Our kitchen space is incomplete without a refrigerator. This electric appliance keeps fruits, vegetables, and other food items fresh for a longer time. But sometimes it freezes them. And this is not normal.
This useful device freezing the food means there's something wrong with it. So it is important to understand what is the cause but it can seem like a daunting task. So for your ease, we have listed out some major reasons why the refrigerator is freezing the food and also find ways to fix them.
Refrigerator freezing food items mostly happens due to the low-temperature setting. But this may not be the cause in most cases. So, here are 12 reasons why the refrigerator is freezing food items.
But you have to note that some of the mentioned reasons need direct supervision from an expert if you're unable to do it. So, if you feel like this is not your thing, go with the professions.
A common cause could be the use of the wrong temperature setting. The refrigerator normally freezes the food at low temp so there might be chances that you have fixed the setting that way by mistake. As a result, the intensity of cool air circulating and freezing your food in the refrigerator.
Air vents are important in refrigerators for cooling the air. Sometimes the fridge freezes the food when the vents get blocked. Now the blockage could be from the food items or due to other reasons.
As the vents get blocked, it causes some parts of the fridge to receive the excess amount of cold air which leads to the freezing of food. Whereas other parts would still be warm. So this creates an imbalance in the temperature. So, maintenance of the vents is crucial for a balanced cool air circulation.
We tend to put almost everything inside the fridge without knowing its capacity. Then what happens is the space gets narrowed making it hard for the cool air to spread evenly throughout the entire refrigerator section. As a result, the air gets concentrated in particular parts, and food items get frozen.
This issue is often overlooked because we perceive that this appliance is made for cooling and no matter how much stuff we put there it will do its job. But that's not how the appliance works. It has limits for the stuffing too so we should consider this.
The gasket is a pipe that runs through the edges of the fridge's door. This pipe is built there to prevent the outside warm air from entering inside and to keep the inside cool air tapped. That's how the refrigerator maintains a balanced temperature inside.
But when the gaskets get cracked or damaged, the warm air enters and affects the inside cool air. Now, the compressor in this appliance works hard to keep the air cool lowering the impact of warm air. That way the compressor lowers the temperature too low which causes the food to freeze. So, it's a whole process.
A thermostat is known for its control of the cooling cycles and it does so by monitoring the temp and turning on and off the compressor. It senses the fridge's temperature and sends signals to the compressor to switch on or off accordingly.
When it doesn't work properly, its ability to sense the temp gets incorrect and transmits signals based on that leading the compressor to run for longer periods than required. This continuous functioning drops the internal temperature which results in freezing the food.
A faulty thermostat may fail to recognize the set temperature and again cause the fridge to run for longer making the inside atmosphere much colder.
The damper control manages the cool air that enters the refrigerator from the freezer compartment. A well-functioning damper maintains a balanced temperature in the fridge and freezer by opening and closing itself.
But as it malfunctions, either it gets stuck in an open position or has trouble closing which allows the cold air to pass into the refrigerator section from the freezer. The excessive entry of cold air causes the temperature to drop very low and freezes the food.
A faulty temprature control board may be the one surfacing the issue of freezing the food. Much like damper control, a temperature board also helps regulate the cooling process. Since the refrigerator is entirely built for cooling so there are more than one part that controls the cooling system.
When this control board is not in good condition, it becomes unable to manage the cooling process and disrupts the entire temp inside. This is because it sends incorrect signals to the fans, damper control, and compressor as a result refrigerator runs for a longer time and overcools the food items.
Another thing is the faulty board is not able to detect if the preset temperature has reached so this also leads to freezing the foods.
The evaporator fan passes the cool air throughout the refrigerator section. When it stops working, the cool air doesn't get to spread much and stays in certain parts, mostly around the evaporator coils.
This action of faulty fans leads to unequal distribution of cold air in the refrigerator. Some parts get too cold while others don't get much cold. This improper air circulation affects the control board causing the refrigerator to run longer cooling cycles.
The fault in the fan could have occurred due to the collection of debris or the build-up of ice around there. As these disrupt the movement of the fan causing the inability to pass the air equally. The collected dirt and debris are also the reason behind the refrigerator making weird noises.
The defrost drain carries away the water generated during the defrost cycle. That water is the buildup of ice on the evaporator coils, which drains out of the freezer and then the refrigerator.
But as it becomes clogged due to food particles, debris, or ice buildup, the water can not drain properly. This water gets trapped in there and again refreezes inside the freezer and refrigerator compartments. As a result, it blocks the air vents introducing the issue of uneven cooling.
That's not all, the refrigerator overcompensates by running for a longer time ultimately causing the temp to go too down and freezing the food.
The compressor is the heart of refrigerators. It passes the refrigerant through the system and dissipates the heat out of the appliance, cooling the air inside the refrigerator and freezer.
It being malfunctioned or any problems in there means the trap of heat inside the appliance. This doesn't cool the air much and the temperature sensor sends the signals to the compressor and other parts regarding the warm air in the fridge due to trapped heat.
This causes the other parts including the compressor to work excessively to maintain a certain temperature set by us in the setting. As a result, there occurs a situation of excess coolness than required which freezes the food in those areas.
The problem in the compressor may happen due to corrosion, burns, or disconnection of wires.
The condenser coils are found mostly at the back of the fridge, if not then surely underneath the fridge. This location depends on companies and brands. These coils release the heat which is generated during the refrigeration process helping to keep the air cool and well balanced.
The coils being dirty means the generated heat doesn't get to vanish properly resulting in the compressor putting in more effort and running longer than needed. All this results in excessive cooling in the appliance as the refrigerator tries to attain the desired temperature.
So, this whole process contributes to dropping the internal temp too low which makes the air extremely cold in certain parts and freezes the foods placed there.
The ice maker makes the ice by pulling off the cold air from the freezer. If you have set the ice-making setting too high, this could be the cause of why the refrigerator is freezing the food.
The high setting causes the freezer to run for a longer time than its usual time. So, now there will be a flow of cold air inside the refrigerator due to the dropped temperature. This, in turn, freezes the food items particularly placed near the air vents.
