Refrigerator Diagnostic and Repair Tips
The refrigerator is one of the most vital appliances in your kitchen. It’s convenient and efficient, and any breakdown will lead to so many things not working properly in your kitchen area. Therefore, it’s essential to know how to take good care of it to serve you better for long periods of time.
Although we are one of the top’s specialized refrigerator repair companies, we also support our customers to understand how certain components of the fridge work and what are the best practices when it comes to its maintenance and help them in avoiding unnecessary refrigerator repair calls.
Refrigerator diagnostic and repair tips
One of the common problems is that the refrigerator does not cool enough or at all. To fix this problem you can check the power plug, adjust the thermostat, clear the inside vents, check the mechanism underneath, inspect the door gaskets, create more space inside your refrigerator, and/or check the door switch.
• Adjusting the thermostat – The average lifespan of a refrigerator is 17 years, and most people never think about the temperature settings. Knowing the optimum temperature for your refrigerator will ensure the unit it’s operating at maximum efficiency. The optimum temperature for most refrigerators is between 35° and 38°F. Anything above this temperature is considered unsafe for your food because it promotes bacteria growth. Place a thermometer inside the door of your refrigerator to easily monitor its temperature and adjust accordingly for maximum efficiency.
• Clearing the inside vents – In order to fix this and allow the colder air to flow again, you need to find the vents in the freezer and refrigerator first. Once you’ve located them, remove anything that might be blocking them.
• Checking the mechanism underneath your unit – There is where the fan, coil, and compressor are located, and one of these parts may be dirty or out of position. To fix this, turn off your refrigerator, use a soft brush vacuum cleaner to get the dirt out of the components, and then switch it on. Clean it gently to avoid damaging the coils!
• Inspecting the door gaskets – These help in containing the fresh air inside the refrigerator. If they are not in the right position or are dirty, cool air might leak outside. Put them in place and/or clean them with a bleach solution. If this doesn’t help, consider replacing them.
• Checking the door switch – Press the switch on the door; if the light goes off, your unit it’s functioning properly. If the light doesn’t go off, you might need to fix the door switch.
• If any of these tips doesn’t work, it’s time for you to call for our refrigerator repair services!
Another common problem is water leaking on the floor. This can be caused by a blocked defrost drain or a clogged/frozen water supply.
• The defrost drain is located in most units on the back wall inside the freezer. If the draining hole is frozen, use warm water from the inside to defrost it, and then remove the clog by using a pipe cleaner or any other long, thin instrument. Another way of fixing it is to locate the defrost drain hose that is in the back of your unit, and remove the clog that is blocking your valve manually. Wash the rubber valve of the defrost drain hose with soap and hot water.
• If your refrigerator has an ice maker and a water dispenser, then a clogged or frozen water supply may cause the water leaking. To fix this, unplug your unit and locate the shut-off valve, which in most cases is located underneath your kitchen sink, behind or below the refrigerator. Once you close the valve, check for any problems in the water supply line. If you find any issues, you need to replace it! If the situation is beyond your expertise, call our refrigerator and ice maker repair technicians!
Another issue that our customers encounter is that their unit is cycling too often, causing their energy bill to run high. This can happen for two reasons – a buildup of dirt around the condenser coils or your fridge temperature is set too low.
• As I mentioned above, turn off your refrigerator, use a soft brush vacuum cleaner to get the dirt out of the components, and then switch it on, or adjust the temperature accordingly.
What you do if the fresh food compartment is warming up. In most cases, this is caused by an airflow problem. The cold airflow from the freezer to the fresh food compartment is done by an evaporator fan through a diffuser, which can be located at the back of the fresh food compartment.
• If you can hear the fan or feel the cold air blowing, but the fresh food compartment is still warming up, your diffuser might be clogged with ice due to the door being left open for too long. Unplug your refrigerator, defrost it, and then plug it again.
• If you can’t hear the evaporator fan running normally at all, you’ll probably need to buy a new motor for it.
What to do when the refrigerator is freezing your food. This problem is mainly caused by the temperature control thermostat. Test if the thermostat is working properly by rotating it from the lowest level to the highest level.
• If you hear a click the thermostat is working properly, but the temperature was set too low. Adjust accordingly.
• If you don’t hear a click, it is time to replace the thermostat.
During the life of a refrigerator, you may encounter many problems. These were just the common issues most customers meet. The most serious problems should be left in the hands of experts.
For any professional advice regarding your refrigerator repair, freezer repair, or any other repair, give us a call at 714-204-3140 or schedule an appointment online. D&V Appliance Repair is at your disposal from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM every Monday through Saturday, and on-call after our normal scheduled hours for emergency repair services, including weekends.
