Post# 607846 7/3/2012 at 02:43 (326 days old) by washer111(Australia)
Hi all,
I am the "proud" owner of a just turned 13 (teenage) Fisher and Paykel N388 full food freezer made in Cleveland, Queensland, Australia. My dilemma is:
Temperature recovery issues after defrost. You see, the trouble is, either this thing's refrigeration system is shot (unlikely, since it's partner fridge runs really well still - and I mean REALLY WELL) or is terribly undersized, since the freezer takes, no joke, at least 6 hours to recover from a defrost cycle with defrosts occurring every 12 hour of actual compressor operation.
The freezer is set on it's manufacturer setting of "4" (Runs from "Off" - "7"), and does manage to cycle enough to delay each defrost by around 2 hours each time during the winter months only, when indoor temps are between 68ºF-77ºF/20ºC-25ºC inside the house. In freezer lives indoors year round.
During the winter, the humidity levels are low, and so immediately after defrost, there is barely any water inside the defrost pan. So I'm wondering, are there NOS or spare defrost timers available that will run at 24 hour intervals, or I will I have to "make my own" timer system based on two power-point style, heavy duty timers? Or, should I just turn the timer through the defrost just before each cycle, to delay it only when necessary?
My other option, is to set the temperature warmer, since we don't really store food for really long periods of time, and have a backup chest freezer should we come into issues with blackouts (etc.), since during the Summer, the coldest the freezer gets is really only about -18ºC/0ºF, which is about the 2-3 position on the thermostat.
Would it be preferable for the freezer to just run more rather than less, since I hear that stop and starts can be bad for the freezer (although, it generally runs around 20 minutes per cycle, because the thermostat seems to be just a little "slow" pushing into the "cycled off" region, from my dial-turning experience).
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
My only other issue is this: The freezer is frost-free (as mentioned above), but the freezer continues to GROW A GLACIER in the bottom right hand corner of the freezer. See the picture below!
Post# 607865 , Reply# 1 7/3/2012 at 05:44 (326 days old) by retro-man(nashua,nh)
something appears to be amiss with the defrosting. either a drain is blocked or all of the heating wires are not working. frost free means just that no frost. since your accumulating ice in the bottom section, something is not right. maybe the blower unit is not working correctly. i am sure some of our freezer/refrig experts will chime in.
Jon
Post# 607867 , Reply# 2 7/3/2012 at 06:03 (326 days old) by washer111(Australia)
@retro-man
No, this problem has occurred for years without any issue. When the freezer starts after a complete cleaning, the frost is there as soon as the freezer has cooled off to around refrigerator temperatures.
It can't be a drain, since this unit's drain sits atop the compressor, where it is evaporated via compressor heat, not through any condenser coils.
The defrost system works absolutely FINE! No heaters or wires are bad, its some accumulation. So unless there is a leak in the insulation of something, I can't think of a problem that would lead to this glacier thing in the freezer (...)
(Australia) 
Comes to the Rescue!
