Fridge Suddenly Stopped Working Then Started Again
As well run into: How to Repair an Water ice Maker
Fridge not working right? This expert refrigerator troubleshooting and repair advice includes how to fix refrigerator problems such as poor cooling, refrigerator noises, and unwanted freezing of foods.
Though refrigerators generally operate very dependably, they can break down, and, when they do, the food inside tin can spoil in a hurry. Though troubleshooting refrigerator problems often calls for a fridge repair person, you can handle some elementary fridge troubleshooting and repairs yourself. As a effect, you lot can save coin, fourth dimension, and the hassle of waiting for help.
DIY fridge repairs involve checking the ability, controls, condenser coils, and other parts outside of your refrigerator's sealed, hermetic organization.
The best way to increase the life of a fridge is to clean the condenser coils at least one time a yr. In fact, information technology pays to clean condenser coils on certain types of refrigerators, such as side-by-side and congenital-in models, at least twice a year. (For instructions on how to do this yourself, see How to Clean Refrigerator Coils.)
A refrigerator with black coils mounted on the back doesn't require semi-annual coil cleaning, but do periodically vacuum the coils.
Fridge Runs Constantly
A refrigerator volition run constantly if it tries to cool but can't get the job done. Typical causes are: ane) the door is left open frequently, 2) the condenser coils demand cleaning, iii) the door doesn't seal against the refrigerator box, 4) the common cold command is set too cold, or 5) something is blocking the menstruum of cold air inside the refrigerator.
A refrigerator will run more than when completely filled with food, the door gets opened also frequently, or the kitchen is too warm.
This video shows how to tell if the refrigerator door doesn't properly seal, and so how to admission and clean the coils. Note: Use a vacuum to help suck the droppings out of the coils.
First refrigerator troubleshooting stride: If the refrigerator's light bulb works and you can hear the refrigerator running but information technology hardly e'er stops running, make sure aught is blocking the passageway betwixt the freezer and the fridge compartments. If for instance, a loaf of bread shoved in forepart of the passageway restricts air flow, the refrigerator won't get cold. Hence, the refrigerator will keep running in an effort to attain the set temperature.
If your refrigerator runs without stopping, its refrigerant could be depression. A refrigerator with depression refrigerant cannot attain the depression temperature of the common cold control punch setting. You'll need a refrigerator repair person to exam and/or boost refrigerant levels.
More than likely, a faulty component in the automatic defrosting organisation causes a refrigerator to run without stopping. The faulty component could be a defrost heater, a defrost timer, or a defrost terminator. Browse defrost heaters, timers, and terminators on Amazon.
Earlier you call a repair person, practise the following (also seeFridge Is Too Cold or Non Cold Enough, below):
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Step-past-Stride Repair for a Fridge That Runs Likewise Much
1 Determine whether the refrigerator section is being cooled. If you lot see frost at the summit of a frost-free refrigerator even when the cold control is fix low, it means the refrigerator probably has a full accuse of refrigerant but the thermostat is faulty or out of calibration.
ii Try turning the cold control both up and downwards. The common cold control may exist broken if it doesn't shut off the compressor. Call a fridge repair person. As well consider having the defrost timer and heaters checked to ensure they working correctly.
3 Look at the condenser coils, located at the bottom of the fridge (behind the kick plate) or, in some cases, at the back. These coils disperse rut from within the fridge out into the room with the help of a fan. If the coils are dirty, the refrigerator won't operate efficiently. Clean the coils on a regular basis as shown in the video above.
4 Make sure the drain tube isn't plugged. The drain tube is under the evaporator coils, which goes to a pan underneath. Water should drip into the pan when the refrigerator is defrosting.
v To put off having the refrigerator repaired for a few days, y'all may be able to defrost it manually with a hair dryer—if you lot can access the cooling coils in the freezer section. Excessive wet in the coils can turn into a frozen mass, reducing efficiency.
