Constant alarm Fisher & Paykel E521T fridge?

Service agent london postcodes www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk

Cole
March 2024

My F&P E521T is 15 years old and has consumed 3 defrost elements in that time. Part can be sourced from F&P or EBay - about $100. Turn off and access the evaporator by pulling the back panel from the left. Take care as the fan wiring is on the right.

Defrost with a hairdryer and remove the clips then the defrost element. Fiddly but possible. Measure the resistance - it should be 150 Ohms as this will confirm a fried defroster.

Reassembly is the reverse - fiddly but dooable.

Testing fans and reed switches is done with the fridge on and using a strong magnet at the base of the compartment.

I have not had wires break as is often reported, but if the fan is not running, this would be a good test - replacement is a soldering job.

Another trick I found was to warm the label on the back of the fan, half peel it to reveal the bearing which I lubricate with Nulon (teflon) spray. Makes a noisy fan quiet.

There are also fault codes you can access with combinations of presses on the compartment and temperature control buttons. Can't find them again.

Have also experimented with a long press on the cabinet selection button (=) which seems to reset the fridge - or put it into Sabbath mode - even though both doors are not open as per the manual. Lights will be out. A long press restores the light.

Tried the F&P help line - they were very polite but not especially helpful. Suggested fridge may take a couple of days to settle after replacing the defrost element.

Have had 36 hours without beeping - fingers are firmly crossed.

Chris
February 2018

Constant beeping. Green light inside was flashing freezer. Freezer still freezing but fridge not getting cold. Pulled out all shelving to get get back compartment off wall. Red wire from fan had come away. Pulled up fan in its white holder, unclipped it all. Just so I had better position to solder back the red wire I Cut the black wire, leaving enuf so can twist it back together after. Took fan outside so i Kud see better. Solder red wire in ( we had a spare bit of wire lying around) take fan Bak to fridge twist black & red wires Bak together, tape at joins (covering the exposed wires using suitable tape) Reassembled & away it went, no more beeps. Older brands of Fisher &Paykel are great but these new models, no good. Good luck out there.

Rowz Auckland
December 2016

Fridge 10 years old. Noisiest friggin machine we ever had. Sounds like someone tryiong to break in at nights, hear it through the house. Apart from that great performance till a few years ago when "The Beep" started as per all others on this blog. Shuts up with a press of the temperature control buttons. Turn off and defrost completely helped as back panel of freezer was pushed out by ice. Think it had something to do with sensors being affected. Still does it occasionally. Dont care as am leaving soon and will sell off to some other sucker. Will never buy F&P again as seem to have even worse quality and service than ever.

Rick Perth
June 2016

same problem beeping and the fridge just not cold was solved after taking the fridge rear panel out the fan was simply iced up and couldn't turn
Defrosting solved everything

Keith
August 2015

I have an E402B which beeps. Freezer works fine, Fridge fan works fine but fridge doesn't get cold. Suggestions?

Marcus
December 2014

is the new model of F&P such as E521TX3 still has the same tiny wires for the fans
Regards

Harry
August 2014

A few years ago I got a serviceman out to sort intermittant beeping. Cause- freezer fan not working. Serviceman replaced whole freezer panel with attached fan. No obvious broken wire. I kept the old one and later, on close inspection found wire broken inside insulation. Recently the fridge started beeping again intermittantly. This time, warm at top of fridge and frozen veges at the bottom. I surmised it would be the fridge fan this time not the freezer one. I pulled shelves out. Pulled away centre internal panels off. I could see the fan. Put a strong magnet over reed switch in center bottom of fridge. (this should start fan as fridge thinks door is closed and turns off light). Removed fan. Held both wires close to fan in one hand. With other, individually pulled black wire then red one. Red one parted. Insulation was still intact. Intermittant beeping was due to wires inside insulation sometimes touching, sometimes not. Stripped back broken ends, soldered. All fine. Put everything back together.

