Can I fix Hotpoint FF187E/FF200E fridge compartment is not cool?

FF200L
Just like you, I have suffered the problem of a warm fridge and cold freezer. Below is more information to give you more ideas about the resolution of the problem. My local engineer came by today and he told me that my problem was the Defrost Thermostat (see below). He came to this conclusion after examining the ‘ice block.’ The frost should be white only. If the lower part of the frost appears like ‘clear’ ice then your problem is the same as I have. I have been advised that the clear ice picture is caused by water dribbling onto frost. We all agree that Hotpoint, and its successors, are crap.

The Evaporator Coils are Frosted Over
If the freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm and the evaporator coils are frosted over, there may be a defrost system problem. Several times a day the defrost heater assembly turns on for a few minutes to melt away any frost or ice that may have accumulated on the evaporator coils. If the defrost heater assembly has burned out, or the defrost thermostat or defrost control have failed the frost will build up on the coils and eventually no air will be able to travel through the coils to provide cooling. The most common cause for this condition is a problem with the defrost system.

Evaporator Fan Motor
If the refrigerator freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm, the evaporator fan motor might have failed. Every refrigerator has a set of coils called an evaporator. These are the coils that get cold. A small fan and motor is mounted near the coils. This fan and motor - called the evaporator fan and motor, draws air over the evaporator coils and circulates it throughout the freezer and refrigerator. If the fan fails, the freezer or refrigerator will get much warmer than usual.

Damper Control Assembly
If the freezer is cold but refrigerator is warm the air damper control might be stuck closed or broken. The air damper control is either an automatic or manually operated door which opens and closes to let more or less cold air into the refrigerator compartment. If it doesn't open properly it won't let enough cold air into the refrigerator. If the evaporator fan is running, the damper door is open and no air is coming out. The evaporator may be frosted up caused by a defrost problem.
Thermistor
If the freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm the thermistor might be defective. The thermistor is a sensor which monitors the air temperature. It is connected to the control board. If the thermistor is defective the refrigerator does not cool or may cool continuously.

Temperature Control Board
If the refrigerator's freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm the temperature control board might be defective. The temperature control board provides the voltage to the fan motors and compressor. These boards are often misdiagnosed. Check all other components to be certain this is the cause of the problem.

Defrost Thermostat
If the refrigerator freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm, the defrost thermostat might be defective. Several times a day the defrost heater turns on for a few minutes to melt away any frost that may have accumulated on the evaporator coils. In order for this to work, the defrost thermostat has to sense that the coils are cold enough. If the coils are cold enough the defrost heater will turn on. If the thermostat is defective it may not be able to sense the temperature of the coils and then won't turn on the defrost heater. If the defrost heater doesn't turn on, the frost will build up on the coils and eventually no air will be able to travel through the coils to provide cooling to the freezer or refrigerator. The defrost thermostat can be checked for continuity. It should have continuity when it reaches the low temperature of its operating range.

Main Control Board
If the refrigerator's freezer is cold but the refrigerator is warm the main control board might be defective. This is not common. The cause of this problem is almost always in the defrost components.

Dennis Yates
May 2017

I guess another slower way to sort out this issue is just to defrost the freezer even though you can't see the ice behind the panels. Just switch off the freezer, take out the draws with whatever you're freezing, leave the door open and leave for 24 to 36 hours and you should have a pool of water and an ice free freezer. May be an easier solution for people not wanting to unscrew things. In fact I've said to my wife that even though Hotpoint say this type of freezer doesn't need defrosting it's probably a good idea just to defrost it once every 6 months.

Clive
March 2017

Hotpoint service agent www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk replace sensor and all working fine. 07723019161.

Mia
March 2017

Thanks for all these postings. FF failed just b4 Xmas (panic) Was unable to reset, at first. But then noticed that, although both controls were fully a/c, the freezer temp control knob felt as though it was not connected when adjusting; removing said control knob revealed that the connecting rod between knob and potentiometer was NOT actually connected to the knob. A small plastic tool enabled the pot to be set fully a/c, and the reset was achieved. A bit of epoxy repaired the £16 knob, and all is well!

Roger
December 2016

FF200E fridge just found out how to cure freezing problem
Defrost completely. (I removed back panel in freezer, deep screws only, found 2 inch thick ice behind panel.) Removed all ice including
drain hole.
Around the rear of fridge is a drain flattened rubber tube. Cut
this off. Icing problem cured.

Barrett
May 2016

If you have tried all the usual stuff with removing the back panel in the freezer and attacked that ice block with a hairdrier and your fridge is still not cooling but your freezer is fine (like mine was) it's likely your damper motor has packed in. Worry not!....

Simply remove the shelves in the fridge

Unscrew the two torx screws in the panel with the lights in

Take the lens off the lights and unscrew the two screws

The panel will now come away from the back of the fridge

Unplug the lighting cable and the damper cable

(You will see that there is a flap which controls the air flow from the freezer if this fails no cold air will come up from the freezer)

Now wedge something to half open the damper flap. I lodged a small ball of duct tape in there.

