20 Most Recent Sub-Zero Bottom Freezer Refrigerator - Page 9 Questions & Answers

Check guides for icing, is it door seal is good? Any frozen moisture on freezer walls and other parts? If door seal bad - replace it.

Always list the age of your machine. First you have to determine if your freezer compressor is working. Find the manual, it may be hidden in the machine. Sometimes the defrost timer fails and the freezer coils load up with ice and no cold air can get to the freezer compartment. The defrost timer will be near the compressor area, it's about the size of a cellphone, has about five wires going to it, all in one plug. It has a small dial on it that turns only one way. Mark the dial with whiteout and check it after about an hour to see if it moves. It moves very slowly. If it does not move, replace it. I get my parts and help from Repairclinic.com.

Most model numbers are located in places like the photo shows below. It may be the thermostat itself causing the problem with freezer, yet I don't believe I have seen a refrigerator running without using the freezer to cool the refrigerator section. I guess anythings possible. Let me know, Thanks, Sea Breeze

call service

It sounds like it may be the thermostat. turn it down to a normal level and give it a good tap to see if it starts. you may need to leave the door open so it warms up bit so it will start, it wont start if its cold as the thermostat would be satisfied. If it does start the thermostat should be replaced. I hope this helps

If its as warm as you say and the refrigerant is R134A his estimate of the pressure (4# is low for 38'F) is correct.

As for the leak I can only assume he sees something to make him believe its the evaporator.

As to the warranty (if its under 1 year it should all be covered. If its 2-5th year just the compressor is covered on some manufacturers others its the sealed system meaning leaks also).

And as far as $400.00? That's not out of line from my experience (limited by 30 years of doing this) I believe from what you have said about this fellow he knows his stuff and what it costs him to do business and that he will be around to perform your next service you need also. A rare thing to see these days. Even with hard times everywhere a business still has to make a profit and cover over head. Unless your AIG, GM, or Chrysler.

Ice maker was intermittent at best - ice was often just a shell. After two failures to correct we had the ice maker (a Whirlpool - on a Sub Zero - Go figure) replaced. Then the paddle that detects the ice level broke. Next step a new GE.

you have to call service

I had the same problem but fixed it recently. The problem originates with the drain trough mounted on the back interior wall of the fridge that slopes down into the middle. The drain tube is attached at this point and runs to the pan under the unit. This drain trough is screwed to the interior and sealed with silicone caulking. Over time the caulking breaks free from the interior wall of the fridge allowing the defrosted water to leak past the trough, collecting in the bottom of the compartment under the veggie drawer. It freezes there building up an ice ***** that eventuallly wraps around the drain tube. Any water that now runs into the tube freezes in place over time forming an ice plug preventing any drainage at all. Now the defrosted water begins to flood the interior of the fridge eventually leaking out which it did in our situtation.

There are two solutions. One is to take off the drain trough, clean it up and the interior wall of the fridge. Also thaw out the ice plug in the drain tube and make sure it is clean and drains freely. I used hot water and a syringe to inject it into the tube until the ice melted. Dry everything off. Reattach the drain trough using silicone caulking approved for kitchen/bath use. You may have to shut down the fridge and warm it up to meet the application temperature limit of the silicpne. The other solution is simpler. After cleaning and drying the drain trough, I applied an adhesive backed closed cell foam rubber gasket (3/16" thick automotive) to the back surface of the trough that sits against the interior wall of the fridge when in place. When screwed back in place, the gasket is compressed preventing water from leaking past. The fridge does not have to be warmed up for this fix. It has been in place for a few months now with now problems.

Hello,

If your trying to save a service call you have your work cut out for you. The ice maker is a unit that sits by itself attached to the wall or part of the freezer wall.

There are many reasons why you do not get ice and I will list them.

1- Temp of freezer got too cold and has frozen the pipe that feeds the water to fill the icemaker.
check to see if the icemaker has any ice in the area that fills and makes the cubes.
If the pipe is clogged, very gently put a small tipped screw driver in the fill hose that sites over the ice making row in the ice maker. Be careful you do not push your screwdriver out the back of the refer.
Check to see the freezer temp is not too cold and is freezing that pipe. 0-3 degrees F is good.

2.- check to make sure your water feeding the fridge is on. There is an on off valve to allow the water to feed the icemaker when it needs to fill. This could be bad. there are reset proceedures for the fridge, but unplugging the entire frige for 1 minute and plugging it back in you can listen for the the valve to come on and see if it fills the ice maker resevoir.

3. If it fills and freezes the ice resevoir, then the sensor in the ice tray does not sense the frozen ice and will not cycle and kick cubes. At this point, unless you are super tech, you will need to replace the entire icemaker unit.

Hope this helps.

u may have a defrost problem it would be worth paying for the service call if something simple like defrost or a fan would still be more than 200 but worth it

The service technician was partially correct. The compressor does not run all the time, but the fan inside does, and this actually is for efficiency. There must be something else affecting your electric bill.

I had same problem very recently.  The problem with both the refrigerator and freezer on the 550 is that the drain line that takes condensation and water from the defrost cycle to the drain pan freezes up. Sub Zero parts suppliers will sell you a fix-it kit which I used for the refrigerator.  The kit is simply a heater wire that you plug into one of the existing circuits and runs down the length of the drain pipe to keep it from freezing up.  When my freezer started doing the same thing I ordered the kit for the freezer but the wire was too fat for the drain pipe so a Sub Zero rep gave me a better and more elegant solution.  You need a length of bare 12 guage copper wire, about 24 inches.  Run it through the drain pipe with about 6 inches exposed at each end.  On the underside of the fridge, wrap the end of the copper wire a few times around the black heater coil that you will see running back and forth.  At the upper end, wrap the copper wire around the black heater coil that defrosts the freezer coil.  The heat generated by the two coil will simply conduct heat through the copper wire and keep your drain line from freezing up.  There is a 90 degree bend in the drain line which makes it difficult to feed the copper wire through.  I suggest using guitar string or picture hanging wire as a snake.  Feed that through first, then us it to pull the copper wire through.  Good Luck!

Sounds like it might just be a simple as a dirty coil. Use a coil brush (you can get at homedepot)

Clean the dust and from the back and bottom of the fridge. The coils pickup alot of dust over time making the fridge become ineffecent. One some subzero units your condenser coils are on top. Use the brush in conjuction with the vacuum to get it clean and watch your fridge for a hours to see if that helps before you call a repair tech out. Make sure you unplug the fridge when your doing this.

check the water resevour it is probebly frozen up arpound the outlet of it. its inside of the refrigferator, towards the back of the refrigerator down towards the bottom. take a hair drier and thaw it out.

I assume it is a factory stainless steel handle. There are set screws on the floor side of the standoffs. If you look at the bottom of the stand of you will see a small whole about 3/16 in diameter, inside this is a set screw. I cannot remeber the exact size but it is pretty small. Be careful when you are tightening not to scratch the stainless finish.

I thinkyou just need to take a look at replacing the defrost timer. Sounds to me as if the defrost timer is malfunctioning. It's an inexpensive part considering the cost of replacing an burned out unit or even a reapirman bill. Check into that first, let me know if you require more assistance.

Hollow cubes are usually a result of lack of water supply

check the water inlet valve in the rear of the refrigerator/// do you have a water dispenser in the door?? if so switch the wires and see if the im then fills when pressing the water disp button

Make sure the condensor is clean, blow some Air though the Condensor to make sure good Air flow towards Compressors. also, you might have a bad defrost timer or Freezer Control... worst case you might have a bad Compressor... hope I can help....