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Chester1 freezer top tip


chesters1

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We have 3 freezers ,2 are old one is nearing 30 the other unheard of (its an electroluxe rex an italian brand i think) this has been playing up for years but cleaning with wd40 and a spray of ptfe kept it going.

Until last thursday and it did nothing despite the usual ! Its a 3 pin thermostat but long obselete ,tried everywhere to source one (Electrolux  said nada ) the usual online sellers said the same .

Nothing wrong with the freezer itself shorting the live to black compressor wire and off it went but running it off a timer not so clever especially over the last few days .

So i plumped for this : https://www.aideepen.com/collections/temperature-controller/products/dst1000-ac-110v-220v-digital-thermostat-temperature-controller-heating-cooling-ds18b20-sensor-waterproof-cable-replace-stc-1000

From amazon under a tenner ,the great point is it makes allowances for a compressor it doesnt start it if say you opened the door then shut it or you turned off the power then back on which in the past using a digital thermostat was a death sentence to them .IE if you programmed the thing to say .5 of a degree difference it would be continually trying to start the compressor unlike a manual thermostat which takes time to switch.

You merely programe the box to the temperature you want (-18 at least in a freezer to get the 3* rating) then you tell it how many degrees you will let it drop and its away the "resting" period between switching on is 3 minutes or more (seems fine) the only disadvantage is fixing it somewhere as its designed to fit a cut out ,i used a bit of plastic with trim tape to the box and trim tape to the side of the freezer out of harms way but still within reach .

Not for non electric enthusiasts it does have to be wired to the power and you need to get to either the compressor or as i did use the broken thermostat connections but so long as you have some sense its doable . now my obselete thermostat sits in the dustbin but the freezer is working again (touch wood) the owly down point is the lead to the probe is a bit short but being two wires not difficult to extend . hope this saves an only ill not dead freezer going to scrap !

Plenty of youtube vids to help

PS it can control heat pads or fishtanks on its warm setting so iggy the iguana wont die of the cold lol

I am going to get another one to use as a switch to use as a frost stat in the shed ,the tube heater i bought with a frost stat will let hell freeze over before it comes on! You can buy pre made leads up but forking out 3 times the cost for something thats rarely used isnt in my nature !

As with anything i take no liabilty for you dying nor your house burniing to the ground! a smoke alarm should be second nature and its not intended as instructions nor recommended only suggested as an alternative to forking out for a new freezer for the competant bodger

 

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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Just dump the freezer Dave, cash in an ISA & get a new one!!

There's no pockets in a shroud Lol.

Alternatively, you could buy a Graded one - they are still Brand New but might have a Dent or a scratch so they can't charge the full price. 

Some are reduced by up to half!! Try your local market shops or stalls. These are the Graded  whitegoods outlets.

 

 

Edited by Martin56

Fishin' - "Best Fun Ya' can 'ave wi' Ya' Clothes On"!!

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Do they cost £9.99 ? Anothing thing is modern freezers and fridges are far smaller inside than old ones so you either buy a bigger one or have less in them they also break down quicker ?

Would you buy a new car if the starter motor broke?

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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47 minutes ago, chesters1 said:

Do they cost £9.99 ? Anothing thing is modern freezers and fridges are far smaller inside than old ones so you either buy a bigger one or have less in them they also break down quicker ?

Would you buy a new car if the starter motor broke?

I was just thinking It's just you & your Lass now, so maybe time to downsize a bit??

Freezers (I'm told) Don't like being in cold places - like garages & work much better in the house.

  • Like 1

Fishin' - "Best Fun Ya' can 'ave wi' Ya' Clothes On"!!

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You can buy freezers that work in cold places .Downsize ? If the house was bigger i would buy more freezers lol ,when the bus stop is a mile away you need plenty of backup.

When we first locked down we depended on stored stuff for two months and then found amazon prime so having a month or two's food in storage should be mandatory ,saves all those empty shelves panic buying

PS yes it just the two of us but we get invaded by 5 grand kids and two adults every week or so, a freezer full of child food is essential lol

As my son is doing up his van in our garden its almost daily !

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update the freezer is still working fine.The only adjustment was i moved the temp difference (the difference it can drop from the ideal temp before coming back on) from 4 degrees to 6 so the freezer internal temp will trip the thermostat at about -12 deg (i cut a
hole in all the freezers doors to install a digital thermometer some years ago its easier to see rather than opening a door to look at an internal one)

Both thermometers never match the new thermostatic  probe is in the top shelf and the thermometers probe in the middle so theres always a difference but now the freezer is acting like the other ones .The food wont change in temp but the freezers temp will ofcourse rise after time and the motor turns on.Now its not noticable the repaired freezer is coming on so much compared to the other two. The old problems with these electronic switches were they were too accurate and kept trying to start the motor for the slightest difference ,both the adjusted difference AND the delay function get round this so they act more like a mechanical thermostat .

