You open the chest freezer and the bag of frozen peas is soft. Before anything else, protect the food: move whatever you can to another freezer or a cooler with ice, and put a thermometer in the chest freezer to see how warm it actually is. Food that still has ice crystals or is at 40°F or below can generally be refrozen; anything above that for more than two hours should be thrown out.
Then work through the checks below, in order. Each one either solves the problem or rules something out.
Step by step
- Is it getting power? Look for an indicator light. Check that the plug is fully seated and that a GFCI outlet hasn't tripped, which is common in garages. Reset it if needed. Don't run a freezer on an extension cord.
- Is the control set correctly? Someone may have bumped the dial while loading. Set it to the middle or recommended setting.
- Is the compressor running? Listen near the bottom of the unit. A steady hum means it's running. Repeated clicking, a short hum and then silence, or nothing at all may mean a start relay or compressor problem.
- Is the lid sealing? Close the lid on a dollar bill at several points around the edge. If it slides out easily anywhere, the gasket isn't sealing. A food package caught under the lid is a frequent cause.
- Is there heavy frost? Chest freezers don't defrost on their own. Frost thicker than about a quarter inch insulates the walls and reduces cooling. Whirlpool notes that frost comes from excess moisture, usually from lid openings or a poor seal. Defrost it following the manual.
- Is the outside of the cabinet warm? Many chest freezers release heat through the outer walls. Some warmth is normal. But if the cabinet is pushed tight against a wall or boxes, it can't shed that heat.
- Where is it? A chest freezer in a garage that gets very hot, or very cold, may be outside its rated operating range. Check the manual. Inland garages in late summer are the most common case; the hot garage checklist covers it in detail.
- How full is it? Adding a lot of unfrozen food at once raises the temperature for a day or more. That's normal; the freezer should recover.
- Was there a recent outage? After a power outage or surge, a freezer may need several hours to recover. If it doesn't, the control or compressor may have been affected.
What the results suggest
| You found | Likely cause | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| No power, no light | Outlet, GFCI, cord or internal fault | Test the outlet with a lamp; if it works, the freezer needs service |
| Compressor clicks but won't run | Start relay, overload or compressor | Unplug and call for service |
| Running constantly, still warm | Frost, poor seal, hot location or low refrigerant | Defrost, fix the seal, move it; if no change, call |
| Frost only in one spot | Air leak at that part of the lid | Clean or replace the gasket; check the hinges |
| Warm after outage, no recovery in a day | Control or electrical damage | Have it diagnosed |
Moisture and the coast
Near the beach, a chest freezer in a damp garage builds frost faster because the air holds more moisture. Opening the lid less often, and keeping it full so less air is exchanged, helps. Salt air can also corrode the hinge and the lid's lower edge over time.
Defrosting the right way
- Move the food to coolers or another freezer.
- Unplug the freezer and prop the lid open.
- Use the drain plug if your model has one, with a pan or hose underneath.
- Let the frost melt on its own, or speed it up with pans of hot water inside. Don't chip at it with a knife or screwdriver; a punctured liner can mean a punctured refrigerant line.
- Dry the interior completely, plug it back in, and wait until it's cold before reloading.
When it's a repair
A chest freezer with power, a good seal, little frost and a reasonable location that still won't hold 0°F likely has a compressor, start component, thermostat or sealed-system problem. Our freezer repair technicians can test the components and give you a written estimate. Whether a repair makes sense depends on the age and the part, and we'll be straight with you about that. For upright units and fridge-freezers, see our fridge-freezer repair page.
Keep the thermometer in. A cheap freezer thermometer that you glance at each time you open the lid would have caught this problem days earlier.