The short answer
A freezer stands in a garage or a utility room where every sound carries, so noises that would be inaudible in a kitchen become complaints — and most of them are the cabinet, the floor or the clearance rather than the mechanism. The reason the cabinet touching a wall, a shelf or a stored item heads the ranking on a Criterion is simple: a machine that has just been installed or moved is far more likely to be reporting its setup than its age, and setup faults appear immediately rather than gradually. Levelling, clearance and clearing a fan path are owner work; fan motors, mounts and compressors are not. The order below is written for a unit that is new, newly installed or recently moved; a machine that has run in the same spot for years ranks differently.
What you can see and hear
- A buzz or rattle that changes when you press the cabinet — Panels or the drain pan rather than a mechanism.
- A hum that resonates through a floor or a wall — Contact between the cabinet and a rigid surface.
- Whirring from inside an upright that stops when the door opens — The evaporator fan, switched off by the door.
- NEAR MISS — Gurgling after the compressor stops — Refrigerant settling; normal on every cabinet.
The ranking
- The cabinet touching a wall, a shelf or a stored item — Top of the list on this brand: a machine that has just been installed or moved is far more likely to be reporting its setup than its age, and setup faults appear immediately rather than gradually. Anything rigid in contact becomes a sounding board, and a garage is full of candidates — shelving, a bicycle, a stack of boxes.
- An unlevel cabinet on a garage or utility floor — Second most likely: Those floors are rarely flat, and a cabinet resting on three feet turns ordinary compressor vibration into a buzz that fills the room.
- A drain pan rattling on its mounts — Third and the least likely here: The pan sits in the vibration zone above the compressor, and once it is out of position it buzzes with every compressor start. A value-tier build puts the cheap wearing parts — filters, hoses, seals, screens — in the path of everything the machine does, so they are where the fault usually is.
The order to work in
- Pull the cabinet clear and run it standing free — A noise that disappears when nothing touches it was never a mechanical fault. First, because a unit that has just been connected is far more likely to be reporting its installation than its age.
- Push each top corner and watch for movement — Any rock means a foot is unloaded, and that is where the noise comes from.
- Look underneath at the back and check the pan is seated — A displaced pan is a noise source and a spill risk at the same time.
Owner-side steps
- Give the cabinet clearance at the sides and back and move anything resting against it — This also helps the condenser, so it is worth doing even when the noise is not the main complaint.
About 20 min
- Level the cabinet on all four feet, packing under a corner if the floor demands it — Then push again to confirm it is solid; a cabinet that cannot rock is usually a quiet cabinet.
Tools: spirit level, wrench, packingAbout 25 min
- Stop here if the next move needs a meter on live terminals — That is where an owner check ends and a service call begins.
Working safely on this machine
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. Refrigerant is licensed work: oil or a hiss at the compressor means stop and call, and two people move a cabinet this size.
When to stop and call
Call when the cabinet is level, standing clear, the pan is seated and the noise persists — and sooner if it is a chirp from inside a frost-free cabinet, because that usually means ice in the fan path and a defrost fault behind it. One line to keep in mind while you wait: A freezer holds food safely at 0 °F (−18 °C) or below.
Related pages for this appliance
What is deliberately not here
Everything above is generalized across the Criterion freezer range rather than tied to a model. Nothing more specific exists to send you to at the moment; a model-level page, once written, is linked here and is the better answer. Deliberately not here: wiring colours, resistance values, torque figures and part numbers, which differ between families.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
