brandt fridge/freezer stopped freezing but motor working?

If you are in the london area give these guys a ring they came out and sorted mine out. www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk.

Jason
February 2013

Please I need some help, I did disconnect my fridg frizzer for 48 hours and when I connected back doesnt stop working for hours, what should I do? Thank you.

jose
February 2013

it's been a week since I defrost my upright proline fridge freezer but the freezer is not making any ice. I am wondering what's wrong with it. According to the manufacturer I have been advised to adjust the thermostat setting to maximum but still the freezer is not working but the fridge is ok.

bassoo
June 2012

i have a brandt upright freezer A\ rating, i noticed today that the green light is on and also the red one and the food inside is partially thawed. Can anyone help can't find the manual.

Tina from West Bromwich
August 2010

frost free thy say,two weeks away,all lost,thanks brandt

mo
August 2010

I have a Brandt A Class Frost Free stand alone fridge freezer. There is power getting to the unit but it is not keeping temperature. It is warm inside the fridge & freezer. I have lost the instruction manual and can't fix the problem.

D. Evans
July 2010

I followed the instructions today following my freezer breakdown after the door was left open. I am so pleased to say that it worked and it is now up and running again! I am so thrilled that I don't have to find hundreds of pounds for a new one.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Janice Adam
July 2010

Have a intergrated brandt frost free fridge freezer about 6+ years old everything 48 hours ago stoped working fridge and freezer compartments have checked pipe and all other posibilitys no ice build up behind polystyrene or any where else im thinking perhaps as suggested on this page that the element or perhaps the motor has gone is there a possible other reason for it failing!What would it cost for a replacement part fitted if it was the element or motor?

Steve Herne Bay Kent
March 2010

Make sure the drain tube from the plate at the bottom of the rear cavity is clear of ice before re-assembly.

Elec Eng
January 2010

thanks used hair dryer after son left door open now works

Adam
November 2009

Another thanks to all ! I too was about to buy another fridge freezer when my Brandt freezer compartment started to thaw. I followed the instuctions given and , hurray ! it's working again ! Marvellous ! I came upon this site by chance when looking for reviews of Brandt models to see if anyone else had any feedback about them.

Steve
November 2009

Thanks everyone! I had got as far as filling in the order form for a new fridge freezer and had just to hit 'send' when I found this site and dragged my husband in from lawn mowing to put Jackie's plan into action. All just as predicted - masses of ice, even the drain pipe from the fridge frozen solid too. He did break a bit off the polystyrene panel as it was stuck fast in ice, but he just rested them back in like a jigsaw puzzle and everything locked into place on top, so no problems! All humming away happily again...

Frances
October 2009

Came across this site when I was trying to find a local repairer for my Brandt fridge freezer which I thought had given up the ghost as the food was defrosting especially the ice cream which was at the top. The fridge is now 7 years old. Twice before it has dumped ice at the bottom but still worked fine. This time tho' the food was all defrosting, even though the fridge seemd to be OK. Like others, I think the door had been left open slightly. Anyway I did as suggested - switched off and defrosted overnight. Now it seems to be working fine. Thanks a lot for the advice.

Marion, Scotland
September 2009

Hi All - I came across this site whilst looking for a replacement for my Whirlpool frost free upright freezer which had stopped working. Seemed to have the same symptoms as the Brandt in this forum so tried the defrosting as you have described - it was a very similar set up - and you've guessed it - it is now working again! I am very grateful for all the advice here - thanks everyone!

Liza from Derbyshire
August 2009

Will never buy one of these frost free or Brandt makes again, its the bane of my life have to take apart and defrost every 2-3 months or as others have said it takes on a mind of its own and defrosts all the food!!!!

Also makes the loud cracking noises, I'm guessing this is the ice build up!!!

Kerry
August 2009

Excellent advice given! Daughter left freezer door ajar overnight & I had the same problem - it appeared to be working but was not freezing. I emptied freezer, turned it off, applied fan heater for a while, then put it on fast freeze and soon it was as good as new. This really works.

pamelah
June 2009

April 2009, same thing happened with my Brandt auto defrost fridge freezer (four-years old). All it needs is deconnecting for 12 hours. If you don't want to wait, speed up the defrosting by using a hair-dryer inside at the bottom of the freezer to de-ice the vent. Then reconnect your appliance a couple of hours later...when there is no more water from the melting!

