Even in a quiet house, you can still hear your refrigerator running with that smooth humming noise. But when your refrigerator gets louder or starts making a different sound, then that’s the time to get worried. Sometimes when your fridge makes a weird sound, it’s usually because of a more significant issue!
Sometimes these issues are minor and easily fixable. But other times, there might be something seriously wrong with it! How can you tell which it is? Our experts will tell you!
1. Grinding, Scraping, Knocking, Jackhammer
The most alarming sound your refrigerator can make is when you hear grinding, scraping, knocking, or jackhammering. When this happens, it’s typically caused by something hitting one of the fan blades, either the condenser fan or the freezer fan.
- Condenser Fan is at the bottom of the fridge, so you’ll need to remove the rear access panel and inspect if anything is blocking the blades. But if you see that the blades are damaged, they’ll need to be replaced.
- Freezer Fan is in the freezer compartment, so you’ll need to remove the evaporator fan cover and any debris blocking the blades.
If there’s nothing blocking the fan blades and there isn’t any damage, the fan motor might be broken, which will cause it to run too hot or too cold. At this point, you’ll need to contact our service team to get it replaced!
2. Rattling
Another alarming sound your refrigerator can make is a rattling sound. But luckily, the cause of this is usually from your refrigerator touching the back wall or cabinets. If that’s the cause, you simply have to pull the fridge out a bit to give it breathing room. Or the refrigerator could not be level!
However, if the fridge continues to rattle, it might be from a loose drain pan! While you could tape up the drain pan, that’s only a temporary solution — let our service team handle it instead for a full fix!
3. Clicking or Buzzing
Do you hear a constant clicking or buzzing sound and can’t find the cause? Don’t worry; it’s probably from your ice maker! If your ice maker is turned on but not connected to a water supply, it’ll start making a loud buzzing sound as it’s trying to make ice but can’t. So, make sure your ice maker is turned off when disconnected from the water supply.
If the ice maker is left on too long without connection to the water supply, it can cause more damage down the road!
4. Squealing or Bird Chirping
Uh oh, is your refrigerator squealing or chirping? No, there isn’t a bird trapped inside (at least, we hope not!). It’s a sign that your evaporator fan is malfunctioning. If that’s the case, the freezer won’t stay as cold as it used.
Check the fan in the back panel of the freezer and see if the blades run smoothly. But if you notice any damage to the blades or wire connectors, you’ll need to get them replaced!
5. Loud Buzzing or Humming
As we said before, refrigerators are always humming. But when the humming gets too loud, or you hear a loud buzzing sound, something is going on. Typically, the buzzing sound is from the interior fridge lights going out.
If that’s the case, some refrigerator models make it easier to replace the lights yourself, but others will require a professional replacement!
What’s that noise?
There you have it — the everyday noises your refrigerator can make and what they mean! But if you’ve tried diagnosing your fridge with no luck, don’t worry; our service team at Culligan of Le Mars can help! We’ll troubleshoot what’s happening with your appliance and see what’s causing the problem.
And if you have any questions, please give us a call!