A customer's fridge in Tempe had a weird hum that turned out to be a loose compressor mounting bolt.

I was on a service call for a fridge not cooling right. The noise was this low hum, not the usual compressor buzz. After checking the usual stuff, I found one of the four compressor mounting bolts was barely hanging on, letting the whole unit vibrate. Tightened it up with a 10mm socket and the noise stopped cold. Has anyone else had a simple loose part mimic a bigger compressor problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimr9112d agoMost Upvoted

Ever check the rubber feet or leveling legs first? I mean, a lot of weird vibrations start there before you even get to the bolts.

the_eric12d ago

Oh man, you are so right. I had a washer that was walking across the floor and making a horrible noise. Spent an hour checking every bolt I could find. Turns out one of the front leveling legs was barely touching the ground. Tightened it down to actually make contact and the whole thing went quiet. It's always the simple stuff you miss first.

the_robin12d ago

Yeah, that loose bolt thing is real. My old dryer was rattling like it was full of rocks. I almost called it dead, but then I saw the back panel was vibrating. One of the screws holding the drum housing had worked itself almost all the way out. Put a Phillips head to it, gave it a few good turns, and the noise just vanished. Felt pretty dumb for not spotting it sooner.