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Just the concept of freezing food so that it can be eaten months in the future amazes me. The mere fact that we are still finding woolly mammoths frozen from thousands of years ago, boggles the mind.
Now rush forward to our fairly recent ancestors (great grandparents) and you’ll realise that even they didn’t have the ability to freeze food like we can today. A cold cellar or an ice-box was pretty much all they had.
Many of us take it all for granted nowadays. To the point that we find stuff buried deep that we bought three Christmases ago. “Will this still be OK to eat?” we ask. “No, it’s a rubber ball that you hid in there from your cousin, Philip.”
Actually, I have found packets of frozen shrimp from several years ago that I wouldn’t trust. After writing this, I think I will man-up and chuck ‘em.
Freezers can be stand-alone appliances, or part of a combination refrigerator and freezer, called, you guessed it, a fridge-freezer. Dedicated freezers can be tall and upright with a door or doors, or they can be square or rectangular box-shaped with a lid. The lidded version is generally called a chest freezer.
The freezer in a fridge-freezer arrangement can be side-by-side with the refrigerator section, or as a large drawer underneath the fridge section
There are, of course, all manner of smaller types of freezers and fridges designed for specific locations and purposes. Branded beer fridges and wine coolers, for instance. We are just discussing the regular, everyday kind here.
So, freezers then. What up? Here is a little list of our most frequently requested freezer repairs:
1) THE FREEZER IS MAKING A WEIRD NOISE.
a) Freezers do make a noise, generally, most of the time. They’ve got work to do. Like bundling out chunks of ice into an internal bucket. This still makes me jump occasionally, late at night.
b) They can make a sizzling kind of sound when it’s time to defrost.
c) On modern freezers as long as there are no warning lights or buzzers going off and the freezer is maintaining the desired temperature, there is probably nothing to worry about. It is good practise though to have your freezer checked over after it’s about five years old, just to see that it’s all OK. The last thing we want is for the freezer to down tools when we least expect it. And, coupled with the fact that it’s possibly located somewhere out of earshot so that we can’t hear the warning beeps, a fairly regular health check could save our bacon. (Pun intended)
2) THERE IS A BUILD UP OF ICE
a) If there is a build-up of ice or frost around the door, this indicates that there could be a leak in the door seal allowing air to flow either way. The leak could be because something inside the fridge was protruding and preventing the door from closing properly.
b) Sometimes, depending on the type of frost build up, this can be caused by incorrect temperature setting. Check your owner’s manual for the optimum settings for your particular freezer model.
c) A more serious cause might be a failed defrost heater. If it is, this would need to be replaced.
d) Other things that could cause this problem include the defrost sensor, timer, or circuit board. These items would require a technician to check.
3) FREEZER TEMPERATURE IS NOT COLD ENOUGH
a) The defrost thermostat could be faulty and needs to be replaced.
b) Make sure that the temperature setting has been set correctly.
c) Ensure that the freezer is not overloaded and that items in the freezer are distributed as evenly as possible.
d) There could be an insufficient level of Freon in the system, probably through leakage. A qualified technician would need to be called to rectify this.
e) Check the condenser coils on the back of the freezer. These cool the refrigerant gas and turn it back into a liquid state. To do so, they need to be clean and clear of dust and grime build-up. It is important to keep them clean and you can buy brushes specifically designed for that job.
4) THERE IS A LEAK COMING FROM THE FREEZER
a) This could be caused by the freezer being sited in a cold location. The freezer produces moisture during it's process which drips into a tray so that it can evaporate. If the air is cold where the freezer is located then the water cannot evaporate and will eventually overflow.
b) It could also be a simple case of a dropped ice cube that has melted.
For information about the Refrigerator part of Fridge Freezers, see the Refrigerators & Fridge-Freezers page.
This is not a complete list of all the things that can require a freezer repair, but if what you’re looking for is not covered, please give us a call for help or advice. Frederick Appliance Repairs on (301) 683-5959