Troubleshooting Guide – Fridges & Freezers

There are a lot of errors we can run into with our fridges and freezers – they can range from a foul smell to leaking water to funny noises and beyond! Below, we’ve listed the most common ones, with solutions to help you solve your fridge problems with ease.

Nasty Smell

Fridges more than freezers often develop a nasty smell over time, which in most cases originate from the following:

-          An out-of-date item that started to smell and is hiding in a dark corner of your fridge

-          Your dip tray that needs to be emptied from dirty water

-          An item close to your fridge that smells, e.g. a dead mouse behind it or a garbage can next to it. If your fridge and freezer connect to each other the smell can also come from the freezer.

Most of the time this can be resolved by simply cleaning your fridge! If this doesn’t help, and to prevent smells from coming back after a clean, try keeping an open bowl of baking soda, ground coffee, vinegar, or oats in your fridge at all times. All these absorb odours – you just need to renew them from time to time and make sure they are in a secure spot so you don’t accidentally knock them over! If you’re not sure where to start, coffee is said to work the best.

Freezing of Food

The icing up of food in the fridge of freezer can happen for a number of reasons. The first thing to check is your fridge temperature settings. It can happen by accident that the temperature gets set too low or too high. If that’s not it, as previously mentioned, start with a thorough clean. Make sure no food is blocking any air vents inside the fridge and that the fridge has some space to the wall, as hindered air circulation can be the cause!

Water Leaking

There’s an easy explanation to water leaking from your fridge: Something is wrong with the dip tray underneath your fridge! Usually condensed water flows through a drain into the dip tray, where it evaporates. If the drain is clogged, water finds its way out somewhere else, or if your fridge is level or slightly tipped forward this can cause the water not to reach the drain, which is usually placed at the back of the fridge. The simple solution again is cleaning and making sure the drain is free, but then also tipping the fridge slightly backwards so that water reaches the drain more easily and the door closes by itself as well. Simply adjust the front legs of your fridge to be slightly higher than the back legs.

Tripping Power

When your fridge makes your whole house go dark, something clearly is wrong. This mostly goes back to problems with the compressor, defrost heater or your wiring, and can mean that the life of your fridge is over and you need to either repair or replace it. In this case, it is best to call the manufacturer and check for solutions!

Making Noises

Beeping, popping, humming, clicking – most of us have heard their fridge and/or freezer make funny noises, and there’s an explanation for it. In fact, fridge noises are a common problem in homes around the world and generate regular complaints from consumers, which is why scientists have investigated the issue. When fridge components and panels change temperature, they contract and expand. You might not hear it in the beginning, but as time goes on, noises can develop. This is completely normal, and nothing to worry about.