The quick verdict
A refrigerator that shows nothing at all — no interior light, no display, no hum — is usually not broken: it is not being fed. The outlet, the breaker and the cord account for most of these calls on any badge, and ALM units are no exception. If the light works but nothing runs, the supply is fine and the fault has moved inside, most often to the start relay on the compressor.
How this shows up
- No light, no display, no sound at all — Complete silence points at supply, not at the appliance. This is the case with the cheapest and fastest resolution.
- Interior light works, nothing else does — Power is arriving. The fault is downstream — the control, the relay, or a thermostat that never calls for cooling.
- A click every few minutes, then silence — That is the start relay trying and failing, and it is the classic overload cycle. It usually gets louder over days rather than failing outright.
- Runs briefly after being plugged in, then stops — A protective cut-out doing its job, often because the unit was restarted too soon after being moved or unplugged.
- NEAR MISS: everything runs but nothing gets cold — That is not a starting fault at all. It belongs on the cooling page, where the airflow checks come first.
What is behind it, in order
- The supply: outlet, breaker or cord — First, and by a distance. Refrigerators live behind furniture on outlets nobody tests, often shared with a switched circuit somebody flipped without realising what was on it.
- Start relay or overload protector — Second. It is the part that fails on this class of sealed system, it fails as intermittent clicking before it fails completely, and it is a serviceable component rather than a sealed one.
- Thermostat or control board never calling — Third. A control that thinks the cabinet is already cold will sit silent and look exactly like a dead appliance from the front.
- Compressor seized — Last. It is the diagnosis owners jump to and the one we confirm least often; a technician rules out the three above before naming it.
What to look at first
- Plug a lamp into the same outlet — One minute, no tools, and it settles the largest single cause before you move furniture or spend money.
- Check the breaker panel and any switched outlet — A refrigerator on a switched socket is more common in older kitchens than anybody expects.
- Listen at the compressor for a click cycle — A repeated click with no run is the relay signature and tells a technician what to bring.
- Only then consider the control — The board is last because it is the most expensive guess and the least common cause.
Hands-on, without tools you do not own
- Test the outlet with a lamp or a phone charger — If the lamp is dark, the appliance was never the problem. Look at the breaker and at any switch that controls that socket.
Tools: table lampAbout 5 min
- Reseat the plug and inspect the cord along its length — Pull the unit out far enough to see the whole cord. Crushed insulation behind a levelling foot is common and is a fire risk, not just a fault.
Tools: flashlightAbout 10 min
- Give the unit a settling period before judging it — A refrigerator that has just been moved or unplugged may refuse to restart until pressures equalise. Leave it plugged in and undisturbed rather than cycling it.
About 45 min
- Listen at the back for the relay — Stand quietly beside the unit and count the clicks. Stop here: the next step is a meter on live terminals, and that is where owner work ends.
About 10 min
Power off, panels later
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, and the relay you are trying to reach sits inches from it. A standard household branch circuit is 15 A or 20 A, which is more than enough energy to injure. If the cord or the plug shows scorching, do not plug it back in at all; that is a supply fault with a fire dimension and it needs an electrician before it needs an appliance technician.
When to stop and book someone
Call once the outlet is proven live and the unit still does nothing, because everything past that point is inside the cabinet and behind a panel. Call promptly if you hear the click cycle: a failing relay left running can cook the compressor windings it is meant to protect, which converts a modest repair into a replacement. And call an electrician rather than a technician if the breaker trips again when you reset it, since a circuit that will not hold is telling you about the house, not about the refrigerator.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page is the class-level answer for an ALM refrigerator that will not start, and it stops short of anything model-specific. It carries no board part numbers, no relay type numbers and no wiring colours, because those vary between builds sold under this badge and a wrong number is worse than no number. If a family- or model-specific page exists for your unit it will carry that detail and it is the better place to be. Household wiring beyond the outlet is out of scope entirely and belongs to a licensed electrician.
Where to go next
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
