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My top/bottom Whirlpool refrigerator/freezer is making an intermittent humming noise for 8 seconds every fifteen minutes. Performance of the refrigerator and freezer are apparently not affected - they remain cold. What causes this humming? Is it abnormal? How can it be fixed?
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Hi @ericsprieser,
Just verifying that the humming continues when a refrigerator door is opened but not the freezer door, is this correct?
Looking at an image of the model, it has two refrigerator doors and a freezer drawer, is this correct? Did you try opening both refrigerator doors, one at a time?
Here is the tech sheet for the model that may help.
When the compressor is not operating, run Service test #3 and check if it is the evaporator fan that is making the noise or not.
If it is then revert back to normal mode and when the buzzing starts and with the refrigerator doors open, check that the lights in the refrigerator compartment go out when you manually operate the refrigerator door switches.
Looking at the wiring diagram in the tech sheet above, there are two switches in the refrigerator compartment that seem to be operated by the doors -see part #6 & #16 Refrigerator liner parts diagram in the parts list linked below for their location. It's the door switches that tells the control board that the door is open and to turn on the lights and turn off the fan.
With the compressor running, usually the fan is stopped when a door is opened as you don't want any cold air being deliberately blown out of the compartments, so I'm not quite sure why it only stops when the freezer door is opened and not a refrigerator door. That it reoccurs at a regular interval is also puzzling.
If it all appears to be functioning correctly when the switches are closed manually i.e. humming does stop, it may be a door adjustment problem i.e. switches not being closed properly by the door.
It could be a "double header" problem i.e. faulty switch (door adj?) and fan problem. If you decide to check the fan here's a video that shows how to access it. Note: if there's a lot of ice on the fan and the evaporator unit etc then there's a defrost problem. Run Service Test #1 and check if everything is OK
If you find the problem and it is a faulty part that needs replacing, here's the parts list that is useful.
Locate the wanted part in the list and note the manufacturer's part number that is listed with it. Search for the part number only to find suppliers that suit you best.
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Hi @ericsprieser
What is the model number of the refrigerator?
I realize that 8 seconds is not a long time to do things but does the humming stop if you open either the refrigerator door or the freezer door and then start again when the door is shut?
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 jayeff crwdne2934271:0
@jayeff Excellent questions. The model number is WRF535SMBM00. The humming noise does, indeed, stop when the freezer door is opened, but not when the refrigerator door is opened. Once the freezer door is shut, the humming starts up again for the remainder of the eight seconds.
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Eric Sprieser crwdne2934271:0
@jayeff During the Test #3 with the indicator in the "on" position and the freezer door light switch manually held close, the intermittent 8-second noise did not occur. However, the freezer fan was clearly working as there was a very light hum (expected) and airflow could be felt with my hand near the open freezer door. Once the test was completed and all doors closed, the intermittent noise did come back at 15-minute intervals.
Despite the intermittent buzzing, there appears to be no adverse impact on either the refrigerator or freezer as the food was kept cold or freezing at all times and all lights were working properly.
The instruction manual does indicate that "pulsating" noises may be normal as the fan/compressor adjust to optimize performance.
Maybe this is something I don't need to worry about.
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Eric Sprieser crwdne2934271:0