HomeCooling is poor
For an overall understanding of how refrigerators should work, read about refrigerators in the How Things Work section of our website. A refrigerator or freezer that is cooling, but cooling poorly, may have a problem in one of several areas:
Poor cooling is often the result of a heavy frost build-up on the evaporator coils or a condenser that is clogged with dust, lint, and dirt.
Evaporator coils
Poor cooling is often the result of a heavy frost build-up on the evaporator coils. You can’t see these coils without removing a panel on the inside of your freezer. A sure sign that there is a build-up is the presence of any frost or ice build-up on the inside walls, floor, or ceiling of the freezer. Such a frost build-up usually indicates a problem in the self-defrosting system or damaged door gaskets.
The refrigerator is supposed to self-defrost approximately four times in every 24 hour period. If one of the components in the self-defrosting system fails, the refrigerator continues to try to cool. Eventually, though, so much frost builds up on the evaporator coils that the circulating fan can’t draw air over the coils. There may still be a small amount of cooling because the coils are icy, but with no air flow over the coils, cooling in the refrigerator compartment is quite limited.
Condenser
Self-defrosting refrigerators all have a set of coils and a cooling fan, usually under the refrigerator, that need to be cleaned regularly. If these coils get coated with dust, dirt or lint, the refrigerator may not cool properly. The coils may appear to be a thin, black, wide radiator-like device behind the lower kick-panel.
It’s noisy
Noise can come from these areas:
The inside of the freezer
Self-defrosting refrigerators use a circulating fan to move the air through the freezer and refrigerator compartments. This fan runs whenever the unit is cooling. The fan is located in the freezer, as follows:
* If the freezer is on top, the fan is on the back wall, near the top or bottom, in the center of the freezer.
* If the freezer is on the bottom, the fan is on the back wall, near the top of the freezer.
* If the freezer is on the left, the fan is on the back wall, halfway up or near the top.
Over time, the fan may become noisy–usually making a chirping or squealing sound, though it may make a loud groaning noise instead.
To find out if the fan is causing the noise, just open the freezer door and push in any fan/light switches. If the noise is louder when the door is open, the evaporator fan motor is the cause. You can’t lubricate or repair this motor. You must replace it.
The outside back of the refrigerator
There are three components on the outside back of the refrigerator that may become noisy: the compressor, the condenser fan motor (if self-defrosting), or the defrost timer (if self-defrosting).
* The compressor is a football-sized case with no apparent moving parts. You can see it on the outside of the refrigerator at the back near the bottom. It is usually black and has black or copper-colored tubes and various colored wires attached to it. If the compressor is the device making noise, there is probably no repair that will reduce the noise. You will have to replace it–which can be quite costly.
* If the condenser fan is making noise, there may be a build-up of lint or other debris on the fan blade. The fan is located near the back of the machine, sometimes behind a thin panel. To clean it, first unplug the refrigerator, remove the thin panel, and use a soft bristle brush to clean it. If there is no lint build-up or debris on the blade, you will have to replace the motor.
* The defrost timer is often located at the bottom of the refrigerator, near the front and behind the kick plate. Occasionally the electric motor inside the timer may become noisy. The timer must be replaced to solve this problem.
The bottom of the refrigerator
Noises detected at the bottom of the refrigerator almost always originate from the back of the refrigerator. However, sometimes the drain pan under the refrigerator will rattle. You may need to tape the pan in place to stop a rattle. Also see the “Outside back of the refrigerator.”
The food in the refrigerator freezes
This is a common problem that often doesn’t have a clear, permanent solution. The first thing to check is the overall internal refrigerator temperature (see the Appliance Accessories section for a refrigerator/freezer thermometer). The proper temperature should be between 35 and 42 degrees.
If the temperature is too low and you can’t make it warmer by adjusting the thermostat, you probably have a defective thermostat. If so, you need to replace it, because they cannot be repaired. Other possible problems are a leak in the sealed (refrigerant) system, cold air migration (in side-by-side models) or a defective air damper. These problems can be quite difficult to locate and correct, we recommend you contact a qualified appliance repair technician.