Joe from Sheffield
April 2009

I agree with everything here, the loud cracking and the build up of ice. Mine has 'given up' three times now. I have not put the white plastic cover back on - just the polystyrene, this lets you see when the ice is building up without removing those plastic clips. It's just given up again and luckily I haven't re-stocked, its running on -5 oC and varying. Time to call it a day!

JB
March 2009

weve had a spillage of milk into the back of tray of freezer its gone through pipes its stinks, any suggestions.

anonymous
January 2009

Hi all,

I have the same problem, but believe this is the answer (the automatic defrost switch)

http://www.partmaster.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.pl?PID=171810§ion=141343&brand=Brandt&model=CFA311WU&path=67607,61241:108044,141343&shop=brandt

£37.99 - will let you know if this cures the issue.

It's too icy in here
December 2008

Thanks to all for finding a solution to our problem. We discovered a substantial ice build up behind the inner rear panel which was obviously causing the thermostat to believe that the freezer was down to temperature, which of course it wasn't! However, a defrost later and the freezer fired up immediately. Now does anyone want to talk about flashing amber lights on Dell computers..........

Dave G
November 2008

I have now encountered the same problem with my Brandt Fridge-Freezer. There was so much ice that I had problems removing the polystyrene panel which I managed to damage it to a certain extent. I think I should be able to patch it up and will give it a go but I'm a little concerned it will have an effect on the temperature.

Anyone know where I get my hands on a Brandt polystyrene panel?

Tom

Tom
October 2008

Looks like its a common problem,we have just defrosted our Brandt f/freezer and the amount of water was incredable.It took 2 days for it to completely thaw and all is well at the moment so I wonder how often you have to do this as it can prove costly if your awayat the time. I understand that there is no cure,and no response from Brandt seems to confirm that. I wont be buying there products again ever!!

Paul Crow-Mains
July 2008

Same for us . Ours is 4 years old and every so often it decides it doesn't want to freeze anymore , but the fridge still works fine. We called a British Gas engineer out and he said all you can do is switch it off for 24 hrs and let it defrost ,as it's a design fault and the back freezes up and it can't be fixed ! You just have to remember to do it every 6 months or so .....so much for frost free , heh?

nicky taylor
July 2008

This advice has been indispensible, and has saved me the cost of a replacement fridge freezer twice over, as I have just gone through this process for a second time on my two year old Brandt. Incidentally, I don't know if other Brandt owners have the same problem, but every now and then mine makes an almighty cracking noise for no obvious reason - it doesn't seem to affect the running of it, but it does terrify my v sensitive dog, who then scurries off to hide behind the sofa :)

Shez
July 2008

Great - we followed the steps - panel with pegs removed, polystyrene removed, de-iced - turned back on - fixed!

H
May 2008

Great advice. Was on point of dumping it as it is 5 yrs old and read this thread by chance - defrosting took a couple of hours and it's up and running just like new. Praise the internet!

GM
March 2008

My 24month old brant fridge freezer got worse and worse at freezing but fridge was fine. Followed the advice here, and now it's as good as new! Just needed a good defrosting. Could have left it 24hrs or so, but went for the quicker option of removing white plastic panel and polystyrene to get at the ice, then melted it with a hairdryer! Back up and running within an hour.

steve
March 2007

I suggest defrosting all freezers manually. The 48 hour route. Dont put anything electrical in the freezer whislt defrosting!Ice covering the ventilation generally reduces the effectiveness of the freezer and they DO ice up.
My Brandt is 10 years old, got a mind of its own. Occasionally it wont freeze but a defrost does the trick. Usually I find that its because the door hasnt been shut in a rush or the seals are worn.

