The quick verdict
An Arieta refrigerator that shows nothing at all is usually not being fed: the outlet, the breaker or a switched socket accounts for most of these. If the interior light works and nothing runs, power has arrived and the fault is inside, most often at the compressor start relay, which announces itself with a repeating click.
How this shows up
- No light, no display, no hum — Supply. Nothing else produces complete silence.
- Interior light on, nothing running — Power present. The fault is downstream at the relay, thermostat or control.
- A click every few minutes with no run — The start relay cycling. It is audible weeks before the unit dies.
- Runs briefly then stops, repeatedly — Protection tripping, often after a move or a hasty restart.
- NEAR MISS: quiet because it has reached temperature — Modern units run in long quiet stretches. Check the cabinet is actually warming first.
Likely causes on this brand
- Supply: outlet, breaker or switched socket — First by a distance, and it is the check that needs no tools and no movement.
- Start relay or overload protector — Second, and the classic serviceable failure on a sealed system of this size.
- Thermostat or control not calling — Third. A control that believes the cabinet is cold sits silent.
- Damaged supply cord — Fourth, and it is a safety issue as much as a fault.
- Seized compressor — Last, and confirmed far less often than it is guessed.
A sequence that saves time
- Open the door and look at the interior light — One second, and it splits the diagnosis in half.
- Plug a lamp into the same outlet — It settles the largest single cause.
- Check the breaker and any wall switch — Kitchens hide switched sockets in cupboards.
- Stand still and listen for a click cycle — The last free check before anything moves.
Steps up to the stopping point
- Test the outlet with a lamp — If the lamp is dark, the appliance was never the problem.
Tools: table lampAbout 5 min
- Check the breaker panel and any switch controlling that socket — A refrigerator on a switched spur is more common than people expect.
Tools: torchAbout 10 min
- Leave a recently moved unit standing before judging it — Oil displaced by tilting needs time to drain back before the compressor is asked to start.
About 45 min
- Listen at the back and count the click interval — Regular clicks with no run means the relay. Stop here: measuring one means live terminals.
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 sits next to one. A standard household branch circuit is 15 A or 20 A, which is ample energy to injure. If the plug or socket is scorched, do not energise it again: that is an electrician's job before it is a technician's, and it is a fire risk rather than an inconvenience.
When to stop and book someone
Call when the outlet is proven live and the unit is still silent, because everything past that point sits behind a panel with mains behind it. Call quickly if you hear the click cycle: a failing relay left in service cooks the compressor windings it exists to protect. Call an electrician rather than a technician if the breaker trips again on reset, because a circuit that will not hold is a house fault whatever is plugged into it.
Nearest pages of this class
Scope of this page
This page is the class-level answer for an Arieta refrigerator that will not start. It carries no relay type numbers, no board identifiers and no wiring colours, because those differ between builds under this badge. Where a family- or model-specific page exists it holds those and is the better place for a named model. Household wiring beyond the socket is out of scope and belongs to a licensed electrician.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
