My Fridge Freezer is Over Freezing
Whether you have a modern or an old-fashioned kitchen, the fridge freezer will always be the dominating kitchen appliance. Working 24/7 around the clock ensuring to keep your produce such as milk, meat, vegetables and frozen good preserved inside ready for you to enjoy. Functioning every day of the year, your air-conditioned appliance can go under all sort of strains causing it to flare up with faults.
A common fault for this appliance is your freezer over freezing or your fridge icing up.
Why is my fridge freezing up?
If your fridge keeps freezing, there could be a number of reasons. Some as simple as a faulty door seal or some may need a replacement part.
Why is my freezer icing up?
If your freezer is icing up it could just need more regular defrosting or there may be a faulty part.
What causes a frost-free fridge freezer to ice up?
If you have a frost-free freezer and it's icing up, it may be that your evaporator has iced up.
Below is how to diagnose your appliance fault to find out exactly what the problem is and everything you need to fix it yourself:
Door Seal
Without a working gasket, warm air could be seeping into the fridge freezer, which can cause the appliance to work harder than required. However, it’s a component which we do not pay particular attention to, but it is one which can have a huge impact on the performance of your fridge.
To check the effectiveness of your door gasket use this simple method:
- Place a thin piece of paper between your refrigerator door frame and the gasket.
- Pull the paper out from the door and if the paper comes out easily without resistance, the seal is faulty and would require replacing.
For a replacement seal, take a look through our extensive range of fridge freezer door seals to help get your food stored correctly once again.
Here’s our guide to replacing your faulty fridge freezer door seal.
Thermostat
The function of the thermostat is to control the cooling system, including the condenser, the compressor and evaporator. If your refrigerator is not working follow these steps to help identify the fault:
- Is there power being sent to your appliance? Simply check if the light bulb works. If you can see the light when the door is opened the power is fine.
- Check the power indicator near the display panel; ensure the thermostat is switched on.
- Listen for sounds coming from the fridge freezer that would show it’s working.
Safety First! Please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains before starting any repair.
- Use a multimeter to check your thermostat for faults. You can see us doing that in this video.
Is your fridge thermostat faulty? eSpares is sure to have the right one for you!
We’ve even got a guide showing you how to fit it.
Sensor Failure
A fridge's temperature sensor is a component that sends back the current temperature inside the fridge and freezer to the electronics to monitor. Using this information the control board will then turn on the compressor and fan circuits to maintain the cool temperature inside.
Now if your fridge freezer is snowballing with extra ice inside, then the most likely cause will be the temperature sensor. A failed sensor may not have the capability to control the temperature correctly and result in colder or warmer than normal fresh food and freezer temperatures.
Safety First! Please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains before starting any repair.
- Access the sensor depending on your model, of course, depends on its location.
- Look for signs of visual damage or defects to the sensor.
- Using a multimeter test the terminals and if you don’t get a reading on your meter, unfortunately, you are going to need to replace the sensor
You should be able to find the correct replacement from our range of fridge freezer spares here.
If we have confused you with what a multimeter is and how to use it, click here for our handy multimeter guide.
We also have this handy guide to help you diagnose a fault with a frost free fridge freezer.
Defrost Heater
The defrost heater is the mechanism that actually melts the ice and frost from the evaporator coils. It is normally located beneath the evaporator and is typically a wire filament contained in a glass or aluminium tube.
If your freezer is over freezing it could be the defrost heater not defrosting the ice as it normally would have done automatically. Follow these steps to help identify the fault:
Safety First! Please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains before starting any repair.
- Gain access by removing the evaporator cover panel and locating the heater
- Check for any signs of damage
- Use a multimeter to check your heater for faults - with a reading of between 200 and 400 ohms, if excessively over this then heater will need replacing. You can see how to use this device in this video.
If your fridge's defrost heater is faulty; then eSpares is sure to have the right one for you!
We also have this handy guide to help you diagnose a fault with a frost free fridge freezer.
Regular Defrosting Required
Exceeding amount of ice is a common problem with most fridge freezers with the ice crystals building up over time, and the result of this could lead to the door not closing properly. This will then affect how efficiently your appliance works and can end up costing you more to maintain.
With this simple guide, we can identify the causes of ice build-up and help get your fridge freezer back to being to what many refer to as good as new.
If you look at the build-up would you describe it as snow? This type of ice is the most common found in fridge freezers and is formed by condensation. In other words warm air from outside the appliance is creeping in somehow, condensing when it meets the cold air inside and then forming ice. This is why it is described as snow or powdered ice as it is formed from tiny droplets of condensing water. To understand how to best tackle this problem we have listed a selection of tips to keep your refrigerator ice free.
Safety First! Please make sure your appliance is switched off before beginning any maintenance work.
- Check the door for any gaps that could be allowing in warm air, ensure that the door is securely shut when you have finished with it.
- Check the door seal for any signs of damage, replace if required
- If you have an integrated model remember to check the outer door is not causing the problem as it may be stopping the inner door from closing correctly.
- Regular defrosting may be required on non-frost free appliances so don’t forget to add it to your calendar.
Hopefully, with these easy troubleshooting steps, you have been able to crack down on the frosting issue, ensuring to get your fridge freezer working at its best once again.
Evaporator Iced up
If your frost free fridge or freezer is whirring away as if it is working correctly but the temperature is not cold enough the it may have too much ice.
A common cause for the temperature to rise is when the evaporator gets blocked with ice and is not cleared by the defrost circuit so the air from the fan cannot pass through and cool the interior. Follow these steps to help identify the fault:
Safety First! Prior to beginning any repair, please disconnect your appliance from the mains.
- Check that the compressor is running correctly.
- Remove the evaporator cover and check for ice build up.
- If excess ice is found you are likely to have a fault with the defrost circuit and will need to view the 'How To' video below.
There you have it very simple steps to check if this is the problem with your appliance.
For further information on diagnosing a defrost problem see our video below.