Active Smart Fridge Freezer E402B control panel has solid red light,no cool in fridge,compressor never stops for defrost,light not working.

pull the unit from the wall, remove the bottom back panel , see if the small fan is working ,if the fan is , there's probally alot of dust back there,unplug the fridg. and vacuum the area real good,use a flash light to make sure you get it all, if the fan is not working and the compressor is running the fan is the problem ,the fan keeps the compressor and coils cool so the freon can cool down so the unit works like it should,if the freon is hot ,the air the fridg.will be blowing will be hot. this should fix your problem, and YES its worth fixing.alittle p.m.saves alot of $$$$$$$$$

Red light on for High Freezer Temperature Warning
or freezer not cooling, but fridge is and a lot of noise from compressor.
Also, fridge drain hole blocked, water in bottom of fridge.

This is a common fault in Hotpoint Fridge Freezers and can also happen if the door has been left open or has been a power cut.

1. Turn off fridge freezer, or at least turn down the freezer temp to minimum, though not ideal.
2. Open freezer door and remove all drawers.
3. Remove the back panel on the inside of the freezer. This is held in place with 4 screws, which might be 6mm hex head or star allen head. Pull the panel out.
4. Behind where the panel was, there is a cooling element for cooling, pipes, and below this a temperature sensor. If the fridge freezer is not switched off, then fold together a few layers of tinfoil and wrap around the sensor.
5. Use a hairdryer to slowly melt the ice. Melt it around areas where it appears to be hanging on, such as the corners of the cooling element or bolts, as well as any thin sections below the main block of ice around the cooling element, which will be supporting the main block. Use a plastic ice scraper to remove ice but not near pipes or sensor.
Warning: Be careful using electrics around water & melting ice & drips.
6. Below the cooling element, there is a drip channel & drain hole. If this hole is full of ice, pour a small amound of warm water down, leave for 10 seconds and pour a bit more until clear.
In the fridge, clear the drain hole in the same way.
Warning: Do not pour a lot of water down, as this water drains onto a tray above the hot compressor at the rear of the fridge freezer to be evaporated by the heat of the compressor and the tray will only hold a small amount.
7. When all ice is removed, dry all moisture. Put the shelves back. Close door. Turn on fridge freezer. Turn up the freezer temperature to your normal setting. Turn on fast freeze if available. After 1 hour, check with a thermometer. It should be cold enough after 1 or 2 hours.

If there is no cooling at all on the fridge section but the freezer works then it is confirmed that the compressor and gas pressure is OK. Now shut off the fridge and leave it powered off while you clean and check the evaporator for frost. If frost is seen it is a good indication as the compressor is working with sufficient gas within.
Now after about 6 hours plug in the fridge to start. Observe cooling to happen in about one hour and ice to from under three hours.
Earlier make sure that the thermostat was set to normal mode for freezer and fridge.
However if ice forms in the freezer then observe the fridge for about 24 hours for cooling to continue and the fridge to cut off . If not the auto defrost timer, or the thermostat must be checked. Frost formation without defrosting could block the air flow and so shut the air passage to the fridge. Also the blower fan must work and if this is not working then the fan can be faulty. Also a fault on the control unit is a suspect to non functioning of any one of these components.
If defrost timer works but frost keeps forming check while the compressor shuts if the heaters are working, check continuity of the heaters.
So try this test using a multi-meter on the defrost timer and the thermostat and make your observations so that we come to the solution.

Is the freezer itself getting cold.To blow cold air.the freezer should get cold/friezed.the cold air blows from freezer to fridge side.first the freezer side gets cold, then when the freezer side gets enough cool to its set cooling temperature, at that time the defrost cycle starts.In defrost cycle the fan in the freezer starts running and the cool air from freezer starts going to fridge side.There is a ventilation passage between fridge and freezer from where this cool air passes.---------------- If in your case, the freezer is getting proper cold, but its not blowing cold air from freezer to fridge, then possibility is that, there is a blockage in ventilations.But if ventilation its clear, then its defrost problem.First try manual defrost reset procedure. The procedure is as follows: ---- First unplug the unit from main power outlet. Then empty whole unit completely. Then keep both the doors open. Wait for 24 hours. All the ice collected on the coils and in the freezer section will get melted. Clean the water from the sections. Then Connect the power cord of the unit to main power outlet after 24 hours/.Then set the temperature to normal in both fridge and freezer section. It will take near to 4 hours to get run in its proper cooling cycle. Then check, if the problem returns again. Then its defrost board problem. ------------------------- BUT if in your case, the freezer section itself is not getting cold, then the problem is compressor related.The compressor is the part which cools the freezer frost.In the compressor, there is a refrigerant to cool the freezer.If the compressor gets weak or the refrigerant gets low, then it will not cool the freezer, if the freezer is not cool then it will blow warm air from freezer to fridge, in defrost cycle.In that case, the compressor is faulty and its the cause of problem.------------ So you will have to first check , that is your freezer getting cold or not.as per that you can start the troubleshooting.------------------

You can get required parts from from online sites like: --- www.repairclinic.com or from searspartsdirect online site. --------- This should help.Thanks.Helpmech.

Hello,

Insufficient cooling is a fridge repair job that you can do without the help of a professional. Often the fridge has a frost-free failure, or the compressor is faulty but there are many other reasons for a fridge not cooling properly.
Step 1 - Find the Problem

Your first job is to locate the source of the problem. Consider each of the following:

* Gaskets - Make sure the gaskets/seals are not torn and are sealing properly.
* Evaporator fan - Make sure it is working. If it is now working you may have a problem with the fan motor. Check for power to the motor and also examine the fan switches around the door (not all fridges have these switches).
* Air damper - Sometimes the air damper will not open up to allow the cold air from the freezer part to blow into the fridge section.
* Condenser coils - Check to see that the condenser coils don't have a dust build-up and that the condenser motor is working.
* Compressor - Make sure your compressor is working with on and off clicking noises.

