The short answer
The brand on this cabinet is spelled Blomberg; "Bloomberg" is a common misreading of the badge, and this page covers the same appliances. It is written for the integrated, panel-ready installation, where a built-in cabinet rejects its heat through a plinth grille and a channel behind the furniture, so a blocked grille is a cooling fault that a freestanding cabinet simply cannot have.
What you are seeing
- The fault is only visible once the furniture door in front of the cabinet is opened
- The fridge section is warm while the freezer below stays hard
- Everything in both sections is warm and the compressor runs constantly
- Milk on the top shelf is fine and salad in the drawer is warm
- Items at the back are freezing while the door shelves are warm
- The compressor never starts and the cabinet is completely silent
- Body: What is warm, and where, is most of the diagnosis: The fault is only visible once the furniture door in front of the cabinet is opened. The fridge section is warm while the freezer below stays hard. Everything in both sections is warm and the compressor runs constantly. Milk on the top shelf is fine and salad in the drawer is warm. Items at the back are freezing while the door shelves are warm. The compressor never starts and the cabinet is completely silent.
Causes, most likely first
- A blocked or covered plinth grille — Why: an integrated cabinet takes cool air in at the plinth and exhausts it up the back of the housing; a decorative plinth fitted without its ventilation slots starves the condenser and the cabinet runs continuously.
- A sealed housing with no exhaust path at the top — Why: the warm air has to leave somewhere, and a housing boxed in above traps it so the cabinet recirculates its own exhaust.
- Blocked air vents at the back of the fridge section — Why: a tall bottle or a tray pressed to the rear wall stops cold air reaching the shelves below, and it is the reason one shelf is warm while another is not.
- A door that is not sealing — Why: a gasket held open by a package or a shelf pushed proud lets warm moist air in continuously, and the cabinet cannot win against it.
- Frost blocking the evaporator — Why: when the defrost system falls behind, the ice sheet behind the rear panel blocks the fan, and the freezer stays cold while the fridge warms.
- A dusty condenser or a blocked ventilation gap — Why: the cabinet has to reject heat somewhere; a felted coil or a cabinet pushed hard against a wall traps it and the compressor runs without effect.
- Body: Ranked for a fan-circulated cabinet with the evaporator behind the rear wall: First, A blocked or covered plinth grille: an integrated cabinet takes cool air in at the plinth and exhausts it up the back of the housing; a decorative plinth fitted without its ventilation slots starves the condenser and the cabinet runs continuously. Second, A sealed housing with no exhaust path at the top: the warm air has to leave somewhere, and a housing boxed in above traps it so the cabinet recirculates its own exhaust. Third, Blocked air vents at the back of the fridge section: a tall bottle or a tray pressed to the rear wall stops cold air reaching the shelves below, and it is the reason one shelf is warm while another is not. Fourth, A door that is not sealing: a gasket held open by a package or a shelf pushed proud lets warm moist air in continuously, and the cabinet cannot win against it. Fifth, Frost blocking the evaporator: when the defrost system falls behind, the ice sheet behind the rear panel blocks the fan, and the freezer stays cold while the fridge warms. Sixth, A dusty condenser or a blocked ventilation gap: the cabinet has to reject heat somewhere; a felted coil or a cabinet pushed hard against a wall traps it and the compressor runs without effect.
What to check, in order
- look at the plinth in front of the cabinet: if it has no ventilation slots, the condenser has no air and nothing inside the cabinet will fix that.
- clear the vents at the back of the fridge section and leave a gap between food and the rear wall.
- test the door seal with a paper strip at several points, since air ingress defeats every other correction.
- read the control panel for a mode or a setting that has been changed.
- Body: Work from the free checks to the expensive ones: First, look at the plinth in front of the cabinet: if it has no ventilation slots, the condenser has no air and nothing inside the cabinet will fix that. Second, clear the vents at the back of the fridge section and leave a gap between food and the rear wall. Third, test the door seal with a paper strip at several points, since air ingress defeats every other correction. Fourth, read the control panel for a mode or a setting that has been changed.
Checks you can do yourself
- Open the furniture front fully and inspect the appliance door, the plinth grille and the housing before touching the cabinet itself — Tools: torch — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Move food away from the vents in the rear wall of the fridge section and leave a clear gap — Tools: none — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Close the door on a paper strip at the top, both sides and the bottom and note where it pulls out freely — Tools: paper strip — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Check the control panel for holiday, eco or fast-cool modes and return the setting to normal — Tools: the model manual — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Unplug the cabinet, pull it forward and vacuum the condenser coil and the ventilation gap — Tools: vacuum, soft brush — Time estimate: half an hour or so
- Body: None of this requires the cabinet to be emptied: Open the furniture front fully and inspect the appliance door, the plinth grille and the housing before touching the cabinet itself (torch; a few minutes). Move food away from the vents in the rear wall of the fridge section and leave a clear gap (none; a few minutes). Close the door on a paper strip at the top, both sides and the bottom and note where it pulls out freely (paper strip; a few minutes). Check the control panel for holiday, eco or fast-cool modes and return the setting to normal (the model manual; a few minutes). Unplug the cabinet, pull it forward and vacuum the condenser coil and the ventilation gap (vacuum, soft brush; half an hour or so).
Safety first
Safety
A refrigerator holds food safely at 40 °F (4 °C) or below. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Compact refrigeration uses a flammable hydrocarbon refrigerant: never puncture the evaporator, never chip ice with a tool, and never use a heat gun or an open flame to clear frost. unplug-before-service fridge-40f
When to stop and call a technician
These are past the owner line: The housing, the plinth ventilation or the furniture coupling need adjusting, which is joinery as much as appliance work. The compressor runs constantly and the cabinet still will not reach its setting. The freezer is cold and the fridge is warm after the vents and the seal have been cleared. The compressor never starts with power confirmed at the outlet. The housing, the plinth ventilation or the furniture coupling need adjusting, which is joinery as much as appliance work The compressor runs constantly and the cabinet still will not reach its setting The freezer is cold and the fridge is warm after the vents and the seal have been cleared The compressor never starts with power confirmed at the outlet
Nearest pages of the same kind
What this page does not cover
This page is generalized across every refrigerator sold under the Blomberg name: it separates neither the integrated panel-ready cabinets from the freestanding ones and the fixed-door couplings from the sliding ones, and it names no individual model. Where a family- or model-specific page exists it is linked here and it outranks this one for that machine; at present no page beneath this one narrows to a single family, so treat the ranking above as the brand-level pattern rather than a reading of your serial plate. The brand is spelled Blomberg; this page exists because the badge is widely misread, and it covers the same cabinets from the integrated, built-in installation. The Blomberg-spelled pages cover the freestanding installation and the deeper diagnostic tier. For the other faults that turn up on this machine, start from Common Bloomberg Refrigerator Problems.
Links down: - [The same cabinets, spelled Blomberg — freestanding installation](/blog/blomberg-refrigerator-problems) - [The same cabinets — after the basic checks](/blog/blomberg-refrigerator-problems-2)
Related pages
- Common Bloomberg Refrigerator Problems
- Bloomberg Refrigerator: Abnormal Noise or Vibration
- Bloomberg Refrigerator: Controls, Display or Error Code
- Bloomberg Refrigerator: Door, Latch or Seal Fault
- Bloomberg Refrigerator: Ice Maker Fault
- Bloomberg Refrigerator: Water Leak
- Bloomberg Refrigerator: Will Not Start or No Power
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
