Fridge Noise - help!

[Dilkris]

We have an upright fridge freezer, it is a Bosch and we have had it maybe 10 years - it works fine.
However recently it has developed a vibration/humming/annoying noise - not continually but now and again.
The "now" part is becoming really annoying - it is not loud, but it is there, sort of thing, in the back ground. My wife continually bending my ear about it is however somewhat "testing...."
I have been through removing all contents from the fridge, all fridge magnets from the sides and all items from the top - all to no avail.
I recently removed the lower rear panel, (the only part that can be removed from the rear), vacuumed all out and checked for any chaffing or rubbing of items/pipes etc - nothing.
The noise sounds like it is coming from inside about half way up the rear panel (which of course cannot be removed)
Any ideas?
Is this symptom indicative of the compressor on its way out or the unit needing re-gassing?
I cost an arm and a leg when we bought it but I was working - now retired, I don't have many "arms and legs left"
I am sure I am not the only person on this forum who has lived through this journey.

 

[chunkolini]

I give mine a slap on the side.
Always shuts it up.
The fridge that is

 

[hotponyshoes]

Does the noise stop when you open the door?

 

[Mark 5]

We have an upright fridge freezer, it is a Bosch and we have had it maybe 10 years - it works fine.
However recently it has developed a vibration/humming/annoying noise - not continually but now and again.
The noise sounds like it is coming from inside about half way up the rear panel (which of course cannot be removed)
Any ideas?
Is this symptom indicative of the compressor on its way out or the unit needing re-gassing?

IMO ,no as you write FF is working fine.

Fan/s I hazard a guess as you can hear noise half way up so to speak, evaporator fan--maybe?

Plenty of vids out there to help diagnose and hopefully repair.

 

[voipio]

At 10 years old, the rubber compressor mounts may have lost some of their suppleness/compliance, and may be transferring a greater proportion of the compressor vibrations to the rest of the fridge. Vacuuming the dust from the heat exchanger should improve the efficiency of the fridge, and it might make the compressor work less hard. Ours gets done every year, or so.

Is the fridge one of the frost free ones, that have an automated defrost cycle? If so, there might be a fair bit of gubbins inside that could vibrate. The evaporator heat exchanger may have been frosted up enough on occasions, over the years, to affect its mounts, but these are not easy to get at. Frost free fridge/greezers generally have one or more fans internally that blow super cold air from the internal evaporator compartment to the fridge and freezer compartments. Those fans might cause a bit of vibration, but it might be difficult to sort out.

Does the buzzing noise decrease when various parts of the fridge are prodded, or pushed? Things like poking the compressor, condenser heat exchanger at the back, the white fan housing at the bottom, the pipes coming from the compressor? Also try pushing against the sides of the fridge, and the corners, too, which will give a twisting moment to the chassis, and might be enough to stop the vibration. The other thing to try, might be to alter the height of one, or other, of the levelling feet underneath. It might give enough chassis movement to stop the noise.

 

[Dilkris]

Does the noise stop when you open the door?

Yes it does - because the microswitch (?) on the door switches off the compressor when the door is open.

 

[Dilkris]

At 10 years old, the rubber compressor mounts may have lost some of their suppleness/compliance, and may be transferring a greater proportion of the compressor vibrations to the rest of the fridge. Vacuuming the dust from the heat exchanger should improve the efficiency of the fridge. Ours gets done every year, or so, and it might make the compressor work less hard.

Is the fridge one of the frost free ones, that have an automated defrost cycle? If so, there might be a fair bit of gubbins inside that could vibrate. The evaporator heat exchanger may have been frosted up enough on occasions, over the years, to affect its mounts, but these are not easy to get at. Frost free fridge/greezers generally have one or more fans internally that blow super cold air from the internal evaporator compartment to the fridge and freezer compartments. Those fans might cause a bit of vibration, but it might be difficult to sort out.

Does the buzzing noise decrease when various parts of the fridge are prodded, or pushed? Things like poking the compressor, condenser heat exchanger at the back, the white fan housing at the bottom, the pipes coming from the compressor? Also try pushing against the sides of the fridge, and the corners, too, which will give a twisting moment to the chassis, and might be enough to stop the vibration. The other thing to try, might be to alter the height of one, or other, of the levelling feet underneath. It might give enough chassis movement to stop the noise.

Thanks "voipio" for this detailed response.
Yes it is "frost free" - must be as in 10 years we have never defrosted it.
I also believe it has an internal fan as inside the fridge section on the back of it is a sign saying (advertising) "multi airflow"
I have prodded, pushed and kicked most of it to no avail - I can find no relationship between all of these actions and the noise.
I have pulled, pushed, everything which is accessible behind the lower panel - no effect.
The noise most certainly sounds like it is coming from within the rear of the fridge freezer, about half way up.
I have not yet played with the adjustable feet - it has made no noise for 10 years but suddenly decided to do so - not wishing to appear negative, I doubt if the feet could be a problem. Notwithstanding this - it is of course worth a try

 

[hotponyshoes]

A1

Yes it does - because the microswitch (?) on the door switches off the compressor when the door is open.

On mine.it would make the noise regardless of the compressor running or not.
What stops when you open the door is the fan (halfway up the inner back panel) that blows air around the fridge for the multi-flow.
Mine has made a noise for several reasons so far..
First was a failed frost sensor, that stops the auto-defrost working, ice builds up and the fan blades rub against the ice.
Next was the insulation around the fan crumbling and falling into the fan.
The last time was the bearings in the fan failing and allowing the blades to catch the housing.

Screws to remove the back panel are hidden behind flush covers.
You can check the frost sensor via the front panel error codes and force a defrost a few times to see if it's ice causing it. Can't remember how but it was in the manual..

 

[voipio]

Thanks "voipio" for this detailed response....

I have not yet played with the adjustable feet - it has made no noise for 10 years but suddenly decided to do so - not wishing to appear negative, I doubt if the feet could be a problem. Notwithstanding this - it is of course worth a try

It's not so much the feet being the problem. Rather making the adjustment might impose a slight twist in the fridge/freezer structure which might then affect some internal structure sufficiently to stop the buzzing. It's just an easy thing to try, and a simple fix, if it works, before going for the internals.

 

[Dilkris]

Thankyou everyone who has taken the time to pass comment on this - much appreciated.
Having read all the comments I believe the noise comes from the circulating fan - which thus far I have not discovered how to access. (I'm searching through the famous "tube" in an attempt to find the secret to this access - assuming there is one)
In the mean time, I have spent some time levelling the fridge, (it wasn't level... ), hoping that perhaps this levelling will have caused some "twist" in the fridge carcass so to speak maybe alleviate the noise.
I will also check how to force a defrost a few times to see if this helps.
Once again - many thanks to the Forum

 

[Onoff]

I can't show you as we've gotten rid of it but our old upright fridge freezer would make an annoying whine. I had to remove the grilles inside and de-ice it. The fan was catching the ice build up. There was a duct ran between the fridge and freezer compartments from memory. Seemed to me made worse if we put stuff against the vents.

Now got a matching pair, Bosch fridge and separate freezer.