My Freezer is Not Cold Enough

There's nothing more frustrating than an outwardly perfectly good freezer which hums along (adding heaps and heaps to your energy bill in the process) but doesn't quite keep your food cold. Somehow, it doesn't quite feel like it's worth calling in a mechanic to fix it when it is kind of working. So if you're looking to identify the problem yourself, then read on!

Frost build-up can be a cause of relatively high or unreliable temperatures. If you've got more than 3mm of ice built up in your freezer, check our section My Freezer Is Frosting Up.

Frequent Usage

Obviously, using a freezer to cool hot items or opening the freezer frequently will affect the temperature inside. If you think this might describe how you use your freezer, it's probably not a significant problem.

Door Closure

Even perfectly functioning freezers will not maintain frozen food if the door is left open by the slightest amount, such as when an item sticks out enough to press on the door. Make sure that your freezer door is closing correctly before you do anything drastic!

Obstructing evaporator fan

Another common reason that the freezer is running but not freezing is improperly packing the contents. Situated behind a vent inside your freezer, typically in the rear, the evaporator fan circulates cool air. Pull the contents away from this fan vent and leave room around items so air can reach every point in the freezer.

After you've done all of that, put a thermometer inside the freezer and check it after an hour or two. If it's still too warm, there's something seriously wrong with the freezer.

Door Seal

Always double check your door seals are in good order. If there is any damage to the door seal or there are signs of perishing then warm air from outside the freezer will get in.

Pull the freezer out so that you can look around the back, look for debris such as dust or ice which might be preventing the condenser coils from working efficiently.

Failing Evaporator Fan

Chirping and squeaking is a sign that your evaporator fans are failing. An evaporator fan failure usually requires that you replace the fan in question, although you may be able to correct misalignment issues yourself. A broken or failing evaporator control is yet another cause of higher freezer temperatures.

Thermostat

A faulty defrost control timer or thermostat can easily cause an overly-warm freezer. See if your evaporator coils are all caked-up in frost to where you can't really see the coils, if that's the case you'll need to switch your defrost timer(located in the back near the compressor) into defrost and give it a few minutes to see if the defrost heater comes on underneath the evaporator coils.

If the defrost heater doesn't come on then you'll need a volt/ohm meter to test continuity (on OHMS setting) on the defrost thermostat (while frosty) with the freezer unplugged.

Condenser Fan

The condenser fan motor could be blocked, or it could be damaged. If it's blocked, simply remove the blockage, but any damage tends to be pretty fatal to condenser fan motors and it'll probably need to be replaced.

Start Relay

The start relay provides power to get the compressor started. A defective start relay will mean that the compressor cannot function and the freezer won’t get cold. If the start relay is defective, it should be replaced.

Thermistor

A thermistor is a sensor which monitors temperature and is connected to the control board. A defective thermistor will make the freezer far too cool, or not cold at all, depending on the specific flaw.

Compressor

A compressor is a motor which compresses the refrigerant and circulates it through the condenser coils and evaporator. It’s best to get any seemingly defective compressors checked and replaced by a professional.

The problem of a freezer not cooling to the sufficient temperature could mean the compressor has difficulty starting. If the start capacitor is burned out then the compressor won’t be able to start as frequently as it should. A defective compressor or start capacitor should be replaced.