Now damper flap is half open put everything back together and you now have a cold fridge.

Enjoy

Jan
February 2016

Thanks for this thread. I had same problem with Hotpoint fridge freezer and was looking to replace it.
Took 30 minutes to remove the internal panels and defrost the ice on the condenser and get it back up and running again. Also got many brownie points from my wife.

Mark
November 2015

I find if you put a fridge thermometer in, when you see the temp building that's when you defrost! Works well for me and saves my food going off.

Doughnut lady
August 2015

I had the same problem, the fridge ain't cold enough and just warm, I thought it's in the brink of death fridge/freezer....I read what been said might be the problem I took out the baskets, and unscrew the cover off and just to find it's okay with ices, none blocking but notice a fan not spinning... I gave a flick with my finger, it's went and stopped, I gave another strong flick again, stopped again.
Right, I'm gonna flicked even harder....whack!!! ........hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......spinning slowly-faster.....
WORKING!!!!!!! spinning round as normal.. Cold air started blowing out in my face.... ahhhhh that's better...
I saved the fridge freezer from brink of death....
hopefully the next few hours the fridge should response to coldest... it's almost new year eve in within 2 hours!
No beers will be dying in the fridge no more!!!

Paul Tarran
December 2014

Hi. Just want to say that we've had exactly the same experience. I took the pannel off yesterday and used a hiardrier to melt the ice. The fridge is now cold but not as cold as I would have expected.....I don't feel very optimistic!

LL
October 2014

This happened to our FF187 several times, It always coincides with the warmer weather, It used to happen a couple of times during summer but now I'm repeating this process every 10 days or so.

The Ice that builds up is beyond a joke, these fridge freezers are suppose to have a heating element which heats up in order to carry out an automatic defrost...instead You get a lump of ice that could well have sunk the Titanic.

I will never ever buy another Hotpoint Fridge freezer as this is obviously a known problem of which Hotpoint is firmly hiding from potential customers, I'll not be be buying its sister brand of Indesit either as you cannot rule out it having the same problems.

Jock Lauder.
July 2014

Thank you guys so much i was going to buy a new fridge but thanks to this web page iv fixed the old one yes removed back panelz removed all thd ice and my fridge is cold again thank!!!!!

zarina
June 2014

There are some great clips on u-tube demonstrating this problem and how to troubleshoot the root causes.
The illustrations really help the viewer to understand how the appliances work!!
Try:http://www.youtube.com/embed/gaRyNiPn26o?rel=0&autoplay=1
This guy(Bill Newbury)may seem a bit long winded but this vid is well worth checking out!
A less technical appraisal is also worth watching just to confirm that your "warm fridge and cold freezer" problem is what you think it is and is very common:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hisZ5EwWp68

Heating elements cost about £55. Thermostats less than £10-£25 depending on which one.

ianlee
June 2014

FAO: MM

Check this link out mate, may help!

http://www.justanswer.com/uk-appliance/78e33-hi-i-hotpoint-ff187e-fridge-freezer-compressor.html

Feeling Let Down
May 2014

Hi guys, how long after you switch the unit back on after defrosting over night, should it take to cool again?

I have done the ice removal but the unit just does not seem to be cooling, thoughts please?

Please Help :(

Feeling Let Down
May 2014

Update: after 10mins of silence, motor went on again. Freezer working but fridge isn't . Back to square one. Please help!!!

MM
May 2014

Hi everyone, had same problem here. Did everything as all of you guys, dismantled first panel, then second panel, melted away the massive block of ice, reassembled panels, turned it on, got the flashing lights, turned dials off, then the switch off at the wall, then on again, then dials on, no more flashing lights. I can hear fridge turning on and motor going and then after a minute all silence. Light is on (not flashing though) but neither fridge nor freezer seem to work now. Ideas? Please help!!!

MM
May 2014

Hi everybody, I'd like to thank the person who told us to take the back panels off and get a hairdrier to the ice build up. Managed to do this today before I had any problems with the fridge as we were getting puddles of water now and again but would mention that when I turned the fridge/freezer back on after about 5/6 minutes only the fan came on. This turned off after another 3/4 minutes so I thought that maybe I had disturbed something in the process and possibly a thermostat or something else had gone wrong.
As I am going away on Monday for a few days I rushed out to buy a fridge as hubby is not able to get to shops for provisions, etc. in my absence.
On my return I thought what the heck and turned the fridge back on and just left it only to find out after about half an hour that the fridge is now working properly. I am now keeping my fingers crossed that it continues working though.
Luckily enough we do need another small fridge to keep the beers, etc. in so at least it won't go to waste. Lesson leant to be a bit more patient in future!

