Fridge/Freezer constant noise.

[gavroche]

Our built-in fridge/freezer is making a constant crackling noise and wonder if it is a sign of danger . It has been doing for quite a long time now ( months) and hope it is not dodgy electrics. Being built-in, it is not easy to pull it out to have a look. So my question is: is it normal and can be ignored or is it time for a new one? This one is 10 years old.

 

[Levo-Lon]

You need to investigate , it may be nothing but its 10 years old and the dust and fluff will be everywhere at the back of the cabinet.

It may be insulation has gone brittle so cracking noise or it may be ?
Its easy enough to get them out, few screws and slide it out

 

[classic33]

Cracking And Groaning Noises
After it was discovered that the old Freon based gasses were a bad thing, creating a hole in the atmosphere and culling polar bears etc, we switched onto a gas known as R134a as a stopgap measure and, from there to a gas known as R600a.

R600a is a butane based refrigerant gas, very close to normal Calor type gas and, yes, it can also ignite and burn just like its relative but, in any domestic refrigerator the quantities of gas in use are miniscule. If you set a flame to it the most you would normally get is a loud pop and maybe a fright under most circumstances. But we drift from the noise thing.

When R600 came along we started to get more complaints about cracking and groaning noises from fridges, freezers and fridge freezers.

The official line is that it is due to expansion and contraction within the refrigerator cabinet as, these days, the evaporators are almost always hidden behind the rear walls to make the fridge and freezer easier to clean.

There were all kinds of theories as to why this happened and some manufacturers even resorted to injecting oil into the walls of the cabinet to try to quell the noises and wiggle out exchanging the fridge freezer. Problem being of course that even a new one could end up doing the same thing and making the same cracking or groaning noises so exchanging the machine was probably going to be futile.

Often the problem was never solved.

Whether this is caused by the gas, the new eco-energy saving designs or not nobody really knows for sure but, chances are that if you experience this, it is entirely possible it cannot be cured.

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/...ion-self-help/3491-noisy-fridges-and-freezers

 

[Cuchilo]

Mine has been doing it for years . It keeps the beer cold so i dont mind .

 

[vickster]

Sounds like you need a whole new kitchen unfortunately

 

[gavroche]

Sounds like you need a whole new kitchen unfortunately

 

[vickster]

You think I'm joking? Oh dear

 

[Pennine-Paul]

They can sound like a rifle shot sometimes,
as long as the fridge and freezer are keeping things as they should I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[snorri]

Sounds like you need a whole new kitchen unfortunately

I'm just in the process of doing that, after my fridge failed, that was the last straw!
My fitted fridge/freezer seemed quite noisy too, but I never got round to investigating. Eventually it packed in and when I pulled it out of the unit I discovered the rim of the compressor had been up against the kitchen wall and sending its vibes around the house. Never mind, it hadn't done any serious damage to the wall and didn't appear to have affected the fridge either which had served me well for 34 years.

 

[Beebo]

Frost free freezers make lots of noise it is normal

 

[roadrash]

does the light still go off when you close the door

 

[Levo-Lon]

I'm just in the process of doing that, after my fridge failed, that was the last straw!
My fitted fridge/freezer seemed quite noisy too, but I never got round to investigating. Eventually it packed in and when I pulled it out of the unit I discovered the rim of the compressor had been up against the kitchen wall and sending its vibes around the house. Never mind, it hadn't done any serious damage to the wall and didn't appear to have affected the fridge either which had served me well for 34 years.

I defrosted my father in laws electrolux fridge freezer a few weeks ago.
My wife said he bought that when i was about 7 .
Wy wife is 60!!!
Bloody fridges were made back then , not like the throwaway stuff we have now

 

[snorri]

does the light still go off when you close the door

Funnily enough, I asked the same question of a friend of mine who lives on his own, haven't seen him since.

 

[gavroche]

You think I'm joking? Oh dear

Actually, we are thinking about a new kitchen but not spending thousands on a new one. Just re-vamping the existing one without spending a fortune. We will re-use the present doors with new colours and move things around a bit. I know people who have done it and it looks just as good as a brand new one, without the inflated cost.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

does the light still go off when you close the door

Easily checked as well.