The fridge of my fridge freezer is not cooling, though the freezer is? (Hotpoint mistral plus). The compressor seems to be working, the freezer temp is -22 C, the fridge +22!

Any ideas guys?

Terry, June 2005

forgot to add my fridge freezer is 10 years old....

nasreen, July 2016

problem i had with my Hotpoint mistral frost free fridge freezer...for last few months fridge was making lots of noise (more then it usually does) and outside of fridge on the side was hot to touch and the temperature went up from 5 to 18 and would not go back down..also the screwdriver/bulb thing on the temperature panel was flashing...so hubby switched off fridge, undid the the front grill panel at the bottom of fridge, and lo and behold the metal coils and fan behind them were covered in so much dust it was like a blanket covering them!!..hubby cleaned it all up with aid of vacuum cleaner and thin attachment...then screwed grill back on, switched on fridge and after 20 mins the temperature started going down back to a normal 5, also the screwdriver/bulb thing that was flashing in the temperature panel stopped flashing and disappeared...fridge is working fine now..and we saved lots of money as we were ready to get the engineer to come or bin the fridge lo!!... all thanks to this site where somebody had posted about this same problem and how they fixed it...so thank u to that person..

nasreen, July 2016

I have the same problem my fridge is not cooling the fridge is on +10 and the freezer is on -6 when I try set it. It goes back to what it was on before when I push save any ideas would be much appreciated.

Shaun w, July 2013

Have been having same problem with ours until we called out a company who does the london area www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk they came out and fix the problem.

Mary, January 2013

my hotpoint mistral plus fridge freezer in not working,the fridge light comes on but is not working .It is hot on the metal bit in between the fridge and freezer.Theres a flashing screwdriver flashing at a black box on the digital display

angelica peacock, July 2010

I had same problem on a Hotpoint 'mistral plus' frost free fridge freezer.(14yrs old)
After removing the grill on the bottom front i found the black 'radiator' bit full of dust.
Switched the appliance off then cleaned off dust with wet kitchen roll and a long kebab skewer.
Then pushed out from wall and removed bottom back panel to reveal the fan and other bits. It, with the motor behind it was covered in dust. Cleaned them up then switched on.
Nothing happened for 10 mins, then it kicked in, fan running and then temp started to drop.
Working normally now!
No need for expensive call out.

furryboot, February 2010

Hi i have just had an engineer out for the same trouble as your having the same trouble as myself, his advice was to take all food out of freezer and store it in another cool place.
The bad weather could not have come at a better time as I have put all my freezer food into ice bags and placed them in different hole in my back garden and covered them with snow.
Why I did this is the engineer said the fridge freezer must be turned off for 48 hours to allow any ice to melt which probabley will be stopping the fan from moving with air coming up the back to the fridge.
How he diagnosed this was he took two freezer draws out and with his fingers scraped the back of the freezer and he found ice on the back, as he explained with ice being there told him that there was a 98% chance that the fridge fan was siezed up with ice and thats when he said try knocking it off for 48 hours.
I do relise this is a task if you have a lot of food in the freezer like me but in the long run if it works your fridge freezer should be back to normal.
Regarding your temp showing 22 c,this will only show the temp inside the fridge at the time of trying it and if yours is like mine once you cut the machine off for 48 hours and then set the temp even though it will still show 22 you should here the fridge kick in after swiching it back on after approx 5 minutes allow time for the fridge to become cool again and and bring the fridge temp down to the temp you have entered which should be between 1 c to 6c. I am presently trying this out which I think it going to fix it.
Lets know what happens.

gerry v
Newcastle upon Tyne

Gerry, January 2010

I have had this problem, empty the freezer, un screw the large cover inside the at the back,, it will be full of ice, defrost and clear it.
What happens is the fan blows the cold air to the fridge, but the ice build up and stops the fan.
All the best.

David, November 2009

Don't get cover from Masterplan because they contract out to Merloni Elettrodomestici Uk their customer service is not very helpful and Mastercare cannot do anything about it. If you use your fridge for medical purposes or require a emergency call out they do not provide this - it takes them 6-10 weeks before they come and repair the hotpoint fridge-freezer!

Nikki, June 2007

dont get confused there is screws in panel at back on the bottom,if you are desperate and worried of losing lots of moeny in frozen food.. use a fan to blow through from the back or the front if needed. a normal fan . it needs to coll the thing that looks like a radiator. you should see temperture drop slowly..

richie, July 2006

Well I have just been through a problem where the fridge and freezer wasnt getting cold enough.
I have had mine about 6years.
I didnt realise at the bottom of the freezer, where the grill is, you can take this off, So I did and it was completely blocked with dust,( this needs to be clear for the hot air to be dispersed) I turned the fridge freezer off and took this panel off, I also took the panel off at the back, the lower panel at the bottom, thats where I started, Hoovering and using a duster to get all the dust off the "elements". You will see there is a fan at the back that cools the elements, that can slide to one side, be careful though, make sure all is dust free and put back together, I then switched the frost free fridge freezer back on, the fan wasnt running ? but while I was looking up a help line on the pc, all went back to normal, the fridge has been fine since, a simple solution, nearly overlooked, of course this may not be your problem but is worth a look !
(PLEASE MAKE SURE FRIDGE IS SWITCED OFF AND UNPLUGGED FOR SAFTEY !!)

Terry Seyforth, July 2005

Any frost built up in the back of the freezer? if so, you likely have a defrost problem. If not, one thing to check is to listen see if the evaporator fan in the freezer is working when the compresser goes on.

JP, June 2005

I have the same problem with my Fridge, its also a Hotpoint Mistral

Ash, June 2005