PaulaA
May 2014

Thanks to all on this site. This is 2nd time I have had this problem. Managed to clear a large chunk of ice from under the cooling fins. Thanks for the guidance. Was able to complete the job in under an hour so was able get the fridge working much to the other half's pleasure and less ear bending for me!!

oldmidgetman
January 2014

Really useful, thanks everyone. Only this I an not sure of is where the panels are that have to be removed. Are they both inside the freezer bit of the 200? Are either outside? Do I have to take out all three freezer drawers to remove the panel? Fridge has packed up but lights are on, there is no build up of ice in the freezer. Is this still likely to be the feared lump of ice that needs the hair dryer treatment? Cheers

MCXV
November 2013

Thanks for all this valuable info. We had the problem of ice under the bottom draw in the freezer, and hey presto! Is was the drainage hole blocked up with ice behind the panels. Defrosted and replaced panels but cannot stop the lights flashing!!! I've turned the dials to off and turned off at mains, then turn back on, but lights start up again :( Fridge and freezer seem to be working ok, so will I just have to put up with the disco lights?

Wazshaw
October 2013

Wow!!! Thank's so much for this! Was thinking we were going to have to buy a new fridge freezer. (Having just had the laptop, dishwasher and shower all break I was not looking forward to another huge payout!!!) I have just finished following the instructions, Been at it since 7.30am, it's now 10.30am) ! The ice build up behind the panels was incredible. Could have invited the polar bears in! Waiting now to see if it is working again! Fingers crossed

Jennybear
September 2013

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are not alone. This advice is priceless - well at least worth the cost of an engineer's call out. Done the same process - remove the back panels and defrost with the hairdryer. Again the milk turning sour prematurely was the key indicator. Hopefully we have sorted the problem and will have to remember to stay vigilant to avoid the situation again. Have always bought Hotpoint but after reading this stream will think twice in the future.

Kathy
September 2013

Out FF187E had the same symptoms - water leaking through the freezer. First unplugged from mains. Removed first back panel, 2nd panel with fan and voila ... block of ice on the bottom, on both sides also covering sensor - quick 5-10 minute excercise with hairdryier, then gently pushing plastic tube through drain hole, after that powered it on. Did the light reset. Fingers crossed.

Thomas
May 2013

I followed the instructions
defrosted the huge lump of ice
..sorted and works fine
THANKYOU TO ALL

BARNEY/MILO
March 2013

Hi everyone and thank you for your help in solving my problem with my Hotpoint FF200E Fridge/Freezer. I followed a post from March 2012 and it seemed to work.
(Original Problem water leaking from the front, ice build up in lowest freezer compartment, and the last thing was fridge getting warm but freezer ok.) This is the post I followed.......................

First I unplugged the fridge/freezer from the mains. I checked the back coils to make sure they were dust free and wanged the hoover all around the compressor and grill for good measure (you dont want these bad boys over heating).

Next I removed all the freezer drawers as I suspected the problem was coming from down there. The upper fridge compartment only has 2 bulbs and a damper/motor and no cooling coil so there is no point taking all that apart. The cool air is circulated with a fan (in the lower compartment) and directed up into the fridge. All the important gubbins are in the lower freezer compartment.

I removed all the ice build up in the freezer to allow me to remove the inside back panels (Dont use a hammer and chisel because you could damage the inner plastic shell of the freezer compartment). If you use a Hairdryer to melt ice be very careful not to get to close to the plastic otherwise it will start to bubble up.

Next I removed some philip screws from the back panel. The back panel pulled out and revealed another back panel which housed the fan. This was removed by releasing some clips that snaps this back panel to the chassis. Be careful when releasing clips they break easy.

And there was the elephant in the room! A massive ice build up that blocked the drain and the duct that would take the cold air to the fridge compartment. I defrosted all this bad boy and dried it out thoroughly. There was also an ice buildup in the drain hole..I suspect this is why the fridge had started leaking water in the first place. Anyway, as another user on this forum suggested, I fed about 12inches of lightly greased flex cable through the drain starting from within the freezer and pulling it out of the rubber flex outlet above the compressor around the back. I then poured a little water down the drain to ensure it was working as expected..it was.

Screwed everything back together and hey presto..she is chilling again.

Anyway, I suspect the thing will frost up again but I will keep my eye on it. We managed to go 3 years until we had to do this so im hoping that a yearly defrost/inspection should avoid future problems.

I will finish with the same rhetoric that others shared..this is not a frost free fridge freezer and next time we shall pay a bit more for our white/silver goods and avoid the indecit/hotpoint poor quality products.

Just remember be careful with what tools you use and try not to damage anything.

Hope this helps someone :)

Mark Taylor
March 2013

Had problems kept icing up in th end we got in touch with a company who service the london area www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk they came out and found that the fault was with the heater which they replaced.

Tim
March 2013

I have had this fridge freezer for 5 years now. This is the third time I have had this problem. Freezer leaks from the bottom and ice builds up underneath the bottom drawer. Its all well and good taking the panel off a the back of the freezer, defrosting the ice to clear the drain. But Hotpoint know this happens and should acknowledge this fault, its poor customer service. Sure as hell will not be purchasing ANYTHING Hotpoint again!

Jacqueline
February 2013

same problem fixed using the solution on this site remove both covers remove all ice rebuild . switching the flashing lights off turn off on dials off at wall turn on at wall then on at the dials hey presto no flashing . thanks to this site for helping me out and saving me money and a big thanks to hotpoint for such a brill product and a fantastic selection of potential illness due to a faulty fridge

izzybob
January 2013

Same issue here, excellent explanation from Ben Whitmore in March 2012 sorted the issue. Thank you :)

Aubs
January 2013

My freezer is ok but my fridge doesn't seem to cool things on the ff187e

gary andrews
January 2013

Thanks to eveyone on this site. Had the same issue as you guys and yes that big Elephant was in there!!

