A fridge tends to fail quietly. The milk is warm on Monday morning, the butter has gone soft, and nothing has made a noise to warn anybody. Most of the calls we take in kitchens within four miles of Northolt fall into three patterns: a fridge that has stopped cooling altogether, a fridge that runs constantly without ever getting properly cold, and a fridge that has gone the other way and freezes everything on the back shelf. Underneath those symptoms sits a small group of parts that does nearly all the failing — the thermostat or control sensor, the evaporator fan, the defrost heater, the door seal, and the little drain hole at the back of the liner that blocks with debris and lets meltwater pool under the salad drawer. We work on larder fridges, under-counter models and integrated fridges built into a run of units, and we are used to releasing a decor door and sliding an integrated appliance out without marking the plinth or bending a hinge bracket. The visit itself is straightforward: we take our own temperature readings rather than trust the dial, get the back or the rear panel open, meter the parts that the readings point at, then tell you what needs replacing and what the part costs before anything is fitted. Where the fault turns out to be inside the closed cooling circuit, that is specialist work we do not take on, and we will say so on the visit rather than sell you a repair that cannot hold.
£80
call-out charge per visit
Labour is included for most repairs. More extensive or complex jobs may require additional labour, which we always quote and agree with you before starting. Parts are charged separately and always quoted before we fit them.
We are not registered for VAT. The price we quote is the price you pay.
Usually: Usually a failed thermostat or control sensor, a stuck start relay on the compressor, or a control board that is no longer calling for cooling at all.
On the visit: We check first whether cooling is even being asked for, meter the sensor and the relay, and read the back plate temperature so we can tell an electrical fault from a cooling one before quoting a part.
Usually: A perished door seal letting warm room air in, a condenser coil packed solid with dust and pet hair, or a condenser fan that has stopped turning.
On the visit: We close the door on a strip of paper all the way round to test the seal, clean and inspect the condenser and its fan, then compare the cut-out temperature against the control setting.
Usually: The sensor or capillary phial has slipped off its clip on the cold plate, or on models fed with cold air from the freezer side the air damper has stuck open.
On the visit: We refit or replace the phial or sensor, check the damper flap and the flow of air into the cabinet, then run the fridge back down to temperature and take shelf readings before we leave.
Usually: The defrost drain hole at the base of the back wall is blocked with food debris or plugged with ice, so meltwater runs forward into the cabinet instead of down to the tray.
On the visit: We clear the drain with a probe, flush it through until water reaches the tray above the motor, check the drain trough and outlet pipe are clear, and refit the trim so it drains properly.
Usually: The door seal has hardened, torn along one edge or lost its magnetic grip, or the door has dropped on a worn hinge and no longer pulls square against the cabinet.
On the visit: We test the seal on all four sides, adjust or replace hinges and cams where the door has sagged, and fit a new seal where the old one will not seat however it is warmed and reworked.
Usually: The defrost heater or its thermal cut-out has gone open circuit, or the defrost sensor is reporting a temperature that stops the cycle ever running.
On the visit: We meter the heater and cut-out for continuity at the loom connector, check the control is actually calling a defrost, and fit the part that reads open rather than defrosting it by hand and leaving.
Usually: A worn evaporator fan bearing, a fan blade striking frost, a condenser fan clogged with dust, or a failed lamp module or door switch that leaves the lamp burning inside.
On the visit: We locate the noise with the panels off, clear the ice from the blade or replace the fan motor, and test the lamp and door switch together, since a switch that never opens warms the cabinet as well.
3-month guarantee on the part we replace. Any part we replace is guaranteed for 3 months from the date it is fitted. This covers the replaced part only — it is not a warranty on the whole appliance.
The call-out is £80 per visit and labour is included on most fridge jobs — clearing a blocked defrost drain, refitting a sensor that has come off its clip, changing a fan motor or fitting a new door seal. A longer or more involved job needs additional labour, which is always quoted and agreed with you before we start. Parts are charged on top and the price of the part is always given before it is fitted.
On a larder fridge the cold comes off a plate behind the rear liner, so anything pressed against that wall chills first and freezes first. The usual causes are a sensor or capillary phial that has slipped off its mounting on the plate, a control reading colder than the cabinet really is, or an air damper stuck open on models fed from the freezer side. We measure the shelf temperatures before changing anything.
Yes. Integrated and under-counter fridges are most of what we see in kitchens from Northolt and Greenford across to Ealing, Hayes and South Harrow, and the first job is getting the appliance out of its housing without marking the decor door or the plinth. We release the door brackets and the fixing rails, work on the appliance clear of the run, then refit it so the door lines up with the neighbouring cupboards again.
Almost always, and it is rarely one of the more expensive faults. Meltwater from the back wall is supposed to run down a small drain hole into a tray above the motor, where it evaporates away. Food debris, a stray label or a plug of ice blocks that hole and the water backs up into the bottom of the cabinet instead. We clear and flush the drain, check the trough and outlet pipe behind the appliance, and prove the water runs away before we leave.
We tell you on the visit rather than after the fact. The closed cooling circuit inside a fridge — the compressor and the pipework it feeds — is specialist work that we do not take on, so if the readings point there we will explain plainly why a repair is not the sensible route for that appliance. Anything we do repair carries a 3-month guarantee on the specific part we fitted, such as the fan, sensor, heater or door seal, rather than a guarantee across the whole fridge.