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Softening frozen food and wet slushy frost on the shelf of an open freezer compartment.

Freezer Not Freezing

Soft ice cream and refreezing frost, or a cabinet that has gone entirely warm.

(844) 681-4650

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Food safety applies
  • 5 questions that narrow it
  • 6 causes, cheapest first

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or call (844) 681-4650

Food safety first

Food that has fully thawed should not be refrozen. A full freezer holds its temperature for roughly 48 hours with the door kept shut, and a half-full one for about 24, which is usually enough time to arrange a visit.

What it
usually means.

A freezer that is cold but not cold enough is a different problem from one that is not cold at all. The first points at airflow, defrost or a door; the second at power, controls or the sealed system. On a standalone freezer there is a third possibility that has nothing to do with the appliance: the room it stands in may be colder than its own set point.

A refrigeration gauge manifold with two hoses connected at the back of a refrigerator, the compressor and its copper lines exposed below. The 6 causes, cheapest first

Answer these first

01

Is it slightly warm or completely warm? Soft ice cream and thawed meat are different problems.
02

Where is the freezer installed, and is that space heated?
03

Is there frost on the walls, and is it soft and wet or hard and clear?
04

Does the compressor run, and does it run all the time or not at all?
05

For a chest model: is it manual-defrost, and when was it last defrosted?

Check these
before you book.

Freezer not freezing: 5 checks, and none of them costs anything.

01

Check whether the door or lid closes fully and that nothing inside is holding it open.

02

Find out whether the model defrosts automatically or manually before assuming the ice is a problem.

03

Note the temperature of the room the freezer stands in.

Also worth checking

  • Listen for the compressor and say whether it runs constantly, intermittently or not at all.
  • Have somewhere cold ready for the contents; the cabinet usually has to be emptied for any real work.

The causes,
cheapest first.

6 things freezer not freezing turns out to be, from manual defrost overdue to sealed system or compressor.

The cost guide
  1. 01 no repair

    Manual defrost overdue

    Thick ice on the walls of a manual-defrost freezer is maintenance rather than a failure, and no part needs replacing.

    No repair: check it yourself
  2. 02 no repair

    Ambient temperature below the set point

    A freezer in an unheated garage stops cycling when the room is already cold, and the contents drift toward the room temperature. A garage-rated unit handles this; one that is not, cannot be repaired into it.

    No repair: check it yourself
  3. 03 lowest

    Door or lid not sealing

    A lid held open by a fraction, or a hardened gasket, admits humid air continuously. On a chest freezer this is the most common cause by a wide margin.

    Fixed by door, gasket and alignment See refrigerator door not sealing
  4. 04 lowest

    Condenser starved of air

    A coil packed with dust, or a unit pushed tight against a wall, leaves the compressor running without gaining ground.

    Fixed by maintenance
  5. 05 low to moderate

    Defrost failure on an automatic model

    Frost over the evaporator blocks the air path until the cabinet can no longer hold its temperature.

    Fixed by defrost system repair
  6. 06 highest

    Sealed system or compressor

    A cabinet that is entirely warm with no compressor noise is where this becomes the likely answer, and on a chest freezer it is usually the point at which replacement wins.

    Fixed by sealed system and compressor

The makes
it happens on.

31 makes on this site; freezer not freezing can show up on any of them. Each mark opens that make's own page.

All 31 brands

Freezer Not Freezing,
where we come out.

9 metros, each with its own page.

All service areas

Tampa BayFL · 31 areas

OrlandoFL · 30 areas

Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas

New York MetroNY · 75 areas

HoustonTX · 36 areas

ChicagoIL · 50 areas

Los AngelesCA · 95 areas

San DiegoCA · 31 areas

San Francisco Bay AreaCA · 74 areas

A family preparing a meal together in their kitchen
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
freezer not freezing.

Does soft ice cream mean the freezer is failing?
Not on its own. Ice cream softens at temperatures where meat is still frozen solid, so it is the first thing to show a freezer running a few degrees warm. The FDA recommends keeping a freezer at 0°F; if a thermometer in the middle of the cabinet reads that, the ice cream is simply sitting in a warm spot such as the door.
Can partly thawed food go back in once it is fixed?
According to the FDA, food that still contains ice crystals, or has stayed at 40°F or below, can be safely refrozen, although texture may suffer. Anything that has thawed completely and warmed past that point should be cooked or discarded rather than frozen again.
What can I safely do myself before booking?
Defrosting a manual model, cleaning the condenser and freeing a lid that no longer closes are all owner jobs. Chipping ice off with a knife or a screwdriver is not: it is a common way to puncture the refrigerant tubing in the walls of a chest freezer, which turns maintenance into a sealed-system repair.
It stopped freezing after we moved it. Why?
A freezer that traveled on its side should stand upright for several hours before it is plugged in, so the compressor oil can settle back where it belongs. A move can also leave the unit off level so the door or lid no longer closes on its own, or push it tight against a wall so the condenser cannot shed heat.

Back to your everyday

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Book with what you checked above — 5 answers save the technician the first part of the visit.

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