What I don't get is this freezer suppose to be FF! That's why I bought it in the first place. Thank god I didn't need to call out a maintenance bloke to do something that I easily did myself.

This site sorted me and the freezer out. Now it's as good as new.

Thiago
December 2012

Well had the same problem again today after posting back in July so every 5-6 months you face having to do this.
I did see on another site there is a fix you need to buy parts but I'm not sure if the cost justify it.
" Thought the Hotpoint Engineer would have posted this. Known fault on the full range ( FF187/200 HOTPOINTS AND BAN134/144 INDESITS )
The gap below the evap blocks up solid with ice.
Parts for the modification are listed as follows to cure this fault
After production serial number 71008
DEFROST HEATER KIT - C00259475
GUTTER HEATER ASSY- C00140585
LINK HARNESS ASSY - C00141294

If the serial number is before 71008 the harness and gutter are the same part numbers but the defrost heater kit is C00259476
The new gutter heater fits up into the air duct to keep it clear and the defrost heater kit has extra passes and a new elth defrost stat/thermal fuse. The extra passes hang loose in the void down to the drain hole and keep the ice clear. The link harness is used to add the new gutter heater and defrost heater together. Next time Hotpoint come out or you have to ring them, just quote the parts to them. In theory, the appliance had a fault from new so the trading standards 6 year rule would apply.

Been fitting these kits for the last couple of years to cure this fault. Hotpoint will not admit anything over the phone but we have done shed loads."

Steve Jones
December 2012

thanks dave may- will try your method

imbeciles at hotpoint should have tested this

STAY CLEAR OF HOTPOINT CAMPAIGN

frustrated mathews
October 2012

Massive block of ice removed! Glad I found this website prior to purchasing new appliance:) Hope that's the problem sorted.

MD
September 2012

Brilliant, just saved me £80 on a call out charge :) I had exact same problem with my Hotpoint FF187E. Started to to leak water at the base recently & then fridge compartment stopped working. As advised on this page I removed the back panel from the freezer compartment & found a HUGE block of ice. Once defrosted I switched it back on & got flashing lights. I simply turned the appliance to OFF using the dials at the top, switched on & off at the mains & the thing's working again (took about an hour to cool down). In fact my hubby says his beers are colder than before, so actually working even better.... RESULT!!

Belfast
August 2012

Has just spent a rock n roll Friday evening doing as this site advised!!! Huge block of ice being thawed as we speak, just hope that come the morning all will be working again so I can go and replace the copious amount of food we have lost!!! I am a little concerned to read that this has to be done every 2-3 months though!! Think I need to buy another Freezer for the garage so I don't have to keep chucking out food!! Sure as hell won't be a hotpoint one though!

Naomi - peterborough
August 2012

As with all other posts, took off back panel and inner panel and found ice block 15 inches x 3 x 2 inches, weighing 3 lb. Enormous! Problem is, I've got a fancy control panel which is no use whatsoever. Fridge lights were still green and temperature was up at 12C. If the milk hadn't gone off, I might not have known for ages. NO MORE HOTPOINT WHEN THIS ONE DIES.

rob from east yorkshire
July 2012

Another one with the iceberg in the back of the freezer !
Our FF187E is 5 years old and its only this week the fridge part stopped working.Removed the panels in the freezer and a block of ice on the bottom of the heat exchanger.Gave it a blast with a hairdryer for 10 minutes and it fell off.Once back together switched on and got the flashing lights.So switched off from the fridge dials then switched off at wall.Once switched on again at wall switched the fridge on from the dials and it fired up again with no lights.

Steve Jones
July 2012

Oh my god, genius. Thank god for google!!! Same thing happened to me on Wednesday morning, opened the fridge to find it warm and stinky, found this website and removed the two back panels to reveal, oh yes, a huge lump of ice. Used the hairdryer to melt it away, which took a good 30 - 45 mins, but hey presto I now have a fully working fridge again.

Tarz
July 2012

Luckily I looked on here as like others was about to call someone out. But did the same as others and now working fine again. Top job

Liam. Tamworth
June 2012

Bought a FF187E reconditioned,about 3 months ago ,a lovely design and size and at a reasonable price,A few days ago I noticed that the fridge didn't seem as cold as normal,horrified at the thought of having to buy another fridge/freezer I googled my problem and found this page...FANTATIC...took a while get rid of about 4" thick ice behind panel,but now seems fine again.A little concerned that I may have to do this every 2 or 3 months though but Thank you everyone on here. :-)

Ali in Paignton devon
June 2012

many thanks for the advice, left the fridge door open all night and had flashing lights, was unable to stop for a while. Then fridge lost tempreature and thinking it would have to be a new fridge or a repair man, I found this site, it is tricky removing the panel but it has worked

virginia baxter
May 2012

Have the same problem with my 3yr old FF187E fridge/freezer. Have taken off panels as advised and defrosted the large lump of ice behind and cleared the drain channel. Switched on again now. I've reset the switches to get rid of the flashing lights and now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's going to chill down. So grateful to have found this website and the advice on it. Am not looking forward to having to do this on a regular basis though.

