Stupid Switch in Fridge Freezer

I'm not sure but it seems it means that something like relay is to be switched to OFF state being before in ON.

Hey Del ; See Techno,s reply as it is on the mark .

If your fridge is old it will have a seperate switch for you to manually turn on the " mullion heaters " . These heaters keep the door and walls of your fridge from frosting up in humid weather . In short ; switch on in humid summer weather and switch off in dry winter weather.

Newer fridges have sensors that do it all automatically and have no manual switch .

I forgot to add: from ON to OFF with no way back to initial state.

It's the switch that keeps the fridge light on after you close the door.

Fast freeze gets my vote, even though I'm not sure what it's for (when you fill the freezer bit wiv lots of tuna all at once ?). Is it a push switch or a twisty switch ?/ Does it ever spontaneously change state/what is the model number ?/ How come you only just found it ?/.....ah, hang on......is it there to tell children that parents have been away and auto re-stocking is off ? Next time you go away, hide a large tempting box in the middle of all the goodies - Inside it leave an appropriate message !

Is it a push switch or a twisty switch ?

I think it does no matter, it has simply two fixed positions[states]. It could be, as Drone said, defrost, it could be for defreeze. If so, switch is working as trigger just as latch one,i.e. since you pushed trigger from ON to OFF state the process was beginning with no stopping till temperature measured by sensor achieved pre-defined level. Before this level control system doesn't care about state of switch. This algorythm would be applied to "fast freeze" mode either, but I think for that there shoud be 0&1 or 1&2 labels.

You might go to the manufacturer's web site and search for the model number of your refrigerator. Select the appropriate owner's manual from among the search results and read it. The switch and its function should be listed.

As a guess, I assume it is not related to temperature control. It might be changing defrost mode - forcing it or disabling it. Defrost tends to keep the freezer free of frost by keeping humidity low, which also tends to dehydrate food. When this is an issue it is helpful to be able to disable the defrost process, or perhaps have manual control of when it runs.

Regards

Might! might...? I did I dutifully typed in FRE2422A which is the model number...

sorry no documents match FRE2422A .

About as much use a chocolate teapot...slaps furry head with paw....that's why I asked you guys.

Switch it whatever happen.

Ha brilliant!

Thanks a bunch...a tin of my finest Tuna for you and a weeks free use of the KrisDel^TM time machine (you can pick it up last wednesday).

Apparently it's a 'low temperature swich' which helps the firidge to work properly if it's in a cold room...hmmm it all sounds like a flawed concept somehow...

Cheers, another triumph for CR4.

(Mrs Cat says the manual is in the draw, but I can't find it 'cos I can only do 'Man looking' )

Del

Del, I work for Frigidaire USA, and while I'm not familiar with the UK variants, I know we offer a "garage kit" for US models for installations in unheated areas.

The things will not often work right unless this kit is installed. Apparently, the cold exterior temps plays with the thermodynamics of the fridge enough that the kit is needed.

While I don't work directly with the engineers who are in charge of this part of the business, I'm going to talk with one to get some more details about the cold exterior temps effect on performance.

Del...For gosh sakes, listen to this man - he's is always right...after all, He's a Tiger !!

Update on the need for low temp switches and "garage kits"; this is taken from a discussion I had with a senior engineer here:

"The compressor cycles off because the food compartment temperature is signaling the defrost thermostat to go into defrost cycle. When the ambient temperature goes below 55°F the food compartment takes longer to warm up before the compressor will come on. This allows the freezer to get too warm. If the ambient temperature gets to 38°F the compressor may not come on at all causing all the food in the freezer to defrost."

The garage heater kit is installed in the cold control and maintains enough temp to simulate standard temperature operations; it allows the compressor to stay in the desired temperature range.

It seems like it would be wiser to have separate thermostat for the freezer rather than heating the refrigerator. Perhaps some baffles on the air flow to direct more to the freezer than the fridge to keep from freezing the fridge.

Is this a design feature driven by manufacturability?

Actually, it's a design feature driven by costs. The units which are prone to this phenomenon are the lower cost top freezer units. These tend to be price leaders, and there is no budget for improving the overall design to eliminate this, which again is only a factor in unheated spaces.

