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On the Alpicol RTW refrigerator a complaint that reads as "it runs but nothing is cold" is far more often the setpoint, the units, and the control's own modes than a failed compressor. The model record for this family is a single code, RTW25, so everything below applies to one build rather than to a range of them.
The observables on these models
- It is plainly running, and nothing inside is cold — The compressor note is there and the panel is lit; the contents disagree with both.
- It pulls down overnight and gives it all back by the afternoon — That pattern points at the room and at the seal, not at the refrigeration.
- It cools well in one spot and badly in another — Same machine, two results: that is the installation talking, and it is the cheapest fault on this list.
- NEAR MISS — it is silent and dark — Nothing lit, nothing running: that is a power or start fault and belongs on a different page from this one.
Ranked causes for these models
- The setpoint, the units, and the control's own modes — First. A panel reading in the other temperature unit, an economy or protection mode left on, or a setpoint nudged by something leaning on it all present as a cabinet that is not cold enough. A refrigerator holds food safely at 40 °F (4 °C) or below; a control only cools to the number it was given. The record holds only RTW25, so this check is the whole of the family's exposure to that cause.
- The supply the cabinet is running from — Second. Starting a compressor is the hardest thing the cabinet does all day, and it does it against whatever the socket can deliver at that instant. Feed it through a long lead or a worn outlet and the voltage dips, the control drops out rather than risk the motor, and it goes round again. Lights on, nothing cold, no fault stored.
- A loss in the sealed system — Last, always. It is the rarest of these causes and the only one that cannot be touched without recovery equipment and a licence. What it looks like is a machine trying hard and achieving nothing: long runs, a condenser that stays lukewarm, and a cabinet that drifts back up as fast as it comes down.
- Body: With one code recorded there is no older or newer build here to tell apart. What the trailing block of each code measures is not recorded here, so treat the models as one platform unless the part in front of you plainly differs. When the record cannot tell you which control a given code carries, you start at the panel: the settings are the one part of this fault that costs nothing to rule out and that no amount of dismantling will reveal later.
The order to work in
- Read the panel, then set it deliberately — Confirm the unit it is displaying in, take it off any economy or protection mode, and set it where you actually want it. Then leave it alone for a few hours, because judging a cabinet mid-pulldown tells you nothing. On RTW25 that is the whole of this step.
- Move it to a socket you trust, on a short lead — Nothing else you can do costs a minute and eliminates a whole branch of the fault tree. If the cabinet pulls down on the new socket, the machine was never the problem.
- Body: The record holds one code for this family, so the order below is not a model matrix — it is the order in which these causes can be eliminated on the machine in front of you, cheapest and least invasive first.
Before any panel comes off
Safety
Unplug the cabinet or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. If the cabinet has been laid on its side or its back, stand it upright and leave it standing for some hours before running it. Leave the sealed system alone: refrigerant work is licensed work and needs recovery equipment, not hand tools.
Models this page covers — The one model code recorded for this family.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| RTW25 | alpicol:refrigerator:rtw |
Where owner work stops
The line is the sealed system and it is the same on every model in this family: everything above it is owner work, and nothing below it is. Call when the cabinet has passed all of the checks above and still will not hold, when the compressor cuts out on its own protection within minutes of starting, or when you find oil on the tubing. Keep perishable food out of it while you wait rather than gambling on the next few hours.
Other faults covered for this family
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