Uncle Mickey From Tauranga
August 2014

error code F02

rafea
August 2014

I have an F&P 2450R fridge,less than 3 years old, temp is 25c in fridge while dial is on 5. Also door beeper on constantly. Had a technician out to tell me it would cost more to fix than it was worth. So I got on to F&P in NZ who are sending me one of their techs out. If he says that it's caused by vermin etc or misuse I have to pay $136 for the privilidge. This should be interesting,wish me luck.

chefal69
February 2014

If anyone has a similar problem in the london area this service company was sent out by the manufacturer to fixed mine www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk Tel 07723019161.

Jason
November 2013

I placed a magnet over the censors and the fans started and lights went off. When fridge was beeping at night I place magnet over the censors and the beeping stops. so where is the problem so i can fix the constant beeping

jim
October 2013

All ... I have a F&P E552BRE model fridge 2 years old and I am having the same problem with an alarm sounding twice each time the fridge or freezer door is opened.
The light on the temp indicator inside the fridge flashes red. I expect this is the same problem, identified by others. From the dates here it seems that F&P have been unable to fix the problem or being a little cynical perhaps they have built in a "Service Call" glitch so we have to make a call ?

Patrick
August 2013

I have has this beeping problem for approx 4 years recently it has become worse.
I got a serviceman here this morning checked everything that is the usual malfunction in this fridge all working properly.
The problem was the magnetic sensor for the freezer it was not working properly therefore the fridge would think that the door was open and alarming. Probably a faulty sensor from manufacture.
Thank goodness it seems that my problem is now fixed.

Karen
May 2013

I've got the same problem, bleeping at least once a day but my vegetables are freezing too. Fridge is 8 years old but for over £1000 I thought it might last longer than this. Will get a Smeg next (sooner than I thought).

georgie
February 2013

I've got the same problem, bleeping at least once a day but my vegetables are freezing too. Fridge is 8 years old but for over £1000 I thought it might last longer than this. Will get a Smeg next (sooner than I thought).

georgie
February 2013

the problem in my case (E521T) is the bottom light switch
reed.
If the reed ( up and down doors )does not work properly the main controller thinks the door is ajar and will cut off the fans. Fridge stops working and constantly beeping but eventually the beeping stops together with the fridge.
I have ordered a new reed switch however am not impressed with the plug as it seems wonky and would like to change but can't pull it out as there is no lee way for the wiring to extend.

I can't see any way of getting to it without cutting open the darn fridge.
Any suggestions out there?

roberts
October 2012

Got exactly the same problem although we have done well i think we've had it 9 years!

I did press the = button inside the fridge for about 10 seconds and the fridge resets, all the lights go off but the firidge still works, this lasts for about two days but then all lights come back on and we are confronted with the insane beeping again, these fridges aren't happy if there not beeping, won't buy again!!

It's driving my mad, I shall try the fans and see if that works?

Nick Wraith
July 2012

Had the same problem with the damn alarm beeping at all hours of the day & night. Thanks to some of the posts below it was easily fixed. Found a broken wire on the fan in the main fridge section. 30 minutes later with a bit of soldering and some heat shrink it is all go again and a lot of money saved.

Peter E
June 2012

CONSTANT beeping. I am certain it is programmed for this error to occur after 3 or 4 years after reading all other comments.
We have treated this fridge well so it has to be a design fault.

Ava
April 2012

Another unhappy customer. Our fridge is beeping non stop and the company does nothing. Not even a circuit diagram to assist.

Vicky Nikolopoulos
March 2012

I also had the alarm beep problem start last week and thanks to the coments i have removed the fan in the fridge repaired the wires and fridge is now back to its noisy old self again. thanks for your help

mick
March 2012

Hi. the problem may be due to loose wires or more likely the fan bearing is starting to wear-out. As the bearing wears it become more difficult for the brushless DC driver circuit to start it spining and it stalls/stops spinning. Best you find a spare fan (Sunon pn kd1208btb1-6a) or do as i do... remove the fan and peal back the sticker and "lubricate the bearing" with silicon spray or low temperature oil (only a minute amount is required). Be sure to put the sticker back to sael the bearing again.