Laurel
May 2012

oh many thanks for this site we get a gift hotpoint ff200e I sow few weeks ago some ice down the firdge and i didnt care till last night i fell the fridge is not working and frezer was ok, I was looking for new one i think is not work for ever , I said is not worth to call hotpoint service when I cheek this nice website last night unplag the fridge and wait till morning it was so easy to open the panel and use the hair draier and it take about 1hours to remove all massive ice from the fridge when I dried I turn on the fridge affter 30 min It take about 30 min to start cooling I think first must be cold the frezzer after that the coold air going up for fridge I have to say many thaks for this site save me at list £100 and never ever buy a hotpoint (this was gift )

andy
May 2012

I have had the same problem and carried out the same repair, not once but many times over the last 4 years. This is not a frost free freezer. We have also had problems with our Hotpoint washing machine. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HOTPOINT PRODUCT.

NEVER BUY HOTPOINT
April 2012

We have just moved into a new house and have been using an FF187E.. The fridge was fine initially but in the last week or so the buzzer has been going off and indicator lights flashing the manual states the temperature is too high in the freezer.. Nt sure what this means..is the freezer too warm/cold? There is not really a lot of frost either. Any help appreciated great to see everyone working together n helping each other out! Xx

Rabia
April 2012

thanks everyone mine has been defrosted and on the way to recovery now!! ur geniuses and have a job in currys.

marie
March 2012

I have just done all this and switched it back on..how long does it take for the fridge to get cool again? should it be straight away or will it take a while?
Thanks

hayley
March 2012

Thank you so so much im very grateful for your help, much more help then hotpoint who are just rude and very unhelpful.. Think people need to start writing to watchdog or someone as this is disgusting that they can get away with selling poor quality ff. Ive lost money on food that has gone off and believe we all have its really wrong

a fool for buying hotpoint
March 2012

YES YES YES (If the Freezer is still working).

Our F200E had been leaking from the door for nearly a year. We did the odd "Ice Hack" because of the ice buildup on the lower drawer but we never investigated it further.

Yesterday we woke to a warm fridge..not good times! After church today I decided to investigate. I knew the compressor and refrigerant was ok because the freezer worked fine.

First I unplugged the fridge/freezer from the mains. I checked the back coils to make sure they were dust free and wanged the hoover all around the compressor and grill for good measure (you dont want these bad boys over heating).

Next I removed all the freezer drawers as I suspected the problem was coming from down there. The upper fridge compartment only has 2 bulbs and a damper/motor and no cooling coil so there is no point taking all that apart. The cool air is circulated with a fan (in the lower compartment) and directed up into the fridge. All the important gubbins are in the lower freezer compartment.

I removed all the ice build up in the freezer to allow me to remove the inside back panels (Dont use a hammer and chisel because you could damage the inner plastic shell of the freezer compartment).

Next I removed some philip screws from the back panel. The back panel pulled out and revealed another back panel which housed the fan. This was removed by releasing some clips that snaps this back panel to the chassis.

And there was the elephant in the room! A massive ice build up that blocked the drain and the duct that would take the cold air to the fridge compartment. I defrosted all this bad boy and dried it out thoroughly. There was also an ice buildup in the drain hole..I suspect this is why the fridge had started leaking water in the first place. Anyway, as another user on this forum suggested, I fed about 12inches of lightly greased flex cable through the drain starting from within the freezer and pulling it out of the rubber flex outlet above the compressor around the back. I then poured a little water down the drain to ensure it was working as expected..it was.

Screwed everything back together and hey presto..she is chilling again. I am investigating what the small plastic, barrel shape thing is that came out of the drain..it is around 12mm long and 5mm wide and covered in silver grease.

Anyway, I suspect the thing will frost up again but I will keep my eye on it. We managed to go 3 years until we had to do this so im hoping that a yearly defrost/inspection should avoid future problems.

I will finish with the same rhetoric that others shared..this is not a frost free fridge freezer and next time we shall pay a bit more for our white/silver goods and avoid the indecit/hotpoint poor quality products.

Hope this helps someone :)

Ben Whitmore
March 2012

I used to work as a manager in electrical retail. I sold myself the FF200E because of the excellent feedback I always had from customers. 4 years in and every three months (ish) I am spending time defrosting my FROST FREE unit. The only appliance from the Merloni group that I would ever recomend to customers was refrigeration.....I now know this to be bad advice. Trading standards here I come. If I get anywhere with my claim I will post to advise....

