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Attitude AT Series Freezer is the scope of this page, and on it a new noise or vibration points first at tubing or a panel touching where it should stand clear. The brand page puts feet or a floor that let the cabinet rock first; here it moves down, because what sits behind which panel on these models changes what is worth checking first. 5 of the 6 causes below can be checked without a tool; the rest need a technician.
What the machine is doing
- A rattle that comes and goes with the cooling cycle — Anything that starts and stops with the compressor belongs to something that switches with it.
- A drone or hum from the back that has grown slowly — Gradual is the signature of a bearing, a mount or a coil that is working harder than it was.
- Clicking every few minutes with no cooling to show for it — A starting circuit trying and failing, and the one noise on this list to treat as urgent.
- A drumming that you feel through the floor — Vibration being transmitted rather than absorbed, which is about the feet and the floor.
- A buzz that changes if you press on the cabinet side — A panel or a line resonating, which is why it changes under a hand.
- NEAR MISS — it is noisy and also failing to hold temperature — The cooling loss takes priority and it is covered on its own page.
Causes, most likely first on the AT series
- Tubing or a panel touching where it should stand clear — The back panel makes a good sounding board. A line or a clip touching it turns a quiet machine into a loud one without anything failing.
- Feet or a floor that let the cabinet rock — A cabinet on three feet passes everything into the floor. On a suspended or hollow floor this turns an ordinary compressor into a drum.
- Compressor mounts hardened with age — Nothing has failed, and nothing will. It is an isolation problem and it is the usual explanation for a slow rise in noise over a season.
- A start relay cutting in and out — A click, a moment of strain, and silence, repeating every few minutes. That is a compressor not getting up to speed and it should be treated as urgent.
- Ice contact inside the cabinet — It is the one on this list that a full defrost will confirm or eliminate at no cost beyond the time.
- Contents shifting or resting against the walls — Baskets, packets and bottles against a wall buzz in sympathy with the cabinet. It is undramatic and it is often the answer.
What to check first, second, third
- Press a hand on the side and the back while it runs — If the noise changes under your hand, it is a panel or a line resonating rather than a motor.
- Rock the cabinet at each corner and check it sits solid — A free test, and the most common single answer on a cabinet of this kind.
- Empty the cabinet and run it briefly — It rules the contents in or out in ten minutes without any tools.
- Pull it out and listen at the back — At arm’s length a fan and a compressor sound nothing alike.
- Note anything that clicks repeatedly without cooling following — That one moves to the top of the list regardless of everything else.
Safety first
Safety
Isolate the machine first. Unplug it or switch off its breaker before removing any panel, because a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. The sealed system stays closed: refrigerant work is licensed work and needs equipment an owner does not have. No step on this page asks you to defeat an interlock, and none should be improvised into one.
Models in the AT family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AT50FRE | attitude:freezer:at |
When to call a technician
Treat the boundary this way: what you can see, reach and clear with the machine isolated is owner work; refrigerant work, and anything that means lifting or tipping a loaded cabinet is not. On this page that puts compressor mounts hardened with age on the far side of the line. Call sooner rather than later if the fault is getting worse week by week, because the cheap version of most of these becomes the expensive version if it is left.
Other problems covered for the AT series
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