The short answer
The two Criterion WF models carry designations outside the scheme the brand’s other refrigerator families share, so this page assumes nothing about what sits behind which panel. For noise that works in your favour: on small, standalone units the dominant cause is the path the vibration takes into the floor and the furniture around it, and that is testable in a minute without opening anything.
What you observe
- A hum that is felt through the floor or the worktop — Vibration finding a path, not a failing part.
- A buzz that changes when the door is opened — A fan, where the cabinet has one.
- A rattle at the back or base — A loose cover, the condenser, or debris.
- A gurgle or trickle after the compressor stops — Refrigerant settling, which is normal on any unit.
- NEAR MISS — a sharp crack from the liner after a defrost — Plastic contracting, expected on every cabinet.
Causes, most likely first on this family
- The surface and the siting of the unit — First on this family, and unusually high, because these are standalone units whose feet often rest on something that resonates rather than on a solid kitchen floor.
- Loose covers or debris in the machine compartment — Second. The compartment is open, small, and easy to disturb when the unit is moved.
- A fan blade meeting frost or a wire — Third, and only relevant on cabinets that have a fan — which is why this page asks you to check that first.
- Compressor mounts — Last. It produces a knock rather than a continuous sound and it arrives gradually.
Check in this order, and why
- Establish whether the cabinet has a fan at all — It decides whether half of the causes below apply, and this family gives you no platform to assume it from.
- Move the unit a hand’s width and put a mat under the feet — If the noise changes, the fix is siting and you are done.
- Level it properly, front and back — Feet that do not share the load pass every compressor cycle into the structure.
- Then look in the machine compartment — Last because it needs the unit isolated and moved.
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, and a fan is the one thing in the cabinet that restarts without warning. Keep fingers clear of the condenser fan blade at the base even with the doors open, and get a second person for any move: these cabinets are front-heavy once the doors swing.
Models in the WF family
Reference| Model number | Family key |
|---|---|
| WF180 | criterion:refrigerator:wf |
| WF90-C | criterion:refrigerator:wf |
When to call a technician
Levelling, matting and clearing debris are owner work on these units. Call a technician when a noise comes from inside a sealed panel, when a knock is loud enough to move the cabinet, or when noise arrives together with a loss of cooling. Call at once for a screech from the compressor or a smell of hot insulation.
Nearest pages of this class
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