Saving up for BOSCH
March 2012

I KNOW WHY THE ICE BUILDS UP BEHIND THE PANEL IN THE FREEZER AND HOW TO FIX IT PERMANENTLY.
You all know that the defrost water should drain out through the 10mm dia hole behind the panel and fall onto the tray above the motor and evaporate. This hole is a special design ( not a straight pipe ). Using a torch look at the drip tray above the motor. You should notice that the end of the pipe has a thin rubber tube attached and is cut at 45 degrees and should always be squeezed shut.( The rubber is made to stay shut )
The weight of the defrost water will overcome the squeezed rubber and drip out. The problem here is some engineers or owners push a length of electrical flex down the tube to clear the ice and when they pull the flex back up the thin rubber tube HAS GRIPPED the flex and gets bunched up inside the hole. Then the defrost water builds up and the ice blockage occurs every 6 weeks. All you have to do to get the rubber tube positioned correctly ( squeezed 45 degrees rubber showing ) is to push a 12 inch piece of greased or slippery 6mm electrical flex down the hole and from the drip tray pull all of the 12 inch flex out. Hopefully the thin rubber will grip the flex and be pulled downwards and end up in the correct position. I fixed our fridge freezer over a year ago and its still in perfect working order. Please let me know if you manage to fix yours. Good Luck Dave

Dave May a Lucky owner
February 2012

Thanks to you all for your answers, you have saved me money!! Our FF 187EG is approximately 4-5 years old and we had the same problem with water coming out the bottom of the freezer on and off for a few weeks then our fridge started to play up. We were just thinking that we would have to pay out for a Repair man when I googled about problems and hey presto you all have come to the rescue!!! And thanks for the tip about the bleeping and flashing lights too!!! Definitely won't be buying hotpoint/indesit again, frostfree bah!!!!!!!

alison
January 2012

I have just removed the ice that was blocking the drain leading to the condensate tray ontop of the compressor. frost free? I have my doubts.
Laminate is scrap around the front of the fridge freezer due to the condensate leaking out the front of the freezer. thanks hotpoint!

bodgabill
January 2012

mine jst done the same, in the middle of defrosting right now, all my frozen food will be lost. so annoyed!

amanda
January 2012

I too have had the ice problem.
After clearing the block of ice, both fridge & freezer working fine BUT the lights are flashing. I’ve tried resetting after a few hours but still they flash. Any clues? HELP

Lei
January 2012

Wow what an amazing bit of luck I looked on here. I noticed yesterday my fridge was not cold, been looking out today to buy new fridge freezer. Then decided to ring Hotpoint about a repair and lucky for me they shut at 18.30. It's now 23.45 and before purchasing a new 1 I've just stripped mine down to find the elusive block of ice on the bottom of the freezer unit, this in turn looks to me like it stops the fanned cold air from the freezer reaching the fridge. Just about to defrost so fingers crossed. Shame on you Hotpoint, but then I think your stuffs crap anyway especially now. Never again/

Rob George
January 2012

Thanks for all the advise, i found removing the back panel in the freezer and removing the ice sorted it out, guess ill just have to repeat it every 3 months or so till i can afford a new fridge, guess wich brand I wont be buying next time ?

ian jefferies
November 2011

Bless you all and bless the internet!

Have had my FF187E for 4 years with no problems...until now. I too had ice accumulating beneath the bottom shelf which I periodically chipped off the freezer, until I discovered the milk had gone off and the fridge was warm. Having read all your comments I followed the same procedure...removing the back panel, getting rid of the ice and turning the unit off and on to get rid of the alarm and flashing lights...and hey presto! it works again.

Thanks for saving me an £80 call out repair fee. Much appreciated.

Kirst.
September 2011

Same problem for me. Had the FF200e for about 4 years, and it stopped cooling about 6wks ago.

Full defrost brought it back to life, but its gone again. Tried taking the back panel off, but there was no give in it, so just left it for now. How do I know I'm taking the right bits apart??

Is it worth getting it fixed, or am I just postponing replacing it?

Col
September 2011

Hi also had same problem ...now defrosted 3 times in last 6 months surely there must be another problem.When it starts building up with ice should something not tell the fridge to warm the exchanger unit in the back to defrost it and then the water should drip into the tray at the back (on top of the hot motor at the back)...is that not how it should work???

Paul
July 2011

Hi been looking at your forum on the fridge freezers mentioned above.
I am disgusted with hotpoint
The reason being the first fridge freezer did exactualy what you are talking about.
HOTPOINT FF175FFP
The fridge stopped cooling an engineer came to have a look, took out the panel which you mentioned, then the panel behind.
When he took this one out everywhere was full of ice
he gave us a new one because he said it could not be fixed it was a manufactures fault and he replaced with a new model FF187E as it was under warranty.
Three years later guess what, this fridge is doing the same as the first one ,
i have done what the engineer did, only because the guarantee has run out and these are an expensive fridge freezer.
Again behind the back panel full of ice these are supposed to be frost free,i have melted all the ice and i will guarantee this will only last about two or three months then off comes the back again.
We should not have to do this
I WOULD SAY TO THE FORUM AND EVERY BODY BOYCOTT ALL HOTPOINT FRIDGE FREEZERS.
IT WILL BE THE ONLY WAY FOR THIS COMPANY TO GET A GRIP AND GET THIS RIGHT HOTPOINT/INDESIT.