Step 2 - Frost-Free Failure

This is the most common cooling problem in fridges. Expose the evaporator coils by accessing the panel in the freezer section. The coils in the freezer section can sometimes get clogged up with frost. This can stop the evaporator fan motor from blowing cold air around, or cause the fan to hit it and stop, or become noisy. The defrost timer can be a bit tricky to find but it is usually located behind the back bottom corners of the fridge, although they can sometimes be found in the ceiling of the fresh food section, or behind the cold control cover.
Step 3 - Find the Timer

When you find the timer, turn the wheel-like screw slowly with a screwdriver until the fridge shuts off. The refrigerator is now defrosting. If you find that the fridge starts now, you will need to replace the defrost thermostat and the defrost timer.
Step 4 - Volt Test

If the heaters do not come on, use a volt meter to ohm test the defrost heater or volt test for 120 volts to the heater. You can bypass the defrost thermostat if you haven't got power to the defrost heater to check if the defrost heater will come on. To bypass the thermostat, join the two wires together. Replace the defrost thermostat and the defrost timer if the heater comes on now.

If there is a ticking or squealing noise in the defrost timer, or it seems hot to touch, replace it.

Many fridges have and inline fuse on both sides of the defrost heater. You will need to replace the whole heater if one of those fuses blows. Check these fuses with a volt meter if the defrost heater doesn't work.

A quick check if you have a cooling problem is to inspect the evaporator coils. If there is a build up of white snow on the coils, this indicates a frost free problem; if there is balled ice on part of the coils with the rest bare, this indicates a system problem, like a problem with the pumping compressor.
Take care in solving the problem....

Either the defrost circuit has failed or the refrigerant is low - my money is on the defrost circuit.

Most defrost circuits have three main parts:

1) defrost electric heating coil
2) defrost terminator
3) defrost timer.

The heating coil and terminator are in the freezer compartment - behind a protective panel. The heater is usually piggy-backed on the freezer coil and the terminator is in contact with the freezer coil to detect its temperature. The defrost timer is a simple assembly of a clock motor with switch contacts that can be located anywhere the manufacturer desires. The timer turns on or enables the defrost circuit every 8 or so hours for up to 30 minutes give or take.

When the timer has enabled the defrost cycle, the cooling mode ceases; the compressor shuts off and power is sent through the terminator to the heater. The heater warms and melts any ice build up on the freezer coil. The water drips to a pan and flows down the tube to a pan under the fridge - where it is evaporated off. The heater warms the freezer coil until either a) the timer returns to cooling mode or b) the terminator senses a preset rising temperature on the freezer coil. Once either condition is present, power is interupted and heating stops. The compressor is energized through the adjustable thermostat in your fridge. Since it is warm, the compressor turns on and cooling begins.

If any of the components listed above (1,2 or 3) have failed, the defrost cycle never warms the freezer coil and the ice never melts to clear the freezer coil as intended. Air can not be circulated through the freezer coil since it is choked with ice, so even though the compressor runs, the fridge and freezer spaces never get colder. The adjustable thermostat never sees the temperature you've set so the compressor never shuts off.

Water dripping in the fridge is melting ice from the freezer space - as the freezer is not getting colder - only the protected space around the freezer coil is.

To fix this, you'll have to get the service manual or schematics for the fridge to determine where the parts are located and do some troubleshooting with a multimeter after disassembling the freezer compartment and wherever else to access the timer if needed. This is not a good first appliance repair job for a DIYer due to the danger of refrigerant and testing live electrical parts in closed in spaces.

I hope this helps.

Check the condenser fan underneath the unit accessable form the back behind the cardboard cover. It should be running when the compressor runs. OR Check the evaporator behind the rear cover inside the freezer. Check for ice build up. . Light frost everywhere(NORMAL) or a partial pattern of ice(LOW ON FREON) or nothing(LOW FREON OR COMPRESSOR PROBLEM).
If the evaporator coils behind the back panel of the freezer are icing up because of auto defrost failure that will stop the circulation of cold air and eventually affect the freezer too.

check defrost timer, defrost heater, defrost thermostat. In most newer models the timer has been replaced by an electronic control board. If the heater and thermostat are ok it’ll be the control

Make it a habit to defrost it every week. You see, when ice forms around the evaporator tubes (which runs around the walls of fridge and freezer), heat exchange reduces (that means heat is no longer absorbed from the things inside the refrigerator) and cooling stops. See whether freezer walls or fridge walls are damaged. Do not use knives or any other sharp tools to remove ice. Do not forcefully remove items that are difficult to take out from the freezer. Defrost and remove them.

Mine is doing the same thing

Yes, boards may need replacing, but not at the expense of the door, apparantly your "engineer" would rather work on older models that may require a hammer. Best advice would be given knowing the make and model number of your unit. A professional should be able to diagnose the board processes as well as the compressor in a short amount of time. Check the defrost heater (after pwr is restored to unit) for the freezer side (placement depending upon model) for continuity (basically a heating element for the evaporator coils - which will freeze without defrost). Proper defrost will help lessen the load on the compressor. Check the overload relay on the compressor itself for failure and replacement of relay. Have the unit defrosted, svc defrost htr, thermostats/thermolinks , compressor, before checking computer board operations.