Kari_Luc55
January 2012

I just fixed ours. There are 2 fans, one in the freezer behind the back wall and one in the fridge. Both fans have cheap crap wiring on them which breaks very easily from vibrations.
This causes a constant beep to start every few hours and the green lights inside the fridge to flash continuously. To stop the beeping press any button inside the fridge, but the beeping will be back to haunt you soon.

If the fridge fan is the problem you'll know because the freexer will get cold but the fridge won't. This was my problem.

Solved by: remove all shelves, peel away back panel, undo a single screw in the panel with the flashing lights, remove that carefully, un-hook the fan fron the witing harness, solder the wire, put back together and bob's your uncle.

If the fridge is cold it's proably the freezer fan. If power has been off for a bit and freezer is defrosted, when power is turned back on the freezer fan should start running. Open the freezer and you should hear it wind down as it stops when the door is opened.

To access this one (stolen from another guy out in internet land) insert teaspoon handles around the top of the back panel in the freezer and pull the back out. I used some tie wire, decent string would do. You'll find a broken wire in there somewhere.

All this frigging around because nobody outside F & P will touch these fridges, and F & P will not tell you when the 'engineer' is coming, just give you a 5 hr window when he might roll up, so you have to have a day off work to get the beer fridge fixed. He won't work weekends and F & P will not give you the guys number so you can make local arrangements.

As an aside, these repair people for F & P are actually franchisees, ie they pay F & P for the right to repair their crap appliances. I can imagine the sales speel F & P use to get these guys money "Our appliances are all shit quality, are nothing but trouble and you'll make heaps of money fixing our 3rd rate imported from asia crap!"

Rod.
October 2011

I'm not sure what model fridge I have.. Just that its a Fisher & Paykel.. a couple of years ago it started beeping and I could temporarily switch the alarm off by pressing the temp control buttons at the back of the fridge... Called out a F&P tech and ended up needing a new fan in the back of the freezer compartment. Cost around $240 altogether from memory.

The beeping has started again in the last couple of days and I'm looking for a more permanent way to get the alarm to shut up since I cant afford the tech to come out just yet!

Ange
April 2011

The fridge compartment also has a fan identical to the freezer evap fan.
This is located behind the centre panel at the top of the fridge section at the back of the compartment.
When these fail, the fridge compartment wont always maintain temp, so the high temp alarm beeps.

It's worth checking, I've had several fail in customers fridges, and actually missed it in a friends fridge that would intermittently beep... oops...

rick
January 2010

I have a 521T active smart about 9 years old, and same problem started recently. I pulled the back of the freezer out, repaired the wires leading to the fan (which are tiny and break where they are notched into the plastic frame), and defrosted, put back together and voila! But only for a few days and it came back. I'm at my wits end and can't afford the repairman. I'll be trying the door bearing thing from above, it sounded like my door might be off, which could be the case with the heavy drinks all oh-so-cleverly stored in the door... Maybe what I did at first might help someone elses problem, anyway...

Ellie
October 2009

not sure exactly what my fridge is.. maybe fisher and paykel E413T. its driving me nuts.. only beeps once a day n i play with the temp controls and it shuts up.. i have moved a couple of times left it off for months and turned it on does the same thing.. ive completely cleaned it out.. have no idea what its from.. it is about 4 1/2yrs old tho.. someone HELP.. really dont wana waste my money if its something so simple. it looks like a brand new fridge, well looked after.. everything is fine with it except it just beeps??????

Trista
May 2009

We have exactly the same problem. Fridge won't stop beeping. We are going mad. Help.