In all a great bodge !why throw away a perfectly working fridge or freezer when something under a tenner will extend its life once the parts become unobtainable (a well know ploy to force obselecence and new sales)

The only strange thing with the electronic thermostat is you have to run a wire from the incoming live wire back out to the imputs of the hot and cold outlets ,surely that could have been catered for in the design of the pcb and a common live track should connect them together? Theres also no earth connection (or fuse)but as i used the existing mains lead it was still intact i wired the thermostat TO the existing wiring I didn't wire the thermostat then feed the freezer from it which would cause a no earth situation (you could just  cut the live and neutral wires and go through the thermostat and leave the earth to carry on to the freezer for a solution) nothing that cannot be overcome 

 

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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Moving Freezers & Fridges is also NOT a great Idea.

The Motor Bearings develop a Wear pattern which if not moved will last maybe 40 years or more.

Moving an old appliance, could maybe mean only a few months of life.

Edited by Martin56

Fishin' - "Best Fun Ya' can 'ave wi' Ya' Clothes On"!!

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Haha you should have seen our fridge flying up and down the back of  my mates tipper truck when he collected it for us and again when he took our stuff to our new house a year later ,tough things prestcold fridges it was 16 years old back in 1974 when we bought it lol

As for the freezer only time will tell it was difficult to get the probe into it via the existing hole ,they obviously installed the thermostat before the radiator was installed and the bugger was on its side ,top and other side with my mrs puny child hands trying to push it past the existing plumbing lol i couldnt get my hand in the pipes were very stiff so little room behind the radiator ,luckily the new probe is a wire and bends easily but even then you needed to get your hand down to do it.

I expect modern appliences will die easily when pence make a difference to profit you can bet the wiring and pipes are the thinnest possible and todays throw away society dont help ,hopefully this "right" to repair stuff changes that lol i have always repaired the "non" repairable tellies microwaves ,dvds and vcr you name it i will do my utmost to fix it before i fork out cash on a worse product ,old products wdre made with servicing in mind, new ones are definately not!

Edited by chesters1
  • Haha 1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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  • 1 month later...

Still going .

Been experimenting with another timer to control the flush on my shiny new reverse osmosis addon to my drinking water filter . at the moment you have to manually flush the membrane (google it its complicated!) But i have put on to it a timer that controls a valve that opens with a solenoid so its automatic .These are a big step up over just filters but the end product is worth the effort ,the water going into the membrane is 192 ppm of impurities after it comes out its 1 or 2 so nothing inc virus  and crypto is getting through  (i wouldnt trust a water companies testing) 

They are very wasteful water wise but comparing to my old system i had 25 years ago getting far better and now the rate is 50/50 😉 i gal fresh water 1 gal waste but i have cracked the waste problem the waste travels up a pipe into the attic and goes into the tank that feeds the bog and hot water so its not wasted at all 👍 everyone else appears to connect it to the sewer 🤔

My experiments were seeing how much flow through a restrictor plus the weight of water to the tank was needed to keep the membrane under enough pressure to provide drinking water (its the back pressure that forces water through the membrane into your tap) then to get the flush automated to keep the membrane clean . my timer only goes down to one minute so the reconmended 15 secs an hour is one minute every 3 hours just incase my flow rate maths is faulty 

I had to adjust my pressure reducing valve up to 60 psi (it was 40) unrestricted the pressure has blown washing machine pipes and split filter housings it easily gets to 10 bar (the highest my guage can read) overnight so it has a water leak monitor in the cupboard just in case! We have woken to floods in the past!

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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  • 2 months later...

Update the system works fine .The auto flush was a problem as i had installed a pressure switch that shuts off the water once the tank is full (or the system will continually pass water past the membrane into the attic) .

To get around this i installed a 24v volt timer triggered by a button on the fake drawer infront of the sink ,the timer turns on the voltage to the flush valve for a minute then waits a minute and does it again.The flush valve has its own timer which opens it for 16 seconds then it closes, the timer will let the valve operate twice then stop until its triggered again . You draw water (we use a 2ltr ex water filter jug to take water to our hot water dispenser and for drinking water etc) press the button and it does the rest as we only top up a couple of times a day the membrane is flushed enough to get rid of most of the polutants trapped from the water supply .

The water pressure bit is a bit dodgy i had to unscrew the pressure restrictor  until we got 4 bar but experience of the past floods made me wary ,i bought a new flood warning device to replace our old one put the whole system in a long shallow tray which will catch any dribbles and the flood sensor sits in that ready to warn us ! But then it came to me what if we were out ? At 4 bar that will supply a lot of water in a short time so i installed a clever shut off valve that goes inline in the supply pipe ,it sits in the tray and consists of a lever sitting on a compressed bit of tissue if the tissue gets wet it expands and pushes the lever against a valve that switches of the water . So in essence the old problem of waste water has been solved what goes past the membrane simply tops up the tank replacing fresh water that would go into the tank via the mains supply to the tanks ball cock . win win

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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