Zanussi ZEBF 249W 14 months old - fridge not cooling?

My Zanussi fridge has stopped cooling down. What faulty parts can cause this problem?

Jo
March 2012

I got a new timer for onlt £7:50 from e-bay. The connections weren't quite the same - but the diagram on the timer and on the new one meant I easily wired it correctly.
It defrosts for 20 mins every 8 hours. Not sure if that is the same as the original spec

DerbyBorn
April 2009

I've just followed the instructions and its worked a treat :)

i was quoted 75 pounds to come and fix it. And i did it in 30mins with a hair dryer!!!

Bob John
November 2008

The machine should regularly go through an automatic defrost cycle. The timer is often in a white box, bottom LHS, looking from rear. With a stub handle screwdriver you can fast forward the mechanical clock (there is a hole for this in the side of the box which is facing the compressor) to defrost part of cycle. With power on you should be able to hear a constant whirring noise from this clock and its cogs (no noise means clock has probably died). However you will not be able to the noise if the compressor is running at the time. Be very careful as there are mains power leads very close by. I would not recommend you do this unless you are confident you will not kill yourself. You could switch off at plug, turn the clock till you hear a click, switch mains back on and watch to see if the coils defrost from front.

peter bennett
November 2007

My fridge/freezer is just over 2 years old. the first 18 months seemed fine, but since then the exact same thing is happening to it. I called someone out who charged me £60 to clear the coils!! since then we have had to repeat this performance every 3 to 4 weeks. My daughter has a frost/free freezer, different make, and that has been doing the same thing. I think the manufacturers havn't really got this frost/free proceedure sorted out yet. Not sure what to do about it!!

Douglas Bromham
September 2007

funny, this first happened to mine at 14mths old just out of guarentee. Defrosting it works but it has happened over and over again. I managed to get the retailer out to repair it and they replaced something to do with defrosting (sorry no techincal expertise here) however it is warm again a month later. I'm fed up with it and am pushing for a replacement. Suggest you dont put up with the hairdryer method, this appliance is a pile of junk.

Amy B
November 2006

OK, fixed it this morning. In addition to defrosting the coils, look for the vent which is located at the base of the coils. This vent feeds the cold air from the freezer compartment up into the fridge. It gets blocked with ice so you'll need to blow warm air up it and also use a stretched out wire coat hanger to dig out the stubborn bits. You can even use a vacuum cleaner to suck the loose bits out if need be.

After I got all the ice out of the vent the cool air started feeding the fridge again and the clicking noise has stopped.

RESULT!

Max
October 2006

Hi, my ZEBF 249W is less than a year old and has the same problem. It keeps making a constant clicking noise too.

Angela, my guess is the coils get frozen and the coolant can no longer flow up to the fridge compartment but still make it around the freezer.

Paul, did the hairdrier trick work for you too?

Thanks for your help

max
September 2006

hi the same thing happened to my fridge too - and it was about the same age. Still not sure why / how this happened but here is the remedy:

Switch the electricity off and take out all the freezer boxes. At the back you'll find a white panel which you need to take out - undo the screws and you'll see a set of coils which have been frozen over. Get a hairdryer and unfreeze the coils. Hopefully that should do the trick. Put panel back and turn electricity back on and it should work again.

I'm still not sure what caused this to happen so any thoughts you have would be welcome.

Angela W
May 2006