might have to brutally murder him and keep his severed head in said fridge.
 
The thermostat is the knob inside your fridge.

He may need to move the probe. You can attempt this yourself if you like, open the thermostat housing and follow the little thin (usually silver) wire till you can see where he put the probe then move it somewhere colder inside the fridge.

Adjust the thermostat by turning the knob.

If the thermostat is stuck on cold you will have to replace it. You can buy a 4 to 40'c thermostat from Van Biljoens for about R120.
 
cool Astro, i will give that a go. what is the thin steel(copper?) pipe running behind the evaporator plate? that seems loose, but i think i might have mangled that in previous attempts.
 
May be the thermostat's probe wire, see if it is attached to the thermostat.

526012100_1_1.jpg
 
i'ts a hollow pipe, but thanx for that pic anyhows. at least i can see what i'm dealing with.
so, the plan of action is:
1. uncover the thermostat, and check if the probe is making contact with a sufficiently cold surface.
2. if all else fails, replace thermostat.
3. hire hitman to off fridge technician bloke.


fanks for the feedback everybody. will do my damnest.
i swear, when i technician/mechanic see a pair of tits, they never do a job right and/or evercharge/come up with some random disfunction that needs fixing. mofos.
 
Must be a good pair of tits to get the oke that distracted...

jokes aside, good luck and an update would be nice.
 
I also replaced the thermostat on my two door KIC fridge/freezer (International Prestige BF27FC 270litre) . I wasn't able to get the exact part so I installed a cheap Chinese universal thermostat. The original thermostat was an Atea #02 0217 298 which I replaced with a Ranco K59-L1102-019 Cold Out -26C Constant In +3.5C Warm Out -11C which I bought from Tecsa (www.tecsa.co.za - look for the pdf of thermostats). There are a few differences in the design - the Atea has an internal resistor which the Ranco doesn't - you might be able to find a datasheet on the Internet if you still have the original part number. I think that this Atea model was made specifically for KIC. The Ranco has been working very well though for about 5 years. I just slid back the same adjustment knob onto the Ranco. If I remember correctly the capillary tube is supposed to be pressed against the back of the white evaporator plate with a plastic clamping plate - there should be two plastic screws on the outer surface of the evaporator plate (top right). Check to see that these are still present and tight enough to hold the capillary against the back side of the plate. The screws have nuts on the other side and can only be tightened by unhooking (from plastic brackets) and bending the evaporator plate upwards as little as possible by gently lifting up the bottom of the plate - not recommended unless you know exactly how to do this as you could damage the cooling pipes. The evaporator plate is attached to the internal piping and can only be lifted slightly to allow you to put a hand in from underneath to tighten the screws.

Atea website - can request a thermostat datasheet if you have the original part number
http://www.atecomponents.com/inglese/products.html
 
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allright.
located thermostat (behind the setting turndail). cannot actually access the thing, it's in a sealed plastic box, and there is simply no way in hell i can get to it.
allso found the probe, it's attached to the bottom of the evaporator plate. it doesn't come off without unscrewing a little plastic unit it sits in.
so, i put everything together again, and switched on the fridge. nothing. gave the thermostat a thud, and the fridge started up.
this morning, frozen yoghurt and coke again. doesnt stop running.
gave the thermostat a knock again, and it stopped running.
somehow i suspect the dude never replaced the damned thing in any case.

so, the thermostat is obviously borked. how the hell do i replace it then? when it's inside a sealed plastic thing? i saw that 3 of the 4 wires leading out of it, can detach, the other one goes directly into the back of the fridge.

my irritation level is high at this moment :twisted:
 
Perhaps you could post a pic of the sealed plastic thing that has the thermostat? (preferably with you pointing out the part ;-)

I recently had to replace the thermostat in my fridge and the plastic cover had a special way of detaching (screwdriver + brute force).
 
If you know the model number of the fridge give Tecsa a call and they may be able to advise you on how to remove the old thermostat. I think that they are the agents for KIC. They should have a list of suitable replacements. In the worst case you could just install a new one temporarily with the old one still in place. At least you can then store food in the fridge. Alternatively you could just put a mains timer on the plug to the fridge temporarily to switch the fridge on and off at regular intervals to keep it from freezing your food. This should give you some breathing room.

Mains timers (need a unit with 8 or more daily on/off cycles)
http://www.zakspeed.co.za/prodcatsearchresultlist.aspx?id=-1&search=timer

EDIT: If you slide off the adjustment knob on the thermostat there may be screws underneath which attach the thermostat box to the fridge.
 
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Hey guys I know this thread is old but I have a problem with my fridge its an old kic fridge freezer it cools fine but recently the compressor was constantly running and not cutting off and the back plate was iced up I then called a fridge repair company and they said it is the thermostat so I purchased a new thermostat(Lk59-L1102) for R55 from a local electrical shop it had 3 spade pins 3 ,6,4 the old thermostat was wired pin 6 compressor and pin 4 Live and my capillary tube was pushed in back against the cold plate .I then connected the new thermostat the same way put the refrigerator on compressor is running fridge os getting cold how ever it was still not cutting off but not so much of ice on the back plate I tried to move the probe but still the same results. Then I thought the new thermostat was faulty and so did the fridge company I phoned I looked at the old one and saw it was a Ranco so I bought a ranco from hirsh for R200 put it on just like the other one and still same results please guys help
 
Solved!!

Hi guys, i am also a DIY kinda guy and i solved my mystery. I had an issue with my fridge switching on and of whenever it feels like and not when loosing or reaching temperature.
I replaced the thermostat and the fridge worked again almost the way it should except it switches off too soon and my fridge not cool enough inside.
I looked at my old thermostat and saw a little white plastic cove on the back of it which i remove and there it was!!! a little adjustment screw.
When you turn the screw out (anti clockwise) the fridge switch off sooner, turn it in (Clockwise) then it takes longer to switch off and my fridge gets colder inside.
Hope this will help you guys. I know all these thermostat switches are not all the same but most of the do have the adjustment screw on them. Check if it solve the problem before replacing the thermostat.:)
 
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