Back in the day, we had a Hotpoint "Iced Diamond" fridge/freezer. It was actually two separate units bolted together, each with a compressor and one set of controls between the two. We had it for 25 years with never a problem. But eventually it was "considered, by the powers that be," not big enough. So it was replaced by a larger Bosch, around which the new kitchen was built. After about seven years, about twice a year, it would lose temperature as it would ice up. This was probably because "someone" filled the drawers too full. This usually happened around midnight on a Sunday. I had a routine for this. By then, I'd bought an under the counter freezer and a table-top one that sat on top of it, situated in the room in the back of the garage. This was for "stuff" my wife occasionally ordered on-line. It was easy enough to shift everything out of the Bosch and put it in these freezers. It's amazing how much I could get in the under the counter freezer, if I just left one drawer in it and piled everything on top. It was then a case of removing the inside back of the Bosch and "attacking" the elements with a hairdryer. Once done and everything replaced, I'd turn it back on and we'd go to bed. By morning, it would be back to normal and could be re-filled. But about six years ago it gave up the ghost, so I had to replace it. Nothing I could find would fill the "gap" left by the Bosch, they were either too short or about at least an inch too tall. So we bought a much taller Miele which meant I had to remove a cupboard which was over the Bosch and make a shorter fillet out of the door to fill the gap. After six months, this had to be replaced under guarantee, as that one packed up. Last night around 6.00pm I must have left the door of the freezer slightly open as when I went in the kitchen about 7.00pm the alarm was going, although the door was shut. The freezer was down to -9c, though the fridge was as should be at +5. This fridge/freezer has "touch controls" there's even one which will give you its model and serial number. So I set the"boost" on the freezer and left it for an hour. This control, there's one for each, turns on a fan. An hour later I checked and the freezer had gone down to -12c but the fridge up to +10c. It probably meant the fridge was being starved of cold air. I tried several of the many settings available, including "sabbath." But that made no difference, perhaps it's not religious. I checked it several times in the early hours of the morning and there'd been no improvement. In the end, I put it back to factory settings, reprogrammed it and put both on, "Party mode." This is for occasions when you are likely to be "in and out" of both a lot. I did the usual chore of shifting the contents of the freezer into the other two in the garage, this would have been around 4.00am. This morning, I checked it around 8.00am. The freezer was at -24c and the fridge +2c. So I took it off party mode and by 10.00am it was back to what it should be, -18c and +5. I gave it three hours, then refilled it. We're back to normal now. I had visions last night of having to call out Miele. With a bank holiday in two days time, there was no guarantee of when they'd come. Fortunately, I've my little Budweiser fridge in the tea-house, so I could put that on the counter top in the kitchen if it was required. Miele have a repair service, not that I'd use them. They'll come out and repair your fridge/freezer and give you a 12 month guarantee, for a fixed price of £280. If they can't repair it, they give you that much off a replacement. No thanks! Something similar to what we've got, is now well over £1000. What I find disappointing is that they are very stingy with the amount of paint they use. It's worn off on the very edge of the door next to the handle.
DHR Your kitchen is very well designed and a joy to see how well you maintain your home inside and out. Sorry the frig has been difficult. In the long run you figured it out after a long process was complete. These new refrigerators /appliances are not designed to last all plastic parts and total nightmares. Some major manufacturers have been included in class action law suits in the US because they don’t last long cost a fortune and continue to break down over and over.
Riley, I really enjoyed your tale. Maybe isn’t the right word…enjoyment at your expense. I don’t mean it that way. Honest. Coolerators. That really is a thing. They did not use to be. I can recall the time when one could buy a Liebherr for instance, and that baby was good for at least thirty years. To illustrate, when we returned from our last big trip my brise’s folks wanted to get a new fridge, for their’s was over thirty years old and they waned something newer and larger. They gave us that old one, and you may not believe it , but we dot another thirteen years out of it, before finally springing for a new one for ourselves. It may not surprise you to hear that our choice was a Liebherr. There were so many models of all sizes and possibilities. We needed one that would fit into the hole. The first disappointment was that a built-in model was always more expensive than a model with all the same everything that was a stand alone model. One eyebrow went up. We ordered one, waited…and one day it arrived. The team placed it for us and took away the dinosaur when they left. After dome months, there was ice on the back of the fridge…odd because it was a self de- icing model. #€&@&€%%”*&***!!! We called in the monteur as it obviously fell under the guarantee. Days went by. The monteur arrived, a jolly chap. I can tell you that when technical blokes are jolly…alarm bells go off with me. The Bride was also not best pleased with how this was going. After a while he announced that he had discovered the problem— a known problem with this model. A defective plate. Known !?….. Known ?! Are you telling me that this fridge was sold to us with a plate in it that has been known to be defective?! …..and it had not been replaced before delivery!?!! I had to restrain my Bride with a stiff arm, palm on her chest as she lunged at his neck with open hands, gripping hands opening and closing swiping her arms like a cat. We inquired f this was going to take months for the part to arrive from Germany. He smoothed our feathers by saying, no, he had brought a plate with him…….you see the defect was a known one. The Bride jerked as she stifled another attack. It has been working well until now, there is an icy build-up in the freezing compartment. We will first unplug it and defrost it. If there is no problem we will continue with this white good. But my, oh my— how things have changed. p.s. She didn’t really attack the monteur, just felt like it.
Hahaha….you would think so. I guess it was a combination of factors (all negative). Oh well, that fridge is oké now.
