The short answer
Noise complaints on the RA family divide into the sounds every cooling appliance makes and the two or three that mean something has moved, worn or is touching what it should not. The complaint that brings these units in is almost always a rattle, a buzz or a hum that has appeared recently, and almost all of it traces to contact rather than to a failing part.
What you observe on these models
- A knock when it starts and again when it stops — A single knock at each end of the cycle is the compressor moving on its mounts. Once those have hardened, that movement stops being absorbed.
- A buzz or rattle that comes and goes with the compressor — Time it against the cycle. A sound that starts and stops exactly with the compressor is coming from something the compressor is shaking, not from the compressor itself.
- A deep hum that has got noticeably louder — A hum that has grown rather than appeared usually means the machine is running more, which is a cooling complaint wearing a noise costume.
- NEAR MISS - the sound is a hiss and there is a smell — Stop there. Isolate the cabinet and call a technician rather than working through this page.
Causes, most likely first on this platform
- Hardened compressor mounts — The compressor is deliberately hung on soft mounts so that its movement never reaches the cabinet. Once those have gone hard with age, every start and stop is passed straight into the shell, and the machine sounds as though it is failing when it is not. A group this wide contains cabinets of very different ages, and age is what decides whether the compressor mounts are still absorbing anything.
- Tubing touching the cabinet — Second on this platform. A line resting against the cabinet is easy to miss and easy to fix, and it accounts for a good share of the buzzes that appear immediately after a unit has been moved.
- Levelling, feet and what the cabinet is touching — Third here. Levelling and contact stay on the list to the end, because they are free to rule out and because they explain sounds that appear after a move with nothing having failed at all.
- Something touching a fan blade — Fourth. On a model that has a fan, ice or a stray wire touching the blade is worth a look, though confirming it means a panel off, which is why it sits under the free checks.
- The one cause on this list that is not a nuisance — Last. Last, and the only entry here that is urgent: repeated clicking with no cooling means the compressor is not starting, and continuing to let it try is not free.
Check in this order, and why
- Time the sound against the cycle — Note whether it starts with the compressor, runs continuously, or comes in short bursts followed by silence. Those three patterns point at three different causes. With 28 entries on 14 bases in the table below, this check is one of the few that means the same thing across all of them.
- Pull it out and look at what is touching — Check the back panel against the wall, the sides against the cabinetry and the pipework against the shell. Half of these complaints end here, with nothing broken.
- Press a hand flat on the top and the side — If the sound drops while you press, you are listening to a panel resonating rather than a part failing, and the fix is damping or clearance rather than parts.
Before you open anything
Safety
Power the machine down at the plug or the breaker before you go behind a panel, and give the capacitor a moment. Do not chip ice away from a fan blade with anything metal - the tubing behind it punctures easily - and do not defeat an interlock to keep something spinning while you look at it.
Models in the RA family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| RA10X0W-IS | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA10X1B-IS | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA10X3S-IS | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA3106WT | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA3116BT | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA3136SST | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA31B** | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA31B0W | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA31B1B | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA31B3S | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA32J0W | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA32J1B | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA32J3S | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA45B3S | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA7306WT | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA7306WT-IS | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA730B0W | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA7316PST | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA7316PST-IS | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA731B1B | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA7326BT | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA7326BT-IS | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA733B3S | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA75**** | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA75V** | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA75V0W | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA75V1B | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
| RA75V3S | avanti:refrigerator:ra |
When to call a technician
Levelling, contact and loading are yours; a bearing, a relay or a compressor is not. Go straight to a call if the machine clicks in bursts and then falls silent without ever cooling, and isolate it while you wait rather than letting it keep trying, because each failed start costs it something.
Other faults covered for these models
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
