Diagnose
Freezer not working? Common problems and what causes them
Diagnostic fee waived with repair
Chest and upright freezers hold a lot of value in their contents, which makes response time the priority.
Quick answer
Most freezers fail because of a single component, not age. The usual culprits are not freezing, frost buildup, running constantly. Most repairs finish in one visit. Replacement is usually only worth it above roughly eight years old or when the repair exceeds half the replacement price.
What we do
Freezer repair, done properly
Chest and upright freezers hold a lot of value in their contents, which makes response time the priority.
Our technicians carry the parts that fail most often on freezers, so the majority of these repairs finish in a single visit.
You get a written estimate before any work starts, and a 12-month parts-and-labour warranty on the repair.
Symptoms
What's wrong with your freezer?
Pick the closest match — it pre-fills your booking so we arrive with the likely part.
Ready to book freezer repair?
See what the visit costs, what the 12-month warranty covers, and which areas we reach same-day.
Freezer Repair details & coverageDiagnosis
How we diagnose a freezer problem
Every visit starts with a diagnosis, not a guess. Here's what your technician actually checks, in order, before recommending a repair.
- 1
Defrost heater, timer & thermostat
A defrost cycle that never runs lets frost build up until airflow is blocked entirely — we check the heater, timer, and defrost thermostat together as one system, since any one of the three can be the actual point of failure.
- 2
Evaporator fan operation
A silent or ice-jammed evaporator fan explains a freezer that runs constantly but never reaches temperature, and it's a quick check before anything else. Ice on the fan blades usually means the defrost system upstream has already failed.
- 3
Door seal integrity
We check gasket contact around the full perimeter with a strip of paper — if it slides out with no resistance anywhere, the seal is letting in moist air that refreezes inside as frost buildup.
- 4
Thermostat calibration
We verify the thermostat's setpoint against an independent thermometer, since a drifting thermostat causes constant running long before the compressor is actually at fault.
Repair or replace
When replacement is the better call
The working rule is the 50% test: if the repair costs more than half of a comparable new unit, and the appliance is past roughly two-thirds of its expected life, replacement usually wins on total cost of ownership.
Most freezers are built for 10–13 years. A failure at year three is almost always worth repairing. A sealed-system or compressor failure at year twelve usually is not — and we will say so rather than sell you the repair.
Premium built-in units are the exception. A Sub-Zero or Viking unit is worth repairing well past the point where a mass-market appliance would be retired, because replacement runs into five figures once cabinetry work is included.
Brands
Freezer brands we service
Questions
Freezer repair FAQ
Is it worth repairing a freezer?
Repairing a freezer is generally worth it when the repair costs less than half the price of a replacement and the unit is under about eight years old. SOS Appliance Repair diagnoses first and tells you plainly when replacement is the better value.
How long does a freezer repair take?
Most freezer repairs are completed in a single visit lasting 45 to 90 minutes. When a part must be ordered, SOS Appliance Repair schedules the return visit before leaving and the original diagnostic is not charged twice.
What causes a freezer to fail?
The most common freezer faults SOS Appliance Repair sees are: not freezing, frost buildup, running constantly, leaking. Most trace back to a single failed component rather than end-of-life, which is why diagnosis before replacement matters.
Same-day appointments available
Broken appliance? We can be there today.
Talk to the company that actually sends the technician — no lead brokers, no bidding wars, no runaround.
- Licensed & insured
- 12-month warranty
- Diagnostic fee waived with repair