Is your Bosch fridge or freezer staying warm? From cleaning condenser coils to resetting the control board, learn how to fix Bosch cooling issues and avoid a service call.
Quick Fix: Bosch Fridge or Freezer Too Warm?
If your Bosch unit isn’t maintaining temperature, check these main culprits before taking the appliance apart:
- Condenser Coil Cleaning: Bosch refrigerators (especially the 800 Series) are extremely sensitive to dust. If the coils underneath or behind the unit are coated in pet hair or dust, the compressor will overheat and stop cooling.
- Clear the Air Vents: Ensure that a large bag of groceries isn’t blocking the air vents at the back of the freezer or fridge. Airflow is required to move cold air between the compartments.
- The 24-Hour Reset: If you recently had a power surge or left the door open, the unit may have “iced up.” Unplug the fridge for 24 hours with the doors open to allow for a total manual defrost, which often solves “ghost” cooling issues.
Why Bosch Refrigerator Stopped Cooling?
Dirty Condenser Coils
To understand what the condenser coils do, it helps to know a little about how a fridge works. Fridges keep themselves cool by circulating refrigerant within themselves. The refrigerant absorbs heat from the air inside the fridge and then passes through several components that remove the heat from the refrigerant; the condenser coils are one of these components.
The condenser coils are located on the outside of the fridge, either on the back or on the underside. Being that they’re exposed to the outside, they tend to collect a lot of dust and debris over time.If enough dust accumulates on the condenser coils, they become unable to dissipate heat from the refrigerant, and the refrigerant is unable to cool the fridge.
To clean your condenser coils, first unplug your fridge and then access the coils. If you don’t have one, you might want to get an appliance brush, as this will help you get all the little bits of dust out of the coils a lot more easily. You should also have a vacuum cleaner on hand.
All you need to do is just brush all of the dust out of the coils and use the vacuum to suck up any loose dust right away. Cleaning your condenser coils shouldn’t take you more than about 15-20 minutes, so no need to worry about the condition of your food while your fridge is unplugged.
Related Read: Troubleshooting Ice Maker and Water Dispenser on Bosch Fridge
Malfunctioned Fans/Fan Motors
There are generally at least two fans inside most fridges, and as such there are almost always at least two fan motors. The first fan is the condenser fan, which moves air over the condenser coils, and the second fan is the evaporator fan, which moves air over the evaporator coils.
If either of these fans fails, the fridge will have a much harder time keeping itself cool. If the problem is being caused by one of your fridge’s fans, it could merely be that something is getting in the way of the fan blades and preventing them from turning, or it could be that the fan motors themselves are starting to wear out.
To determine the source of the problem, open up your fridge so you have access to the fans inside, and try spinning the blades manually. By doing this, you should be able to tell if there’s something in the way of the blades that is preventing them from spinning fully.
When turning the blades by hand, they should turn fairly freely; if not, it means there’s likely a problem with the fan motor. You can also use a multimeter to test the continuity of the motors; if they show no continuity, you’ll have to have the motors replaced.
Failed Compressor
The compressor is one of the key components of your fridge’s cooling system since it is essentially the pump that moves the refrigerant throughout the fridge’s various coils. It’s really not very common at all for a fridge’s compressor to fail, but if yours does, your fridge will be totally unable to keep itself cool.
You should check all of the other components of your fridge before checking your compressor, as it’s far more likely that some other part is what’s causing the problem. If you’ve checked the other components and nothing seems to be wrong, then you can try checking your compressor.
To test your compressor, you can once again use a multimeter. Press the probes of the multimeter against the compressor’s electrical pins, and take note if it shows an open or closed circuit. If it shows an open circuit, the compressor is broken and should be replaced.
Replacing a fridge compressor can be pretty expensive, so unless you really want to keep your fridge, you should probably just get a new fridge if your compressor breaks. In addition, you’ll need to hire a licensed technician to change your compressor, since only someone with a license can legally handle and dispose of refrigerant.
Faulty Start Relay
In a fridge, the start relay works along with the start capacitor to get the compressor started. The compressor needs a little bit of a power boost to get itself going, and that’s where the start relay comes in. If the start relay isn’t working correctly, then the compressor might only start some of the time, or fail to start at all.