Terry
July 2011

Thanks to this website, I could fix FF187E/FF200E myself. I've just bought the house and had retained the previous owner's fridge also since it looked okay, so don't even know exactly how old it is. 4 months passed and it started beeping with flashing lights. The outside temp. was 30 degrees so we thought it couldn't cope, but the freezer was fine, only the fridge was warm. We were worried we might have to dump it or call an engineer which would also be expensive. Then I found this website and did as advised. Opened the freezer, removed the panel, which was a bit difficult, since 2 screws were frozen and couldn't see them. But then it came off after a bit of blow drying. Defrosted the ice and its working fine now. Thanks everyone.

Al
June 2011

Have had the FF187E for 4 years

Had the same problem as others - a couple of weeks ago the fridge went REALLY cold, then 4 days ago it went WARM

Yesterday looked in freezer and there was a load of ice behind the bottom compartment - spent about an hour using a hammer and screwdriver to get the ice off it was that thick!

Removed all that was behind the compartment then realised that the air tunnel or whatever it is was completely frozen inside

Took the screws out and tried to pull the plastic off, CRACK, hasn't quite snapped off but not far off.

So have had to leave it defrosting - threw out about £200 worth of food from fridge and freezer! It better work after it has defrosted and I've turned it back on

LTS_3
May 2011

Oh yes ive had same problem,many thanks for the forum,just did as said ,took off panel,melted outer edges of ice block with hairdryer,then pulled off the metal piping as it pulls forward and dropped out block of ice,wife said the last engineer was here 5mins,so knew there had to be quick answer,but where the ice was i had no idea,thanks again,trading standards next

Paul cairney
May 2011

Yes. The problem is an ice build up inside the fridge...which is supposed to be frost free. You have to disconnect the fridge, and unscrew the inside panel. be careful as the plastic is flimsy. then carefully move the fan unit out of the way and then presto you will see you problem- huge amounts of ice...which if you defrsot by use of a blowdryer..will clear your problem away. regretably you have to redo this step every three months

shannon
May 2011

Thank goodness I found this site. Just spent an age with a hair dryer and hoping that the fridge will come back to life. What a ridiculous design!!

Sally
March 2011

2011 and it looks like i am the new victim. Thanks to all the advise from thgoneage i got it working again. I had the ice on bottom of freezer and the warm fridge . I defrosted it as advised and when i turned back on i had flashing lights and alarms with a simple turn off and flick of a switch they were gone.

So again thanks to all for advice

Mr nofoodleft
January 2011

to turn off lights easy fix !!

turn off appliance by the plug , then open fridge door and turn both freezer and fridge dials to the OFF position.

now turn on the plug then turn the 2 dials to what ever temp you desire ??

they now should have stopped flashing ???

lee davies
November 2010

for those still having trouble withff200e, go to comsumer direct, they will give template letter to send to comsumer not manufacturer, they will responde please send proof letter by an independant engineer, comsumer direct will then pass to trading standards, i now need to get independant engineer to do an evaluation.... ( at a cost thats refundable by consumer) which will determin that the fault was inevitaable and is unfit for purpose made know, and then i will get a refund or replacment, as a comsumer we have 6 years on a white goods product. reading reviews i really hope this amount of complaints go to ann robinson, (watchdog)

Tammy
August 2010

We have the FF200E Hotpoint fridge freezer and we noticed a few weeks ago that the fridge was not cold enough. We thought it could be due to the very hot weather... or rather hoping it was! But I've just removed the freezer covers and found massive block of ice. The mrs is hairdryering it as we speak, so hopefully this will sort the problem.

Lordtrumpington
July 2010

took off freezer panel and defrosted...sorted and works fine...well done all those above just saved me a hotoint call out or similar!!

m
June 2010

i just noticed that 2 magnets in the fridge door (at the back of white plastic strip just above the egg trays, you know where the door hinge is, in the middle of it has magnets)if its not in its place, it makes the beeping goes off, if you remove it or not in its right place the beep will go off.so just place it back to where it should be, the beep will stop. it took me whole day to find out the answer by experiment.

chris
June 2010

Ice had been appearing on the bottom of the freezer after 6 months which seemed a bit odd at the time - I thought clrearing this ice was bad enough. I didn't realise about the block of it at the back until the fridge stopped working.

Have sent an email to https://www.hotpointservice.co.uk/hs/pages/contact_us/emailus.jsp

I'm also about to look for the trading standards email and also the Watchdog one.

Simon
May 2010

So many people are complaining about the same problem including me but I have sent hotpoint an E-mail and I phoned trading standards anyone reading this should do the same then when trading standards get a lot of complaints and hotpoint about the same thing the ff187e someone will do something

Maureen
May 2010

Well what do you know!! Me too!! Defrosted overnight. Turned back on this morning, still beeping. Glad I came on this site otherwise would've phoned for a service. Turned off fridge and freezer via the internal switches, turned on fridge first, no more alarms. (thanks goodness)!! Turned back off again - opened up the back panels (ridiculous design also. Beware you will need a long phillips scredriver with a small cross head). All looked clear after an overnight defrost.
The cynic in me believes that these faults are engineered in so that their service department can make as much money as possible.

