Why Is My Freezer Working Intermittently?

Serviceman Repairing Refrigerator With Toolbox In Kitchen

 

 

Why Is My Freezer Working Intermittently?

The common refrigerator works by compressing, condensing, and evaporating refrigerant gases in order to draw heat away from the object being frozen. A closed circuit of the refrigerant draws heat and moisture from an internal storage area, mostly the freezer, and runs it through a series of coils, which pull the heat away and scatter it back to the air. The evaporator fan is responsible for pulling cooler air out from a different set of coils, which is then circulated through the whole unit – first in the freezer, and then the cooler (or fresh foods) compartment.

The condenser fan is located in the cupboard on the bottom of the fridge, next to the compressor and condenser coils (note that cooler models that feature coils at the rear, rather than at the bottom, will not have the fan). The condenser fans job is to keep the compressor and coils cool, so if one breaks, your refrigerator starts heating up. Normally, a fridges condenser fan and compressor, located near the floor in the back of most refrigerators, turn on when your thermostat calls for extra cooling. If either fan is out, or the compressor is not working, then the fridge offers very little or no cooling.

If your thermostat is adjusted improperly, your fridge will shut down and then restart as temperatures rise. If broken, the thermostat cannot read temperatures accurately, telling appliances exactly how cold the interior of the fridge is.

The sealed system might leak, and not have enough freon to keep the appliance at its desired temperature. Instead, your fridge may have dirty condenser coils, doors that are not sealing tight, or defective temperature controls. If the refrigerators compartment is freezing the contents, even with the cooling control set at the lowest setting, it is very likely the fault is in your fridges temperature sensing unit, or in its refrigeration controls. Lowering your temperature in your coolers compartment is not a good test, since many coolers are chilled by venting out of their freezer.

Make sure your appliances controls are set to 0 degrees F (18degC) for the freezer, 37degF (3degC) for the refrigerator. After disconnecting your fridge, use the control panel located inside your fridge to shut down both the fridge and freezer. Only once you have done unplugging, you can take out the access panel on the back of your refrigerator to get at the components within. If a light comes on, then the fridge is still powered up, and you can proceed with the next set of possible problems–fixes.

You will hear those sounds coming and going; standard ones that come on to help the refrigerator chill, but shut down once the refrigerator hits its preset temperature. If you adjust your refrigerators thermostat for a little extra cold air, the compressor in your fridge kicks in, forcing less air to flow through your cooling fan. Your refrigerator compressor uses low-pressure, gaseous refrigerant, which helps to keep the temperature of your food down.

As its name suggests, a compressor is designed to compress the refrigerant, which circulates through the fridge to keep it cold. Cold air cycles in and out of air vents. Freezer-freeze accumulation also blocks a vent, diminishing or blocking the cold air that gets to a coolers compartment.

If the rear portion of your freezer, which houses your evaporator coils, is heavily frosted, you may have an issue with defrosting. Frost that is only building on the back of the freezer, where the evaporator coil is located, indicates an issue in the defrost cycle. You may have an issue with the fan motor in your evaporator, which is what blows air over the evaporator coils for the duration that your compressor is running, and is located inside your refrigerators compressor bay. If you can hear the compressor running, but the refrigerator is not cooling, then it is more than likely that you have either frost-clogged evaporator coils, or you have a stuck or broken evaporator fan.

Even if your refrigerator seems to maintain a consistent temperature, a hot motor is a sign it is working overtime. It is not supposed to be running the whole time, but if your refrigerator starts up, and then promptly shuts down its defrost timer, then something may not be right. When freezer fans are running, that means both the defrost timer and cold setting on the refrigerator are on COOL.

If your surroundings are too cold, your freezer might not receive enough running time to keep it at temperature. If frost is light, snowy, and seems to be all over, your freezers temperature might be set too low. A cooler with lower coolant levels cannot achieve the lower temperatures on its Cold Control dial setting.

If a refrigerator is not cooling at all, it is the electrical controls that are almost always causing the problem – not a need for more refrigerant. More often, a component failure in the auto-defrosting system causes the fridge to operate continuously, but without stopping. If you notice that your fridge is continuously turning on and off, or the constant buzzing becomes loud enough for you to notice, it is possible that your fridge is broken. Some refrigerators have an auto-defrost feature, which has a heater that will automatically turn off and turn on in order to decrease the chances of accumulating ice.

The thermostat dials inside a refrigerator, however, may get jacked around by cartons of milk or other items, causing a shift in your temperature setting. Your refrigerators and freezers controls will differ depending on the brand and model of the fridge, but experts suggest keeping your coolers about 40 degrees F. This means that compressor components cannot move at all, and your refrigerator does not generate any cool air.

As an aside, I looked for the heat sink, which is a tube which circulates refrigerant, and it appears the heat sink is integrated with a fan within the fridge, or at least, I could see that it was right below, possibly within the fan.

For freezer repairs in Oklahoma City contact Appliance Repair OKC Services by calling them at 405-378-4566 or you can visit our website at https://www.okcappliance.com or also our Google business page at https://cutt.ly/YEnc8qk. Call today!

 

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