Anatole
May 2009

I have a E521T fridge, 7 years old. A couple of days ago the alarm started sounding, at first everytime we opened and closed the door, we noticed that it was also warming up. Some 24hrs later it started beeping constantly. We called the serviceman and switched it off, transfered all the food to spare fridge. Serviceman arrived today, fridge behaved itself, downloaded it's history ( yes clever these fridges )
nothing shown, all running perfectly. He did a good job and dismantled everything. In the end the only thing he noticed was that the lower bearing on main door hinge was not working correctly. He said you should be able to push door closed and when it get about 300mm from closing there should be some resistance , meaning you have to push the door past this, once done door will close by itself. In my case you could push until nearly closed with no resistance. he thinks that door was slightly ajar, fridge thinks door is closed, fans starts, because door is open, cool air leaks out, fridge works overtime which creates ice behind rear panel in freezer. Sensors don't work properly , thats why I could not adjust on smart system. Everything was frozen. Once we defrosted everything worked fine. He changed the lower bearing on the door( $3.00 ) . Fingers crossed it's stays ok.
( Total $124 )
Hope this helps.

Mario
April 2009

I have a E522B Fisher & Paykel fridge. It was about 4 years old when it first started beeping a few times a day. Discovered evaporator in freezer iced up - emptied fridge, defrosted and it fixed the problem. However, it only fixed the problem for about 9 months. We are now back to the same beeping, have done the same thing but not fixed it. I know 2 other people with similar fridges with similar problem. I will not buy a Fisher and Paykel fridge again!

Vanessa
February 2009

My E521T is around the same age and doing the same thing - constant beeping at all different times of the day. This has been going on for past 2 weeks and I've noticed fridge isn't keeping the food very cold. I have been playing around with the temp control but it isn't doing much. I'm going to clean fridge out today and defrost it as it could be just a water build up somewhere. Oh and guess what - my fridge is around 4-41/2 years old as well! Will let you know what I find.

Lea
February 2009

Had similar problem with E402b.Turned out to be broken wire on the freezer fan fly lead. The fan is suspended in a triangular flexible mount assembly and if the fly leads are clamped too tightly with time vibration will cause open circuit in the wire. Fix was to solder wire together and reposition clamp to allow for flexing.
I believe this problem could also happen with the fridge compartment fan wiring.
Symptom was constant alarm with "Red" fault led displayed and also second from top "green" temp led displayed.

John. Pauanui, New Zealand
January 2009

HELP PLEASE THIS FRIDGE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY !!!!!!

Dora
December 2008

E440T about 5 years old, alarm sounding & fridge freezing. Spent £200 having fan motor kit, defrost heater replaced, with call out charge and it has not made any difference at all. So it is not any of the above.... Would realy appriecate any answers. As feel we have just wasted our money, particulary after having read all this.

Margaret
November 2008

My fridge is about 4 years old and has been doing this for a few months now. Not every day but enough to annoy me, especially at night. I wouldn't recommend this fridge to anyone !

Dora
November 2008

I have the exact same problem and my fridge is coming up 4 1/2 years old - this is ridiculous! Has anyone found the solution yet?

Lisa
October 2008

My E402B is about 4 years old and have identical problem. I purchased a new PCB control board and replaced it but the problem persists. I called F&P service centre in Australia but they had no idea. After scouring the net its almost like this problem is "pre-programmed" to occur at about the 3-4 year mark. I have noticed frost build up in the freezer so am going to try a defrost and switch the fridge off for 24hrs. Will let you know how I go.

Glen
October 2008

I have model e402 and its 4.5years old and the alarm goes off also, finding it difficult to find a refrigerator engineer to advise if is worth repairing.

Susan
September 2008

Yes we have the same problem and have a 17 month old 2 rooms away. Is there any solutions?

Dean
September 2008

Sorry cant help,I have the same problem with my E521T, It started about 1 week ago,its also coming up to 4 years old.Not real good at 2am

Brett
July 2008

have same problem lights flashing but no faults recorded on board someone said it could be sensor circuit other said it could be reed switches

phil
May 2008

I HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM AS WELL - HAVE YOU FOUND THE SOLUTION? RACHAEL

RACHAEL
April 2008

I HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM AS WELL - HAVE YOU FOUND THE SOLUTION? RACHAEL

RACHAEL
April 2008

I have the model E422B with exactly the same problem. Has your issue been resolved?

Mike
March 2008