Chris Longley
September 2006

I am astonished that this is what you were told. I have a Proline NF5343 frost-free fridge-freezer which is about ten years old and has a similar problem. I believe that it was in fact made by Ocean which is now part of the Brandt group. When the same fault developed in my freezer five years ago the engineer replaced several parts, but the one at fault was the small automatic switch which governs the heating element used during the regular defrosting cycle. He did not replace the element itself, which he said rarely failed. At present I am trying to obtain a schematic to check this switch and find a number for it.
I would say that you were given uninformed advice which could turn a cheap component replacement into a "beyond economic repair" situation.

Bernard
June 2006

I have a BrandT Fridge Freezer, I accidently left the door open overnight and over a week the Freezer stopped working.

The black metal grill on the outside was cold usually this is quite hot.

A week later I removed all the draws and saw ice had built over the air holes. I firstly turned off the power, then decided to use a hot water bottle to melt the ice, but ran out of patience and placed a fan heater on low in side the freezer compartment which within 30 mins defrosted the whole freezer.

During this process I soaked up the melting water with a cloth.

I then turned the fridge on and the fast freeze. Waited about 15 mins and placed all the compartments back, and hey presto everythings working again.

I did not remove the plastic cover as it may be difficult to place back, especially if those plastic cover screws break, with the hot water bottle or fan heater this was not required and importantly does not invalidate any warranty.

I could have just turned things off for 48 hours, but like me you probably had lots of food, so I went for the fan heater to defrost.

I never call out an engineer. My fridge was only two years old and the fault was my creation my leaving the door ajar overnight. If the appliance has given you say 5 or more years good service, then after that point I would replace it, if i could not get it to work.

I'm sure had a called out an engineer, he would have done the same thing perhaps not the fan heater but would have replaced something that need not be replaced abd charged £75 which could be put to better use in terms of replacing it further down the line.

Never buy the top end appliance, always go the middle range and you should get years of good service, most things are only designed for 5 years, if you get more, great.

ie £500 or more for a hotpoint washing machine or £300 for an Hotpoint 1300 spin Aquarius washing machine, i bought the aquarius by shopping around, no fancy leds but it does the job well. The reason I mention, my parents had a fancy led one, which digital readouts, but the darn thing went all funny. And yes they only last 5 years.

They did use to last for 20 years boilers, fridges etc, but then manufacturing got clever in order to maintian sales and revenue, sad for the environment though.

Jayeshkumar Roy (Bradford W. Yorks)
June 2006

I had the same problem. I sorted it by taking the white rear internal panel away. It was retained by poppers, a sharp tug removed it. Behind this was a polystyrene panel, which I levered away. Behind this was a solid block of ice which had bowed the polystyrene panel which inturn was stopping the fan from turning. I de-iced the block of ice, refitted the polystyrene panel and the white plastic panel and turned on. All back to normal. Remember to disconnect the electrics before hand.

Paul Lawrence
September 2005

My Brandt Fridge Freezer has just done the same thing ie the Freezer stoped freezing initallyt - but now it has completely stopped - about 20 months old. I'm not sure if it's likely to be economical to repair - especially if it goes again in anothr 18-20 months - any comments from anyone out there - is it likely to be worth repairing or should I bite the bullet and replace it...

Kev
September 2005

good advice from someone in forum. I have Brandt frost free intergrate fridge/freezer. As you mentioned my fridge was working fine but freezer had stopped. Turned it off and defrosted. At the back of the freezer inside is a white panel with a lip at the bottom. If you can get your hand underneath this you can feel the ice that has formed at the bottom of the metal element. We took this white panel off and the amount of ice that had formed couldnt believe it for a frost free freezer. Anyway removed ice from element put it all back together. Just cleaned out the water collector at the back of freezer. Switched it on and it started to freeze straight away. Will leave fast freeze button on 24 hours and then put food in. Will have to keep an eye on this in a couple of months. Hope this helps people it worked for us and saved a few pound in repairs thanks for all comments. Good site

jackie
September 2005

i would like to know answer mine has just done same
bought this especially as it is intergrated. Only fifeteen months old. Phone brandt tech services they said either the element has gone or the motor is on the way out.

jackie
August 2005