Fridge Not Cooling

Adamcp898

Hi all, have an under counter Lec fridge which has stopped cooling. A large amount of ice had built up on the back wall of the fridge and so it was turned off to defrost however when it's back on now it won't cool and I'm wondering how to troubleshoot it myself?

It's out of warranty and should be ~€140 to replace so I'm hesitant to pay a callout fee for someone to come and tell me it's not worth repairing however it if it was just the thermostat or something which was gone I'd be saving a fair bit by replacing it myself.

When I turn it on, there is the regular ''humming'' of a fridge which I believe is the compressor? and so would this indicate that it's still in good nick? If it was gone or it needed re-gassing it wouldn't be worth the cost.

I've no way of getting at the fan to see if it's still turning but I'd imagine I'd hear a clicking of some sort if it was cutting out? and so this very loose train of thought leads me to thinking on buying a replacement thermostat to see if that fixes it.

TL,DR; I'm sure to an expert my train of thought makes absolutely no sense but I'm no expert so, in short, is there a good way to troubleshoot a fridge and see what component has kicked the bucket?

miller50841

Sounds like it is has lost all its gas.

Adamcp898

Just an update on this, I turned it on 4/5 hours ago and put it to it's highest setting, the top of the back wall of the fridge gets cold but the rest of it doesn't so would that mean a possible fan issue?

The Red Ace

no, its down in gas that's why you got a lump of ice on the evaporator as it was not able to cut out when the evap is not full of refrigerant and has a leak

Adamcp898

Just to be certain, it's as cheap to buy a new fridge as it is to get someone to re-gas one isn't it?

The Red Ace

virtually impossible to cure a leak in most domestic fridges as the pipework is internal, so its replacement time.