Common fault
Why does frost keep building up in my freezer?
Short answer
Frost that comes back after you have cleared it means the defrost cycle is not finishing, and three things cause nearly all of it.
Why we start there
The heater has failed, the thermistor that decides when to run it has drifted out of range, or a door gasket has lost its magnetic pull and is admitting humid air faster than the cycle can remove it. Out here there is a fourth: a long outage in fire weather leaves the cabinet warm and wet, and if the drain freezes on the way back down, the coil ices from that point on.
What happens next
The reason to deal with this early rather than living with it is that ice is an insulator. A furred evaporator cannot transfer heat, so the unit runs longer, the compartment slowly gives up ground, and the display keeps reporting a number that stopped being true weeks ago. Nothing fails outright, which is precisely why it goes unfixed until the food says otherwise.
Garage and outbuilding freezers frost sooner on this side of the county, and the cause is ambient rather than a broken part. A unit spending an August afternoon in an unconditioned garage in Fallbrook or a shop building on a Valley Center property runs close to continuously, the defrost cycle never gets a quiet stretch, and humid air comes in every time the door opens on a hot day. If the appliance is fine and the room is the problem, we will tell you that.
If that matches what yours is doing, say so when you call — it decides which parts come on the van.
Reviews
Booked same-day service for our wine cooler in Bonsall. The repair technician was prompt and efficient, fixing the temperature and humidity controls perfectly. Very professional experience." - Sarah P., Bonsall
- ★★★★★
The fridge side read fine at breakfast and was warm by dinner, freezer hard as ever. He pulled the top grille and the coil was packed solid. Decomposed granite drive, grove on two sides, and that's where it all ends up. Cleaned it and checked the shelf with a thermometer.
- ★★★★★
We're on a well and the cubes came out small and hollow. Two other outfits had been out and both wanted to sell us a new ice maker. He measured the water at the valve, found the screen silted up, and that was that.
Appliance down in North County San Diego?
Tell us the brand and what it is doing — we can usually name the likely repair before we arrive.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do you need to pull the built-in out of its cabinetry to work on it?
Almost never. A built-in is screwed to the surround and stands on flooring laid around it; the condenser is reached through the grille, the fans and defrost parts from inside the cabinet. The grille job, a condenser packed with grove dust and driveway grit, is the most common call we take in Fallbrook, Bonsall and Valley Center. Dragging it out risks the panel, surround and floor.
Will the part be on the van, or is this going to take two visits?
The failures that account for most of this work are a short, predictable list, and those parts ride with us: evaporator and condenser fan motors, defrost heaters, thermistors, door gaskets, inlet valves and ice maker modules. Control boards vary by generation, which is why the model number is worth reading out on the phone. What we fit is OEM or manufacturer-equivalent.