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as some of you may know we're in the process of getting a new kitchen fitted. bought our appliances separately from marks electricals which seem to have a decent rep and reviews.
the units were fitted over the weekend and fridge freezer left for a while then switched on. after a few hours we put the food in it.
we've noticed tho a fair bit of frost on the back wall.
this is how it looks after ive wiped my finger through it to show how deep it is.
i went onto AEG live chat to ask about it and they said no, it shouldnt be like that. looked at all the possibilities they suggested but none were relevant, so i did as they suggested and switched off for a few hours, then switched on last night and left it overnight.
frost was back this morning.
looked at it an hour or so later and frost looked to have gone but replaced by a few drops of ice.
now that would probably be more what id expect, but we're just aware that it keeps getting this deep frost at the back when it shouldnt. so, oh singletrack fridge freezer experts, do you think its faulty?
ive reported it to the seller and awaiting a reply.
thanks
i went onto AEG live chat to ask about it and they said no, it shouldnt be like that.
It's either an installation problem or it's faulty.
You can check the installation against the paperwork that came with the fridge, if all of the packaging was removed and clearances, ventilation, etc are correct then it can only be the fridge
I guess it's integrated with a kitchen door unit on the front.
Has the door been fitted correctly so it seals fully? If not, it might be a build up of moisture from air getting in that is then freezing. Do you get a decent pull of resistance when opening the door, that normally shows the door has sealed/closed correctly. I know integrated appliances require quite accurate installation/set-up to make sure the door fits & closes correctly.
Alternatively, when fridge/freezers are first turned on, the can go into a 'fast freeze' mode to get the temp down. This might cause the symptoms you are seeing until the entire fridge gets down to temperature & the thermostat starts to control more 'normally'.
I'd perhaps give it a day or so & see if it settles down. Try not to open & close the door just to check, as this introduces moist air back into the fridge.
Finally, does the appliance have the correct ventilation? Normally integrated fridge/freezers need a plinth vent to ensure adequate airflow.
It's got a warranty, you've reported it to the manufacturer and the seller and it's obviously getting cold .... I'd just live with it for a while and wait and see what happens.
(unless you have a reason to sort any potential problem right now)
If the manufacturer has confirmed it's wrong then surely any further discussion is superfluous.
Go back to whomever you paid money to and tell them "AEG said..." They may disagree, but that's their lookout to resolve.
Personally I'd expect to see a degree of condensation, but ultimately it's not my fridge and it's not my problem when your wall rots through two years later, so my opinion isn't worth shit. Boot it back, if nothing else you've then got an audit trial should you later need to evidence that you had concerns immediately following the install.
if all of the packaging was removed and clearances, ventilation, etc are correct then it can only be the fridge
experienced fitters so i would assume all is ok (yes i know).
Normally integrated fridge/freezers need a plinth vent to ensure adequate airflow.
im at work so have been messaging the fitter. he says he ensured a seal and there wasnt a vent so they cut a scoop out of the plinth to allow for air flow.
If the manufacturer has confirmed it's wrong then surely any further discussion is superfluous.
well it was just a live chat with no proper diagnosis so i guess theres always the chance that its a fault our side.
Go back to whomever you paid money to and tell them "AEG said..." They may disagree, but that's their lookout to resolve.
yes we've told them and theyve raised a ticket so we're just waiting on an answer.
Personally I'd expect to see a degree of condensation,
yep, this is a little more than just condensation tho, its thick frost. which AEG say shouldnt be there 🙂
i'll update when we get more news.
thanks
Half of that ^^ shouldn't matter.
You have a legal contract with the company you gave money to. You've raised concerns with the manufacturer who - rightly or wrongly, again this isn't really relevant because you have a written comment from their designated representative - has confirmed that Something Is Wrong.
Take the Something Is Wrong and give it to Someone I Gave Lots Of Money To. Fin. Wah wah fitter plinth air bricks sea lions spongebob squarepants maybe we ****ed it up etc etc all not your concern, hoof it back. You've bought a service you're not happy with, if what you've received is indeed normal then they should have no problem in confirming this. In writing.
Half of that ^^ shouldn't matter.
You have a legal contract with the company you gave money to. You've raised concerns with the manufacturer who - rightly or wrongly, again this isn't really relevant because you have a written comment from their designated representative - has confirmed that Something Is Wrong.
Take the Something Is Wrong and give it to Someone I Gave Lots Of Money To. Fin. Wah wah fitter plinth air bricks sea lions spongebob squarepants maybe we ****ed it up etc etc all not your concern, hoof it back. You've bought a service you're not happy with, if what you've received is indeed normal then they should have no problem in confirming this. In writing.
My understanding is that the OP has bought the kitchen from company X, appliances from company Y & the fitter was bloke Z.
So, it's not quite as simple as saying throw it back at them to sort out because which one of them is at fault?
Maybe the wrong appliance housing/door/hinges were supplied by the kitchen supplier. Maybe the correct housing was supplied by the kitchen supplier, but the fitter has not installed it correctly. Maybe it is installed correctly, but the appliance isn't functioning correctly.
