The cabinet and the opening it sits in
Cabinet Sides and Grille Too Hot to Touch
Warm is how a built-in works. Too hot to touch is something else.
Viking Repair Service Los Angeleson site 8am to 8pm, every day of the weekcalls picked up 24/7
| What you see | Likely cause | Safe check | When to call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm air coming off the grille while the cabinet runs | Heat leaving the condenser, which is what is supposed to be happening | Feel for air on the move rather than judging how warm it is | No call needed unless the food is drifting too |
| Grille and side panel too hot to keep a hand against | Heat building up because the air that carries it away cannot get through | Brush the grille clear and take everything off the top of the cabinet | This week, if a day of clear air changes nothing |
| Hot, and no air moving at the grille at all | The fan that draws air across the condenser has stopped turning | Hold a light tissue near the grille and see whether it stirs | This week. The compressor is carrying the heat alone |
| Hot every afternoon since the valley heat arrived | A kitchen the cabinet is working against, rather than a fault in the cabinet | Compare a cool morning with a hot afternoon before judging it | If the food drifts as well as the cabinet running hot |
The table above separates the heat a built-in is meant to give off from the heat that says something is wrong, and row one is where most Tarzana and Burbank calls settle in August. If row two or row three matches, call Viking Repair Service Los Angeles at (213) 799-7879 before the compressor carries it alone.
The heat that is supposed to be there
Row one is not a fault, and it is worth saying plainly. Cold is made by moving heat out of the box and letting it go elsewhere, and on a built-in that is a coil behind the grille. A warm grille in a warm kitchen means the cabinet is winning.
When the heat has nowhere to go
Rows two to four are one trouble reached by different routes. Dust mats the coil, a cabinet gets boxed in, a fan stops, and heat that should have left the kitchen turns back into the machine. Keep the grilles clear and store nothing on top: that is an owner’s whole part in this. What follows is fan work.
Normal, not normal, and the line between them
-
Normal
A cabinet side that is noticeably warm on a hot Tarzana afternoon.
Not normal
Too hot to hold a hand against, first thing on a cool morning.
Time to call
This week, once the grille has had a day clear.
-
Normal
Air you can feel on the move at the grille while it runs.
Not normal
A hot grille with nothing passing through it at all.
Time to call
This week. Say that the air has stopped.
-
Normal
Hot on the outside and properly cold on the inside.
Not normal
Hot on the outside and food that is no longer holding.
Time to call
Today. Those two together make it a cooling call.
Heat is how a refrigerator works; heat with nothing cold behind it is the part that matters. Call Viking Repair Service Los Angeles at (213) 799-7879 and describe the row you are on — that sentence is worth more than a guess at the part.
Safe checks before the visit
-
Brush the dust off the grille and take down whatever is stored on top of the cabinet or wedged beside it. That one clearance answers a fair share of these in Burbank and Tarzana.
-
Hold a light tissue near the grille while the cabinet is running. If it will not stir, the air has stopped moving and the fan is worth mentioning when you call.
-
Give it a full day after clearing the grille before deciding anything. A cabinet that has been running hot needs hours to come back down.
-
Stop there. Nothing further is an owner job on a built-in: the sealed circuit, the wiring behind the grille and anything that needs a panel off belong to the visit. Call Viking Repair Service Los Angeles at (213) 799-7879 and say which of the checks above changed anything.
Asked about this one
- How hot should a built-in refrigerator get on the outside?
- Warm is expected. A built-in sheds the heat it takes out of the food through a coil behind its grille, and in a valley kitchen in August that surface gets warm to the hand. Heat you pull away from is not, and Viking Repair Service Los Angeles treats that as the call.
- Written by
- Ambrose Fitzwilliam
- Role
- Service technician — refrigeration and sealed systems
- In the trade
- 25 years in the trade