Noise that was not there before
Loud Fan Behind the Top Grille
A fan that has turned from background hush into something you notice.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A whirr or grind that stops the moment a door opens | A worn bearing in the fan that circulates air inside the cold space | Open a door and listen for the noise to cut out, then shut it | This week, before the fan stalls altogether |
| A steady rattle or drone that ignores the doors | A fan on the warm side of the machine fouling on dust or a loose shroud | Brush the grille clear and take away anything leaning on the cabinet | If brushing changes nothing |
| A ticking or scraping that comes and goes | A blade catching ice that has built where it should not have | Look for frost where the noise seems to be coming from | This week. Ice against a blade rarely stops on its own |
| Loud for a spell, then unusually quiet, and warming | A fan that has given up rather than got better | Feel at the grille for moving air | Today, and say the noise stopped |
Use the table above to place the noise by when it happens rather than by how loud it is. Row one is the one that also costs you cold; if the sound comes and goes with the doors, start at row three and call Viking Repair Service Los Angeles at (213) 799-7879 while it is still only noise.
Two fans, and how to tell them apart
Cabinets carry a fan on the cold side that moves air over the food and one on the warm side that sheds heat, and where each sits varies. The doors sort them out for you. On most cabinets the door switch cuts the fan inside the cold space, so a noise that ends with the door open belongs to row one. Noise that carries on regardless is coming from the warm side, and that is row two.
The quiet that follows
Row four is why this page asks for a call at the noise stage. A bearing does not fail all at once: it complains for weeks, then stops, and the silence is the failure rather than the cure. On the cold side food warms within hours; on the warm side the heat stays in the cabinet and works the compressor. Both are cheaper attended to while they still make a sound.
Normal, not normal, and the line between them
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Normal
A low steady hush you only notice when the kitchen goes quiet.
Not normal
A note you can hear from the next room with the door shut.
Time to call
This week, once the sound has settled in.
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Normal
A change of pitch as the machine starts and stops through the day.
Not normal
Grinding, scraping or knocking at any point in that rhythm.
Time to call
Call before the sound turns to silence.
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Normal
Warm air moving off the grille while the machine runs.
Not normal
Nothing moving there at all, with the cabinet plainly running.
Time to call
Today. Heat is no longer being carried away.
Those lines separate a cabinet you can hear from one that needs a technician. 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
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Open a door with the noise going and listen. On most cabinets the door switch cuts the fan inside the cold space, so a noise that stops there names which fan you are hearing.
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Brush the dust off the grille and pull away anything stacked against the sides. A fan on the warm side is forgiving until it works through a blanket of lint.
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Note when it is loudest and whether the cold has changed with it. Noise plus a warm cabinet is a different visit.
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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
- Is a noisy refrigerator fan worth calling about straight away?
- It is worth calling before it goes quiet. A bearing that has started to complain is a small part changed in one visit. Left to seize, it takes the cooling with it and the cabinet spends days above where it should be. Viking Repair Service Los Angeles would rather take the noisy call than the warm one.
- Written by
- Ambrose Fitzwilliam
- Role
- Service technician — refrigeration and sealed systems
- In the trade
- 25 years in the trade