Caution: Be very careful when using the hair dryer nigh a h2o source as there is a serious risk of electric shock. Also be careful not to melt the refrigerator'due south plastic parts.
Refrigerator Non Common cold or Also Cold
As a dominion, refrigerators maintain 36 to xl degrees F. in the fridge box and 0 to 5 degrees F. in the freezer box. If your refrigerator compartment freezes its contents, fifty-fifty when the cold command is set to its everyman setting, the problem is probable to be a defective fridge temperature sensor or cold control. You can check the temperature with a refrigerator thermometer. Find temperature command kits on Amazon.
The post-obit video does a good task of showing how to replace the temperature sensor yourself.
If replacing a temperature sensor looks like information technology's across your DIY abilities, telephone call an apparatus repair person.
If a refrigerator doesn't cool at all, the electrical controls almost ever crusade the problem—not the demand for a more than refrigerant. The sealed, hermetic system probably isn't causing the problem; these types of malfunctions happen rarely. Instead, the unit may take dirty condenser coils, a door that does not seal tightly, or a defective temperature control.
Pace-by-Pace Repair for a Fridge That'south Non Cold Enough
Before you telephone call in an appliance repair person:
1 Check the cold control. Be sure information technology is set to Cold. Normally, the temperature within the refrigerator should be almost 37 degrees F.
2 Listen for the freezer fan within the freezer. When freezer fan runs, it means the defrost timer and the cold control in the refrigerator are both fix to Cool.
3 Listen for the compressor fan (which will besides tell you where the compressor is located—typically behind or beneath the refrigerator). Virtually of the time, when the freezer fan is operating, the compressor fan should also be working. If one of the fans is not working or the compressor is off, the fridge will offering very picayune cooling or none at all.
Fridge Not Working at All
If the refrigerator'southward light doesn't work and its motor doesn't run, here is the basic refrigerator troubleshooting you lot can exercise:
1 Check its electric ability. Brand sure the fridge is plugged into a live receptacle that's receiving power (plug in a working lamp or an outlet circuit tester). If the receptacle doesn't work, bank check for a tripped circuit breaker or blown fuse.
ii Be sure the common cold control is correctly prepare.
3 Go help if necessary. If you discover that the fridge is plugged into a working outlet, its excursion breaker hasn't flipped, and the cold command is appropriately gear up but the device however shows no signs of life, leave the door closed to retain the common cold air and call an appliance repair person.
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Refrigerator Smells, Rattles or Leaks
If your refrigerator smells bad inside, fifty-fifty after you've removed all suspicious foods, unplug it and remove the drawers and shelves to requite it a thorough cleaning with soap and water. Adjacent scrub it with a solution of 1/ii cup of blistering soda dissolved in warm water.
Also, clean the drip tray underneath the refrigerator (if it has 1)—it can become moldy and funky. If the smell still doesn't go abroad, try putting few charcoal briquettes in shallow bowls and placing them on the shelves inside the refrigerator to blot odors.
Vibrating noises generally come from loose parts such as loose condenser coils, compressor tubing rattling, or rollers and feet that sit down unevenly on the floor.
Await for any office that is loose and tighten it with a wrench or screwdriver. And then remove the lesser trim slice by lifting information technology off its supports and check the feet at the front of the unit to be certain they are all bearing the weight of the appliance—the refrigerator should not stone. Equally necessary, turn the adjustable feet up or down and so they contact the floor squarely.
Leaking under a refrigerator generally comes from a condensation tube that doesn't bleed into a pan. A clogged freezer drain can likewise cause leaking.
Fridge Door Does Not Close or Seal
A common cause of energy inefficiency in refrigerator functioning is a door that doesn't close or seal properly. If the door doesn't swing closed, the hinge (sometimes called a "cam") at the bottom of the door may be worn out. This cam is basically a round pin that goes into a circular hole. You tin can try lubricating it with a eject of WD-40, but the chances are skillful that you'll need to replace it. This is a relatively piece of cake job, as shown in this helpful video:
During your fridge troubleshooting, use a business card to meet if the door gasket is sealing solidly effectually the door'southward perimeter, as shown in the video above. If you exam your door and realize it doesn't take a decent seal, then either adjust the door or—more probable—replace the door gasket to remedy the problem.