JD
February 2010

Had the same problem with my 2 year old hotpoint FF187E. Took the freezer drawers out, removed the outer and inner back panels. This revealed a HUGE block of ice. Once this was removed I put it back together, reset it and it now seems to be as good as new!

J Merle
December 2009

I have the FF200E and it does the same thing....

Ours worked for 8 months before starting.... must admit shoddy design from Hotpoint (which is indesit now btw).

To be honest though, the fridge/freezer is huge, nice size, nice design internall we like the fridge/freezer... but hate this problem.

We didnt have a problem with milk becoming sour... what we got was water coming out of the front of the freezer.

What hapepend in mine was the drip tray underneath the evaporator was blocked up with ice... so that its own defrost cycle wouldn't clear it... as it defrosted the ice off the freezer tubes... the water would drop down... normally it should drip down into the drip trap (shaped like a V underneath the evaporator/metal bits) and go down a small (very small!!) hole to be heated up and evaporated away elsewhere in freezer. Ours had iced over.. so the water would simply run down into the main freezer compartment and out of the freezer front door.

I'd had enough, read the reviews... realised all they would do is send an engineer with a hairdryer out so... fixed it myself for the time being.


All i do is take off back panels (+ one with fan) got wifes 2kw hair dryer and defrost all the ice out of drip tray... then poor warm hot water into drip tray... so the blocked drainhole is cleared.

I sent about half a litre of hot water down... to clear it. until it flowed continually.

Now after a week and a half no problems.... prob will have to do this every month or so or more... but freezer is fine otherwise.

Sean - Plymouth
December 2009

This is the worst fridge freezer I have ever bought. I too have the same problem with the freezer over freezing and the fridge getting warmer and warmer. It is two months since I last defrosted it as advised on fault diagnosis and I to have experienced thick layers of ice the size of a vcr.. Not good. I was advised to defrost for 48hrs to make sure the unit behind the back panel was frost free. This is absolutely ridiculous. Good job I can transfer my contents in to a chest freezer.. The fridge and freezer will work fine again once defrosted but this is not the answer. Hotpoint should be giving us a refund or a replacement fridge if this is a known fault no matter if it is out of warranty.. Who agrees? Why did they not take them off the market or recall them if the fault is such a big thing.

M Evans
November 2009

As stated, it's due to a build up of ice behind the panel in the freezer section. Follow the steps mentioned to defrost it and it will all work fine again. I regularly have to do this at least a couple of times a month.

FLASHING LIGHTS? Once you turn the FF back on again, it will beep and the lights will flash at the top. Turn the dials off and then press both buttons for a few seconds. Turn the dials back on again and the lights will have stopped flashing. Another regular ritual after defrosting the ice build up.

Unsatisfied FF187E owner
November 2009

Guess what? Mine Too! After two years use the freezer temperature was fine but the fridge started to get progressively warmer untill the milk went off within a day at which point I thought I'd better do something about it.

I took out the back section in the freezer compartment and there was a block of ice (maybe half the size of a VCR) covering the bottom of the heat exchange thingy and running down towards the vent to the fridge. Took an hour or so to melt enough to prize it all off.

Now seems to be working fine again.

hatehotpoint
October 2009

I followed the advice given on this page, i knocked the machine off opened the freezer removed the drawers, undid the screws pulled the outer panel out, then the inner, there was a huge block of ice covering the heat exchanger unit, it also covered the bottom vent for the fridge. This is what causes the problem. I left it for about an hour then the whole lump could be eased off.Put the machine back together it worked.. much better than we remembered.. obviously the problem was the gradual buildup

mike thorburn
June 2009

Hey,snap!Two months out of guarantee...at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist...could it be a ploy to engage the services of the Hotpoint service engineers.Or are their appliances just rubbish.

Proper fed up Paul!
June 2009

I too have had the ice problem which resulted in the fridge packing up completely due to the blocked vents.
After clearing a block of ice the size of a VCR, I checked again a few days later to find that a small area around the drain hole was already iced – again I cleared this, both fridge & freezer working fine BUT the lights are flashing. I’ve tried resetting after a few hours but still they flash. Any clues?

Tim B
April 2009

Every one is compllaining about this product, I am going to tell you don't west your time just dup it sorry to say that but don't buy any product from them.

Yacob
July 2008

My Hotpoint FF187E did the same thing. In the end there was no cooling at all in the fridge, but the the freezer was fine. I turned the whole thing off for about six hours to de-frost, when the engineer came he open up the back broke the rest of the ice off and switched it back on.

Now all the lights are flashing for a day, not sure why. I am a concerned the fridge will just stop working again in about a year due to the same ice build-up, very poor design in my view.

Matt
June 2008

The problem is more than likely due to a build up of Ice within the back of the freezer compartment. Ours had the same problem and came out, took the thing apart and removed the ice - problem sorted. He did it that way for speed (30mins) to get it working. However, you can simply defrost it fully and it has the same effect....just takes longer

A

A FridgeFreezer
April 2008