March is here, and if you did not know, it’s National Frozen Food Month! Throughout the entire month of March, many supermarkets and grocery stores will be offering sales on many of your favorite frozen foods!
However, frozen foods wouldn’t be a thing without a properly working freezer. Freezers, as well as refrigerators, are needed in every home. But just like any other home appliance, your fridge and freezer can run into problems from time to time.
At ServiceOne, we offer appliance repair services on all brands and makes of major home appliances. Below, we go over some of the common causes of refrigerator and freezer breakdowns, and provide some tips on what to do when you notice a problem!
What causes a refrigerator to break down?
There are many factors that can cause breakdowns to occur within your refrigerator. Below, we dive into the common causes of a refrigerator malfunction:
Overstuffing
Overstuffing your refrigerator with too many foods and beverages is one of the leading causes of breakdown. Your fridge is built to be able to handle a certain amount of work, and overstuffing it with many items can put a lot of stress on the compressor motor, ultimately increasing the risk of a breakdown.
Frayed cabling
Faulty or frayed cables within your refrigeration system are another very common cause of breakdown.
Refrigerant leakage
Lastly, a refrigerant leak is a sign that there’s a major problem with your refrigerator. This can lead your refrigerator to stop cooling, causing food to spoil in both your fridge and freezer.
What causes a freezer to break down?
Damaged fan motor
If you have noticed loud or unusual noises coming from your freezer? This could be a result of a damaged evaporator fan motor. When you run into this issue, it’s important to get your fan motor replaced as soon as possible to avoid other problems.
Faulty defrost heater
Is there too much frost forming on the items in your freezer? While too much frost can be caused by a number of things, including accidentally leaving the freezer door open for too long, it can also be a sign of a bigger issue. When you start noticing too much frost buildup in your freezer, it could be a sign that the defrost heater is not working properly.
Malfunctioning electronic controls
Lastly, if your freezer is not running properly, or turning on at all, it could be a sign of malfunctioning electronic controls. You will notice that your freezer isn’t working properly by a number of signs, including warm temperatures, freezer lights won’t turn on, and more.
What to do when you run into a problem with your refrigerator or freezer
When you run into a problem, the first and most important thing to do is read the appliance manual. Keeping the appliance manual close by is important in helping you understand what may be causing these issues to happen.
Once you have checked the manual, the next step is to call an appliance repair technician to come out, take a look and hopefully get your problem resolved. Although fixing the issue yourself may seem like the cheaper option, hiring a professional appliance repair tech will ensure that your issue gets fixed properly and reduce the risk of running into the same issue in the future.
Home appliances do not last forever, and you will more than likely run into a problem from time to time. However, by properly maintaining your home appliances, as well as calling an appliance repair technician as soon as you notice a major issue, will help prolong the life of your home appliances as well as keep them running as efficiently as they can!
At ServiceOne, we offer appliance repair services throughout the Omaha metro. When you run into a problem with any of your home’s major appliances, our team will be ready to help. Visit our website to learn more about our services.