What data I have reviewed it that the units have enough margin in energy consumption that a retrofit kit can be installed and still keep the units within certification standards.

From a theoretical standpoint, a redesign would be the best solution, but economics drives the issued solution.

I figured as much. It's a shame the best solution isn't always the most economical.

A triumph TR4 for CR4 perhaps?

It could activate a heating element around the expansion valve. It cool weather the valves freeze up, stopping the flow of refrigerant. The heater ensures the valve is always above 0 degrees to prevent it sticking shut when the ambient temp is only one or two degrees. this would seem superfluous, but the reason is that the frige valve freezes up at night, then when day comes and the ambient temp rises the fridge cannot cool the contents as the valve is stuck shut.

Hi Del.

(Mrs Cat says the manual is in the draw, but I can't find it 'cos I can only do 'Man looking')

Ya Manual did not have pic of good looking model on front page?

"Cheers, another triumph for CR4."

So be it, sez I...

So what does the switch do ? I can't be ***** to read the manual, but I'm still curious. Is it the thermostat/garage thing or something else ?

Ooooh you Bazy Lastard.
Yeh...if the fridge is somewhere which is below 10C most of the time turn the switch ON .. (It's probabbly not event connected to anything...it just makes you feel better)

Not sure how the Harlow in Winter counts? Maybe I should bring the fridge back in from the vegetable patch?

Del

If I'm not mistaken, some Frigidaire models have a manual defrost switch. I'm not entirely clear how this works, but it apparently doesn't defrost in the way that the Neanderthals used to do it - namely having to remove bits of mammoth from the freezer and watching them slowly spoil.

According to at least one Frigidaire manual I came across, the food in the freezer does not need to be removed. So even though this mode is activated you may notice that the freezer is still cold - at least some of the time.

Some fridges had a switch that was turned on for humid weather.

Other problems that lead to the fridge side freezing are:

• Door not closing properly,
• poor gasket seal
• Door open too often
• Freezer set too cold ( some fridges have the main cooling in the freezer. The cold freezer air is then sent through the fridge controls to the fridge. These controls are simply a valve to allow different amounts of air to the fridge side)

Some of them open vents that allow more cold air into the lower part or keep the most of the cold air in the freezer. My old frige is at least 40 years old and you can hit the 2 controls at the back when putting away things and suddenly even the milk is freezing.

Maybe that is all your knob does is control how far a vent is open.

Maybe that is all your knob does is control how far a vent is open

If I'm remembering my fridge freezer eddication correctly then the freezer gets most of the freeze and the fridge gets colder from a fan blowing cold over from the freezer.

Given the fault you describe you might be looking for a thermistor type switch regulating a fan. With the thermistor burned out. That dumb regulator dial must be connected to something and the switch I'm talking about would be a good bet, so check it out.

You will probably find that buying the switch magically costs about the same as replacing the fridge / freezer.... (Leave your pistols at home when shopping for appliance parts.)

I would recommend having the delivery men moving your previously side by side fridge to some out of the way location where it will then become your large capacity side by side freezer and having them put in your new side by side unit in the kitchen. It will cost a LOT more, but, it will make you wife happy. Blushing brides admire the amazing ability of their brand new engineering student husband to fix anything, mature wives have universally overcome being impressed by that anymore, but, she will be impressed if you buy a new fridge. Just try and make sure that she believes it was her idea, you were opposed, and she won.

These will tend to insulate you from the need to buy a whole new kitchen, as opposed to buying a whole new fridge, as opposed to paying $300 for a $10 switch.

Best Wishes,

Mr. Gee

P.S. (Yes, I do know that some of the preceding was highly sexist. I will recite several extra interations of the Possum Lodge, man's prayer tonight before going to bed as penance.)

I voted you a GA for that one, beacuse as we all know: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

It's the self-destruct timer! Leave it alone.

.

I've also noticed that it's cunningly positioned so that when you put a box of eggs onto the top shelf it knocks the switch to the ON position.
Design detail at it's very best.

Does it look like the red button here?

Fill yer boots

Come the revolution, all fridge-freezers will be made by KrisDel^TM. Right?