The short answer
Before anything else on an AWC cabinet, settle whether your number makes ice automatically at all, because the table covers a family rather than one machine. A wine cabinet has no ice maker, so ice inside it is always a fault.
What you observe on these models
- Frost forming on the back wall behind the bottles — A wine cabinet should never do this, and it is the fault the page is really about.
- Cans and bottles freezing on the bottom shelf — The complaint is usually too much cold rather than too little ice.
- A sheet of frost on the rear wall inside the cabinet — That is the real fault on a beverage cabinet, and it points at the control or the seal.
- NEAR MISS — plenty of ice but the cabinet is warm elsewhere — Read the cooling page for this family first; ice is a symptom there, not the fault.
Causes, most likely first on the AWC family
- A wine cabinet does not make ice, and should not — First on this platform: if there is ice inside this cabinet, something is wrong with it rather than with an ice maker it does not have.
- Ice or frost on the rear wall of the cabinet — Second: it means the cold surface is running below the band the cabinet is meant to hold, usually because a control or sensor has drifted.
- Humid air entering past a tired seal — Third: the moisture that becomes frost has to come from somewhere, and on a glass-door cabinet it comes past the seal.
- Thermostat, sensor or control board — Fourth, and the part that a technician measures rather than guesses.
- Set point too low for canned and bottled drinks — Last: glass bursts and cans split well before the cabinet reaches a freezing fault, so a cabinet making ice out of your drinks is a control and sensor question.
Check in this order, and why that order
- Take a temperature reading on the middle rack — Compare it with the band a wine cabinet is meant to hold, not with a food refrigerator.
- Look for frost on the rear wall — That is the fault this page is really about on a wine cabinet, and it means the cold surface is running below the band.
- Break up any fused block and start again — Fused ice tells you the compartment has warmed and refrozen at least once.
- Move the bottles away from the rear wall and watch for a day — Bottles resting on a cold back wall freeze first and burst; the racking position is part of the diagnosis.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Isolating at the breaker is better than pulling the plug where the socket is behind the appliance, because it removes the temptation to work one-handed.
Models in the AWC family — The numbers this page covers.
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| AWC242TDZ | avallon:refrigerator:awc |
| AWC242TSZ | avallon:refrigerator:awc |
When to call a technician
Checking a supply valve, a fill tube, an arm and a compartment temperature is owner work on a wine cooler. On these models the line falls at the machine compartment and the refrigerant circuit inside it. Call without working through anything at all for oil around the tubing in the machine compartment, a compressor that hums and stops without starting, or a cabinet that trips its breaker.
Nearest pages of this class
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
