The short answer
On the Criterion HQ refrigerator a cabinet that runs without cooling is an airflow fault far more often than a sealed-system one, and because this family is a single cabinet the pattern is unusually consistent: frost closes the evaporator, air stops moving, and the fresh-food side warms first while the freezer still feels cold. That split — freezer cold, fridge warm — is the tell that separates this from a compressor failure.
What you observe
- Fresh-food compartment warm while the freezer is still frozen — The classic airflow split on a single-evaporator cabinet.
- The compressor runs almost continuously without reaching temperature — The same fault seen from the machine side: it cannot satisfy a thermostat it can no longer reach.
- A solid sheet of frost on the freezer rear panel — Frost that has gone past the evaporator and closed the air path.
- Both compartments drifting warm together over a day or two — The pattern that points at the sealed system or the compressor rather than at air.
- NEAR MISS — no sound at all and nothing cold — That is a power, start-relay or control fault and belongs on the page for a cabinet that will not start.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- Frost closing the evaporator after a stalled defrost — First here. Defrost failures on this platform present gradually: the heater or its control stops clearing the coil, frost accumulates over weeks, and the owner notices warmth long before ice.
- Evaporator fan not running — Second, and it looks identical from the front. The difference is audible: with the door switch held in there is no air movement in the freezer at all.
- Condenser coil and machine compartment blocked — Third. A coil packed with dust raises head pressure and costs capacity on the hottest days first, which is why this one is seasonal.
- Door seal or alignment letting warm air in — Fourth, and worth ruling out early because it is free: a seal that has taken a set runs the cabinet continuously without ever cooling it properly.
- Sealed-system or compressor fault — Last, and the only one on the list that is not owner-diagnosable. It is also the one that warms both compartments evenly.
Check in this order, and why
- Compare the two compartments before touching anything — It splits the list in half in under a minute and decides whether the rest of this order is worth working through.
- Hold the freezer door switch in and listen for the fan — A single-model family means one fan in one place, so this test either finds the fault or clears it outright.
- Look at the freezer rear panel for a frost sheet — Confirms the airflow story when the fan is running.
- Pull the cabinet out and check the condenser and its fan — Left until here because it is the dirtiest step and the least likely of the airflow causes on a cabinet kept indoors.
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. A rear evaporator panel comes off over live tubing and a defrost heater, so let ice melt rather than forcing the panel. Never open the sealed system or vent refrigerant — that is licensed work, and oil outside the tubing means the system is already open.
Models in the HQ family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| HQ-827WEN(UR-BCD636WE-ST) | criterion:refrigerator:hq |
When to call a technician
Clearing a condenser, checking seals and letting a coil defrost with the doors open are owner work. Call a technician when the fan is silent behind the panel, when frost returns within days of a manual defrost, or when both compartments warm together — that last pattern is sealed-system territory and needs licensed equipment. Call at once if you see oil at the compressor or smell burning.
Nearest pages of this class
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