I think the OP is currently at the stage of trying to work out where the fault/issue might lie, so he can take the best course of action to get it resolved. It's no good shouting at AEG, if in fact the door isn't closing correctly because it's fitted wrong so a new appliance will do the same thing.
Having had a new kitchen fitted earlier this year, there are so many nuances I did not know about prior to having it done. Even with an experienced fitter who came highly recommended, there were numerous issues along the way.
sadexpunk - regarding the vent in the plinth - the installation manual should say whether one needs to be installed. Normally on a fridge and/or freezer you would need one and the instructions generally state the x-sec area that it should cover. There will be a manual on the AEG website if you can't find a copy.
See here: AEG Integrated Freezer Example
Go to "Documents for Product" and then "Installation chart". You can see the ventilation requirements.
If the fitter has literally cut a hole in the plinth, it will probably look a bit rough. The vent itself doesn't normally come with the unit or the appliance - although the kitchen supplier should suggest you need one if you are having an integrated appliance housing.
You can get them separately from loads of places & it will neaten things up.
like this....
all that being said - it is unlikely to be down to issue with ventilation. But, you don't want them to just hack a hole in the plinth & leave it.
We had a kitchen fitted earlier this year, supplied by Howdens, who recommended a fitter. We got our fridge freezer from Howdens, also AEG, but when it broke down, Howdens were very much "you need to take that up with AEG, nothing to do with us", which we did, but frankly, AEG were s**t at sorting it out. It took three weeks, three visits by the engineer, and a protracted argument on the phone before they accepted it was completely borked and agreed to replace it. Our new one has drops of ice on the back like your second picture.
My understanding is that the OP has bought the kitchen from company X, appliances from company Y & the fitter was bloke Z.
So, it's not quite as simple as saying throw it back at them to sort out because which one of them is at fault?
A very good point, well presented.
yes as a few of you have surmised, we bought units from MKM, appliances from marks electrical, and the fitter is a local experienced bloke who fit this type of kitchen for a living.
back home now and ive looked underneath the FF and the cutout seems neat enough. ive asked him about it as the front vent of FF only has a small space in front of it before reaching the unit door, so wouldnt even get to the plinth vent, but the fitter assures me the air flow is at the back of the fridge and would go through the plinth vent.
But, you don't want them to just hack a hole in the plinth & leave it.
he hasnt, everything he's done so far has been faultless, hes taken a lot of time to make everything as neat as possible and we're well pleased with him/them.
We got our fridge freezer from Howdens, also AEG, but when it broke down, Howdens were very much "you need to take that up with AEG, nothing to do with us",
i can just picture the hairs on the back of cougars neck standing on end 😀
oh and yes, our contract is with marks direct, i only contacted AEG for a bit of advice really.
just had another look and the frost's gone, there are water droplets running down the back wall at the top (probably fairly usual then) but lower down the fridge the droplets are frozen. no idea how normal any of this is really, but i'll obviously keep monitoring and see what marks come back with.
cheers
i can just picture the hairs on the back of cougars neck standing on end
You aren't wrong. (-:
Hope the condensation reduces.
by ‘back wall’ I think you mean the inside back wall of the appliance? I’d expect some frost as the big volume of damp air filling the fridge/freezer cools and dries. And as you put stuff in it and the ingress of warm damp air becomes less over time the condensation should reduce. It’ll have a frost reduction cycle I expect and in due course all this frost and ice will fall out of its drain hole and evaporate on the, er, evaporator near the cooling cools/heat exchanger.
if instead it is the back wall of the kitchen cupboard, not so good the cold should be inside the freezer, not outside
I’m not a fan of Integrated units. They make it hard to find the fridge and dishwasher in stranger’s kitchens and they disguise the design of the appliances as well as making the kitchen look too uniform for my liking. Does look very neat and tidy though.
I think AEG have fallen down the generic appliance with a semi-premium badge hole. We bought an AEG fridge and freezer despite being warned by the MIL that she thought hers was rubbish. We have been disappointed with the fridge in particular, the back wall regularly gets ice on it, it is a bugger for ruining vegetables, thermostat seems ropey. Would avoid in future. Not a patch on the Siemens we had at previous house that unfortunately didn't fit in this kitchen.
Hope the condensation reduces.
nope, the frost is back this morning 🙂
by ‘back wall’ I think you mean the inside back wall of the appliance? I’d expect some frost as the big volume of damp air filling the fridge/freezer cools and dries. And as you put stuff in it and the ingress of warm damp air becomes less over time the condensation should reduce. It’ll have a frost reduction cycle I expect and in due course all this frost and ice will fall out of its drain hole and evaporate on the, er, evaporator near the cooling cools/heat exchanger.
yes, the back wall of the appliance.
amateur sleuthing part 87...... i put a thermometer in it this morning to monitor the different heights of the fridge. the thermostat is set to 4 degrees. top of the fridge is 9.3, lowest shelf is 2.9. im no expert but that would appear to be wrong.
ive had another look at the installation drawing, it all seems ok. the appliance should just slide into the unit and a vent underneath it all in the plinth (even tho there is a front vent on appliance that doesnt vent to anywhere.
the thermostat is set to 4 degrees. top of the fridge is 2.9, lowest shelf is 9.3. im no expert but that would appear to be wrong.