Y'all can buy a new refrigerator door gasket in an appliance repair store or online.
How to Replace a Fridge Door Gasket
Hither are instructions for adjusting or replacing your refrigerator door gasket:
1 Remove whatever coverings that conceal the hinges. For side-by-side freezer-refrigerator models, slightly loosen the top swivel using a nut driver. For models with the freezer on top, adapt the meridian hinge of the freezer door with a nut driver and the bottom hinge of the refrigerator with a socket wrench.
2 Put a level on pinnacle of the refrigerator door and move the door around until it is level. Hold it in place, and refasten the screws. Reaffix whatsoever coverings that you removed before.
3 Retest the door'south seal. If information technology is still faulty, open up the door and peel back the rubber gasket. Along the tiptop and partway down the door'southward sides, loosen the screws that spike the strip. Take off the gasket in this area.
4 Apply a new gasket, slipping it underneath the metal retaining strip so slightly tighten the screws.
5 Follow steps 3 and four with the bottom half of the door. Cease securing all of the screws once the new gasket is entirely in identify.
Fridge Light Stays On
Do you doubtable that your fridge'south interior light stays on fifty-fifty when y'all close the refrigerator door? A refrigerator light bulb that stays on will warm the refrigerator's interior, cutting down on its efficiency.
Of course, yous may not be aware that this is happening because, obviously, yous can't see what's going on inside the refrigerator when you shut the door. Just, with most refrigerators, you lot should be able to see the lite go off when the door is a fraction of an inch from endmost.
You lot tin also feel the bulb when you open the door—but do and then carefully. If it has stayed on, it will be hot. It'southward actually very easy to tell whether this is happening. Test the lite-switch button that the door closes against. When you push it in all the way, the light should go off. If information technology stays on, you must supersede the calorie-free switch.
If you are adept at uncomplicated repairs, this is a chore that you may be able to handle yourself, merely exist sure to unplug the fridge before working on it. Yous can buy a replacement fridge door switch online at Amazon; exist certain to get ane that matches your model of fridge. Instructions for replacement volition exist inside the packet.
Refrigerator Troubleshooting – Doesn't Defrost
Almost modern refrigerators defrost automatically. They accept a defrost heater, a defrost timer, and a defrost terminator. Scan defrost heaters, timers, and terminators on Amazon.
When a frost-free refrigerator is running, it builds up frost on the tubing in the back of the freezer wall. Normally, the defrost timer cycles the refrigerator to defrost for most 20 minutes every six to eight hours—information technology essentially heats up coils to melt the ice. If it isn't working right, ice remains on the tubing and, somewhen, restricts airflow through the refrigerator.
You can manually advance the defrost timer with some refrigerators. This minor blackness box may be located well-nigh anywhere but commonly mounts on the ceiling of the fresh food section. Advance information technology until it clicks into the defrost mode (you lot should hear the heaters come on). If this works, the fridge has a defective defrost timer that needs to be replaced.
If this technique doesn't work, the trouble is probably the heater or the terminator.
Y'all tin replace a defective defrost heater yourself fairly hands, if you take DIY repair skills and tools. See the above video for how to replace the refrigerator defrost heater.
The video shows you lot how to this with a GE refrigerator, using steps that are fairly typical. Y'all can lodge a GE defrost heater online. Otherwise, phone call the manufacturer for advice or phone call in a qualified Refrigerator Repair Pro.
Side by side Meet:
• Refrigerators & Freezers
• How to Repair an Water ice Maker
• Buying the Best Refrigerator: Refrigerators Buying Guide
• How to Make clean Fridge Coils
Fridge Suddenly Stopped Working Then Started Again
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