Sub-Zero Repair in Hawthorne Hills
Northeast Lead appliance: Freezer
Hawthorne Hills sits between Sand Point Way and 40th Avenue Northeast, its streets curving off the grid and named after college towns, and this page opens with the freezer, the compartment whose faults show themselves first in a house of this size.
- Wiring connector
- Condenser fan
Pattern Ledger
Hawthorne Hills: how it usually goes
- Most often A defrost part failed, so the coil ices over
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Gives itself away by A crust of frost builds on the back wall and the food softens gradually while the compressor sounds as busy as ever
Price band Defrost heater, thermostat or sensor$260–$690
- Sometimes Freezer evaporator fan stopped or its blade obstructed
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Gives itself away by The freezer warms without much frost to show for it, and the fan that should hum behind the rear cover stays silent
Price band Evaporator or condenser fan motor$330–$690
- Rarely Leak or restriction in the freezer's sealed system
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Gives itself away by Little frost, a turning fan, a clean condenser, and still a freezer that never gets back down to zero
Price band Compressor or sealed-system repair$1,410–$3,350
Telling these three apart is what the $89 visit is for. Sub-Zero Appliance Repair Seattle · (206) 339-4211
The ice cream test, and a better one
A freezer call usually begins with the ice cream, soft at the top of the tub when it ought to be hard. Sub-Zero’s own advice is that ice cream softness depends on the recipe and on where the tub sits, so on its own it proves little. The fair test is a thermometer left twelve hours with its bulb under vegetable oil, the glass set halfway back and halfway up the compartment; Sub-Zero’s recommended freezer setting is 0°F.
Why frost is usually the story
On the classic built-ins the freezer carries the defrost parts: a heater on the coil, a terminator that switches the heater off once the coil is clear, and a small heater in the drain trough so the meltwater does not refreeze on its way out. When one of them quits, the coil ices a little more after every cycle until air can hardly pass, and the freezer slips warmer while its compressor runs on. Sub-Zero adds a door left ajar, a torn gasket and a frozen drain tube to the reasons frost builds, so the door is checked too: a basket or a bag that stops the drawer closing flush lets damp kitchen air in all night. Before anyone blames the compressor, the wiring beside it and the condenser fan are tested with a meter, the step shown in the frame above.
Packed full, recovering slowly
Sub-Zero notes that a freezer cools most efficiently when it is not tightly packed. One filled to the lid blocks its own air path and takes longer to recover after every opening, which can pass for a failing part. If yours is loaded hard, say so; it changes what gets tested first.
Booking in Hawthorne Hills
Streets that bend away from the grid can confuse a map, so give a cross street and say whether the house sits above or below the road. Ring Sub-Zero Appliance Repair Seattle on (206) 339-4211 with what the freezer panel shows, whether the back wall has frosted over and whether an alarm has sounded, and read us the model number from the tag inside the unit.
Customer reviews
What Seattle owners say
Built-in Sub-Zero calls in Queen Anne, Madison Park, Laurelhurst and Magnolia.
4.9/ 5832 reviews
Our built-in sits in a hot corner by the window and had been running above ten degrees for a month. Choked condenser airflow plus a door heater stuck on, fighting each other. One visit, and he explained the drift.
Thandi C.Magnolia
After a power flicker the refrigerator half of our paired columns stopped holding temperature. The board had lost its settings rather than failed. He reset it, watched the pull-down, then showed me what to check next time.
Sylvie M.Laurelhurst
Ice tasted stale and the cubes were fusing into one block. A slow water valve, and a filter nobody had changed since the house was built. Both replaced, line flushed, cubes clear and separate.
Ezra G.Laurelhurst
Cabinet running warm?
Ring before the food decides for you
Give the model number and what the cabinet is doing, and the visit is booked from there. Visits 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, seven days; a person answers the phone 24/7.