If the compressor never runs, then the refrigerant will fail to circulate through the cooling system, and the fridge will inevitably get too warm. You can use a multimeter to test the terminal sockets of the relay to see if there’s any continuity. In addition, pay attention to how the relay smells; if it smells burnt, then it is definitely broken and will need to be replaced.
Related Read: How to Reset a Bosch Refrigerator
Faulty Start Capacitor
As we’ve mentioned, the start capacitor is the other component in your fridge that helps get the compressor running when it needs to. If the capacitor fails, then the compressor will be unable to start.
As is the case with all of the other electrical components of your fridge, you can test whether or not it’s still working by using a multimeter. If the capacitor is broken, you’ll have to replace it with a new one.
Broken Temperature Control Thermostat
The
To test the status of your
If you don’t hear a click, use a multimeter to test the thermostat’s continuity, and replace it if it displays none.
Faulty Thermistor
A thermistor is pretty similar to a thermostat, as both of these devices are used in temperature regulation. However, the purpose of the thermostat is just to keep temperatures at a certain level, while the purpose of a thermistor is more to just measure temperature accurately.
If the thermistor isn’t working, then the fridge will be unable to monitor its own temperature, and will likely fail to run when it needs to. To test the thermistor, you’ll want to use a multimeter to check its resistance.
If the thermistor is working, the resistance reading should change as the temperature changes. If it doesn’t, then the thermistor is broken and should be replaced.
Malfunctioned Control Board
Your fridge likely contains a few control boards that help control its functions. These control boards don’t usually fail, but if they do then your fridge might stop working entirely.
You should only consider the control boards as the source of the problem if you’ve tried testing everything else. If everything else works fine, then use your trusty multimeter to check the continuity of the control boards, and replace them if they don’t have any.
What If My Freezer Is Cold, But My Fridge Is Not?
If you encounter this problem, you might be confused as to why one part of your fridge is working while another one isn’t. Fortunately, there are a few explanations for why this might be happening.
The first possible explanation could be that the evaporator coils have frosted over, which can happen if the defrost heater fails. If the coils freeze over, then the airflow over the coils will be restricted, and the coils won’t be able to draw as much heat from the surrounding air.
Check if the evaporator coils are frozen over; if they are, it likely means that there’s an issue with your fridge’s automatic defrost system.
This issue could also be caused by a failed evaporator fan. If the fan breaks, it won’t be able to pass as much air over the evaporator coils, so they won’t be able to extract as much heat from the air. This can affect the freezer, the fridge, or both.
If your fridge has an air damper control, this might also be the cause of the problem. The air damper control is a small door that connects the fridge to the freezer and can be opened to let more cold air into the fridge when necessary. If the air damper control breaks, the fridge might warm up while the freezer remains cold.
Bosch Refrigerator Not Freezing
The Evaporator Fan Test: In a freezer that isn’t freezing, the fan is the most common culprit. Listen for the fan or check for ice buildup around the freezer back panel.
Defrost System Failure: If the fridge is cool but the freezer is warm, it’s often because the coils are choked with frost.
The Door Seal “Dollar Bill” Test: Check the freezer drawer gasket by placing a dollar bill in the gap and watch for it to flap in the air. A heavy freezer drawer can easily become misaligned, letting in warm air that prevents a hard freeze.
Dual Evaporator Note: Many modern Bosch units have Dual Compressors/Evaporators. If the fridge is cold but the freezer is warm, the freezer’s independent cooling circuit may have a specific component failure.
FAQs
Let’s take a moment to answer some of the questions you might have about maintaining your fridge.
How Often Should I Clean My Condenser Coils?
In most circumstances, you should be fine if you clean your condenser coils every six months to a year. That being sad, if you have a cat, dog, or some other pet that sheds a lot, you’ll probably want to clean your coils more often, since you’ll likely have a bunch of hair accumulating over your coils.
What Are the Signs That I Should Replace My Fridge?
It can be a little tricky sometimes to determine when your fridge’s time has come. However, there are several symptoms that a fridge will display when it’s on its last legs:
- The back of the fridge feels particularly hot
- Food keeps spoiling unusually quickly
- Condensation appears on the inside of the fridge
- Frost frequently builds up inside the freezer
- The fridge is either really noisy or completely silent all the time
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