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The evaporator fans in your
You can fix an LG refrigerator evaporator fan noise by ensuring that the fan blades can spin freely without obstructions like foreign objects, ice, and frost buildups. Besides that, you must replace any faulty evaporator fan motor, because the noise could be coming from there instead.
This guide will tell you everything you need to know about evaporator fan noises and their causes. More importantly, you’ll learn how to fix those problems and get your fridge running silently again.
What’s The Difference Between A Condenser Fan And An Evaporator Fan?
All refrigerators rely on more than one fan to function correctly. So, it helps to understand the difference between a condenser fan and an evaporator fan.
The evaporator fans are the ones inside the fridge and freezer compartments. They’re placed next to the evaporator coil, which removes heat from the compartment. Doing so makes the compartment cold enough to store your food items safely.
The evaporator fan helps by blowing air evenly throughout the compartment, ensuring that all parts are equally cold.
The condenser fan, however, is outside the refrigerator at its rear. The fan helps the condenser dissipate heat into the surrounding environment.
So, when you hear noise coming from a fan inside the fridge or freezer compartment, the problem is with the evaporator fan.
Read: How To Fix LG Refrigerator Ice Maker Freezing Up
How Do You Fix Evaporator Fan Noises In An LG Refrigerator?
The evaporator fan in your refrigerator works almost silently. So, loud noises like knocking, grinding, or screeching are clear signs of a problem.
Here’s what causes those problems and how you can fix them:
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Frost And Ice Buildup
About this: Frost is a reality for any kind of refrigerator, regardless of its brand or model.
Frost develops when warm air enters the fridge compartment. After a while, that moisture freezes over and accumulates around the compartment.
You’ll often find frost around the air vents and on some of the food or beverage items you’ve stored in your fridge.
When frost buildups become severe enough, they can become solid chunks of ice that stick around on the panels or other sections of the compartment.
What’s happening: A little bit of ice or frost buildup in your fridge is harmless. However, the buildup becomes a problem as it becomes large and solid, particularly around the evaporator fan.
As the fan turns, its blades will hit the ice buildup continuously. That’s why you hear a knocking or rattling noise from the evaporator fan.
How to fix it: Thankfully, this is both a preventable and easily fixed problem. Firstly, you’ll have to immediately melt away the frost and ice buildup. Doing that will stop the noise and prevent the fan blades from suffering more damage.
You can do so by shutting off your refrigerator and leaving the door open. The warm air will melt away all ice and frost buildups after a few hours.
Alternatively, you can place a hot water pot inside the compartment. The steam will melt the buildups away, too.
Avoid using a heat gun or hair dryer. Those appliances focus heat too much, damaging the compartment’s plastic panels.
Read: LG Refrigerator Error Code E Ch – Troubleshooting Guide
Broken Or Damaged Blade
About this: The evaporator fan distributes cold air throughout the refrigerator compartment. It consists of a motor that spins fan blades that move the air as needed.
These fan blades are somewhat concealed, so you won’t see them when looking inside the appliance. Instead, they’re directly behind the rear panel near the air vents.
Evaporator fan blades are replaceable, so you can purchase a new one if there’s ever an issue with the ones you have.
What’s happening: The second reason you’re hearing noises from the evaporator fan is that its blades are broken or damaged.
For example, those blades will suffer significant damage if they’ve been hitting ice and frost buildups for an extended period. That damage will bend or break individual fan blades.
When those damaged blades turn, they could scrape the side panels or continue hitting other parts nearby. That can cause many different noises like grinding and others.
How to fix it: Any evaporator fan blade that’s not in perfect condition must be replaced with new ones. That’s a straightforward replacement, as it only requires you to remove the fan blade and attach a new one.
The challenge is in accessing the evaporator fan. Remember: it’s concealed behind the rear panel. So, you’ll have to empty the compartment and detach that rear panel before you perform this repair.
Read: LG Refrigerator Error Code E FF – Troubleshooting Guide
Obstructed Fan Blades
What’s happening: You’ve seen that frost and ice buildups can lead to evaporator fan noises. That’s because the fan edges will hit the ice continuously and get damaged. Then, the damaged blades can continue to hit or grind against other parts, causing other noises.
However, you can also hear different noises if those fan blades are completely obstructed. That means a foreign object is stuck inside the fan, preventing the blades from turning.
The fan motor will continue trying to turn the fan blade even though the foreign object stops that from happening.
Typically, that item is a piece of food packaging that finds its way into the open air vent.
How to fix it: The solution to this problem is to remove the foreign object obstructing the fan blades.
Do not stick your fingers or any tools into the air vent when you do this, as that could lead to injury.
Read: LG Refrigerator Error Code DH F – Troubleshooting Guide
Faulty Evaporator Fan Motor
About this: The evaporator fan consists of the fan motor and the fan blades. The fan blades drive air into the fridge compartment, but the motor is what turns those blades.
The electrical motor will turn on and off throughout the day to maintain your fridge temperature.
What’s happening: The final reason you’re hearing noise from the evaporator fan is the motor has become faulty. There could be any number of reasons causing the fault, like a failed electrical component, a lack of lubricant, or even a worn-out bearing.
Whatever the reason, the motor will struggle to work normally and make a loud humming or buzzing noise.
How to fix it: It’s not worth trying to fix an individual evaporator fan motor. Instead, you’re better off replacing it with a new one. But, again, you’ll have to remove the compartment’s rear panel to access the motor and perform the replacement.
Read: LG Refrigerator Error Code 1F Or IF – Troubleshooting Guide
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Many Evaporator Fans Does An LG Refrigerator Have?
The total number of evaporator fans will differ between fridge models. However, you can expect at least one evaporator fan in each refrigerator and freezer compartment.
How Do You Test An LG Refrigerator Evaporator Fan?
You can test an evaporator fan using a
How Do I Know If My LG Evaporator Fan Is Working?
You can hear the evaporator fan turning if you listen very closely. Typically, it’ll turn as soon as you close the fridge door after opening it for a minute or two.
Is The Evaporator Fan Supposed To Run All The Time?
No, the evaporator fan runs intermittently throughout the day. It will turn on when the compartment needs to be cooled. Then, it’ll stop when the set temperature is reached.
What Happens When A Refrigerator Evaporator Fan Stops Working?
A failed evaporator fan will prevent the fridge compartment from cooling evenly. That’s because the cold air will be concentrated near the air vent instead of being pushed to all corners of the fridge or freezer compartment.
