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Fridge explosion!

Golfmmad

Golfmmad

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Just opened the fridge in the garage and there's literally been an explosion.
Bottles have burst and ice everywhere.
Coke cans exploded but thankfully the wife's bottles of prosecco on the top shelf have survived!
I can only think with my limited knowledge of refrigerators that the thermostat has gone!
Any help from the forum experts much appreciated.
 
Golfmmad said:
Just opened the fridge in the garage and there's literally been an explosion.
Bottles have burst and ice everywhere.
Coke cans exploded but thankfully the wife's bottles of prosecco on the top shelf have survived!
I can only think with my limited knowledge of refrigerators that the thermostat has gone!
Any help from the forum experts much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Drink the Prosecco and say it exploded as well.
The fridge? No idea!!
 
It does sound like the temperature control has gone AWOL.
It may well be a mechanical thermostat or possibly a PTC controlled electronic.
It could also be a result of the hot temperatures we have recently had and where the fridge is located.
Historically the hot summers are when refrigeration units with a weaker compressor give up the ghost.
That manifests itself in a fridge not cooling evenly but freezing items at the back and floor of the fridge.
 
Last time I had a coke can explode was because it got left in the car on a freezing cold night.

Fridges in garages need to rated for such use.

Clue - The Prosecco will not freeze because it is alcohol.
 
Crow said:
How does that make it explode?
Click to expand...

The Prosecco did not explode

It is sign that everything else was frozen in the fridge. The containers cannot take the expansion of liquid in to ice.

The Prosecco bottle is also designed to not explode from pressure.
 
Afraid I'm guilty in the past of exploding quite a few diet Cokes in the freezer. Always in a hurry to get them cold and then go brain dead and forget about them. Next day.....the whole inside of the freezer covered in brown fizzy ice. Not hard to clean off....but boogers.....a mess. Not once or twice......many times.
 
jim8flog said:
Last time I had a coke can explode was because it got left in the car on a freezing cold night.

Fridges in garages need to rated for such use.

Clue - The Prosecco will not freeze because it is alcohol.
Click to expand...
I don’t know of any fridges that would be rated at the temperature range of a garage, a freezer yes but not a fridge. :)
 
Bunkermagnet said:
It does sound like the temperature control has gone AWOL.
It may well be a mechanical thermostat or possibly a PTC controlled electronic.
It could also be a result of the hot temperatures we have recently had and where the fridge is located.
Historically the hot summers are when refrigeration units with a weaker compressor give up the ghost.
That manifests itself in a fridge not cooling evenly but freezing items at the back and floor of the fridge.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.
Fridge is back on and we're checking several times a day. Seems to be frosting up on the back panel so we've turned the stat down low.
 
Golfmmad said:
Thanks for the info.
Fridge is back on and we're checking several times a day. Seems to be frosting up on the back panel so we've turned the stat down low.
Click to expand...
Just had a little thought just then.

Did the thermostat simply get knocked in to the wrong position?

and another now.

Is the drain pipe blocked?
 
Golfmmad said:
Thanks for the info.
Fridge is back on and we're checking several times a day. Seems to be frosting up on the back panel so we've turned the stat down low.
Click to expand...
Ok… will assume this is a normal self defrosting fridge and not one of the older style with an ice box that has to be defrosted regularly.
The back wall inside the fridge should I’ve up,BUT, it should be a thin skin of no more than about 3 mm of hard frost. The ice on the back should not be soft or snow like and it shouldn’t be any thicker than about 3 mm (once it has been running 24 hrs since you got it going again).
If you have soft, snow like or thicker ice on the back wall I would suggest the compressor is weak and not providing the thermal shock on the stat sensor/bulb so as a result the fridge runs longer. This can cause items to freeze as there is too much cold created but it’s not cold enough to trigger the temperature control.
If any of the above rings true, the only answer is a new fridge. No one does compressor changes anymore due to costs to customer, costs to contractor of everything needed and punishment levels if anything isn’t done complying with the law (£20k fine and 5 yrs inside).

Likewise those who leaves fridge units out the front and allow the compressors to be cut off (and those refrigerant to escape to atmosphere) would also be liable for prosecution if it was proved and the powers that be actually started to punish those dumpers.
 
jim8flog said:
Just had a little thought just then.

Did the thermostat simply get knocked in to the wrong position?

and another now.

Is the drain pipe blocked
Click to expand...
The coldest a working fridge should go is about +2degrees c, so whilst salad items may start to crystallise, freezing of fluids won’t happen.
The defrost drain being blocked won’t affect the cold making, but just cause water to collect in the fridge base, under and around the crisper.
:)
 
Bunkermagnet said:
The coldest a working fridge should go is about +2degrees c, so whilst salad items may start to crystallise, freezing of fluids won’t happen.
The defrost drain being blocked won’t affect the cold making, but just cause water to collect in the fridge base, under and around the crisper.
:)
Click to expand...

You want to try some of the fridges I have owned. My current fridge gets ice on the cold plate. One fridge we owned used to get so cold we used it as a freezer.
Ensuring there is no water helps to stop any ice from forming on the cold plate.
 
jim8flog said:
You want to try some of the fridges I have owned. My current fridge gets ice on the cold plate. One fridge we owned used to get so cold we used it as a freezer.
Ensuring there is no water helps to stop any ice from forming on the cold plate.
Click to expand...
Modern fridges are very much different to fridges of yore.

As I said, the defrost drain or gulley being blocked doesnt affect the temperature of the fridge, only its ability to allow the defrosted ice flow away down to a tray on the compressor to be evaporated away.
If you are getting ice forming around the drain gulley or on the back wall area (not where the evaportaer plate is behind it) then that suggest insulation breakdown, and again is new fridge time.:)
 
jim8flog said:
Last time I had a coke can explode was because it got left in the car on a freezing cold night.

Fridges in garages need to rated for such use.

Clue - The Prosecco will not freeze because it is alcohol.
Click to expand...
I'Ve had beer bottles blow their tops several times when the thermostat has been too high. The stuff that oozes out is strong. What's left is just watery.
I once placed champagne in a freezer compartment for a quick chill and forgot. It split neatly and, me being me, "rescued" it. My wife wouldnt touch it. There were two distinct shades of slush. I think the alcohol separates because I had a few dessert spoons. The pale bits were insipid and the darker bits were were miniature head bombs.😵‍💫
 
Bunkermagnet said:
Modern fridges are very much different to fridges of yore.

As I said, the defrost drain or gulley being blocked doesnt affect the temperature of the fridge, only its ability to allow the defrosted ice flow away down to a tray on the compressor to be evaporated away.
If you are getting ice forming around the drain gulley or on the back wall area (not where the evaportaer plate is behind it) then that suggest insulation breakdown, and again is new fridge time.:)
Click to expand...
Well, the fridge is kaput! Frozen up again,three cans exploded!
So will have to be a new one.

Thanks for your input and for others that replied.👍
 
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