See my previous post, sounds similar to our AEG. I don't think ours is faulty, just not very good.
the thermostat is set to 4 degrees. top of the fridge is 2.9, lowest shelf is 9.3. im no expert but that would appear to be wrong.
See my previous post, sounds similar to our AEG. I don't think ours is faulty, just not very good.
sorry, not that it really matters but i did a ninja edit. got my top and bottom mixed up, top is 9.3, bottom is 2.9.
Yeah, I didn't pay much attention to which way round it was, just that different parts are definitely much colder, hence the ruined veg.
You're leaking air somewhere round the door. The moisture to form that buildup isn't coming from nowhere...
Exactly and the same thing with the vastly different temperatures. Over time the temperature should pretty much equalise, if it's not, then it's likely room temp air is getting into it somewhere.
If the 'experienced fitters' are anything like the guys who fitted mine, they got the door working enough that it didn't catch and no more. I had to fiddle with both the alignment of the fridge itself and the door quite a bit to get it lined up exactly.
You're leaking air somewhere round the door. The moisture to form that buildup isn't coming from nowhere...
ok, ill ask them if its easy enough to remove the unit door, see if that makes any difference. FWIW ive just removed the plinth to see if that makes any difference to air flow.
EDIT: when i open the freezer door to look up at the bottom of the fridge it seems to seal ok.
door is now disconnected so just relying on the fridge to work as it would naturally. seal looks ok. so thats now unit door and plinth removed, see if it makes a difference. early indications are that its not as its gone to over 11 degrees at top of fridge but that may be due to my faffage.
When my sister replaced her integrated fridge freezer that came with her new house some years ago I took it in. Popped it in our cellar alongside the old fridge freezer the previous owners had left in the kitchen. I think that must date from the 90s.
I put up with it for a couple of years before finally just accepting it was not a good unit and disposing of it. Bad at chilling and freezing. Very bad at temperature stability. The old owner’s fridge freezer isn’t great, but it still performs better than my sister’s ever did at our house. Can’t remember the brand but likely a no name house builder one.
our freestanding Panasonic American-style (but not American proportions or ‘efficiency’) fridge freezer with ice maker works well. Good temperature control with good stability. It does have the slowest ice maker ever, but I suppose you can’t have everything.
mrs ex-punk chose the appliances and tbh i cant fault her choices on the face of it. been looking at alternatives should this one need to go back, to see what we'd go for and it does look to be the best for the price and capacity.
theyre not cheap are they!! 😀
this was £600 and anything better would seem to be in the £700's with smaller capacity. and on the subject of capacity, this would look to be top end at 267 litres, our free-standing samsung was 330.
if id been armed with this knowledge beforehand (or didnt just leave it to my wife) id maybe have had second thoughts on integrated, altho i probably would still have gone for it for clean lines alone.
latest update.... frost has disappeared to be replaced by thin layer of solid ice droplets on back wall, however each tray has droplets dripping down, missing the drain and just soaking the tray underneath.
I have a AEG built in fridge/freezer. Just checked temps. Set to 5c. Top shelf is 7C bottom shelf 5C. Back wall has water droplets not ice. Unless it needs a couple of days to settle down then yours is faulty.
down to zero at the bottom now, 9 degrees at the top so i think we'll have to have a replacement.
@cougar messaged you on another CRA matter related to kitchen but not this appliance 🙂
cheers
well the replacement came today so i thought id remove the unit from the equation altogether and leave it switched on in the dining room.
no frost at the back any more, but am i being unreasonable to expect it to be the temperature that its set at?
im still testing bottom and top of fridge with a thermometer. its set at 4 degrees, bottom of fridge is 5 (better than the previous zero) but the top is still pushing 8 degrees. i dont know if its me thinking this isnt good enough, or that all fridges are like this, i suppose ive never checked before.
My fridge is a combi thing, so fridge up top and a freezer below. But I've just checked the temp as I was curious also! It's set to 5 deg and it's pretty much bang on 5 deg on the middle shelf.
I'd expect a slight variation but ultimately it should be 5 deg top, middle or bottom. Of course it might take a short while for the cold air to creep upwards.
One thing I do notice on my fridge is that the seal is very good - it needs quite a good tug (no laughing) to open.
I was under the impression a temp gradient was normal. Slightly colder at the bottom. Though perhaps J should set mine 1C cooler at 4C. Not that we have had issues with food going off.
"No matter how accurate your thermostat is, the temperature in your fridge will still vary between shelves. It's best to think of your thermostat temperature as an average for the fridge because, as a general rule, the higher the shelf, the higher the temperature will be."
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/fridges/article/how-to-store-food-safely-in-the-fridge-a05PO7F3s4m3