Sub Zero 550 refrigerator no cold, Repair – San Rafael, CA

A Customer has top/bottom unit Sub Zero 550 no cold. They just bought the house and willing to fix this unit. After diagnostics on this unit, I find multiple issues. Both sealed systems were not working. This unit was very badly maintained for 20 years, I would say it was not maintained at all. Problems start from not vacuuming the condenser coil for a very long time. At some point, condenser fan motor died. So sealed system did not get proper airflow and worked on overheat. Overheating caused both compressors to die. Also, cold control for the refrigerator side was not working. And guess what even more, the door nylon cams were broken and not closing the door properly.

So here is the list of parts I need to replace: both compressors for the freezer and refrigerator, evaporator coil for the fridge, condenser fan motor, cold control for the fridge and plastic cams for door hinge. This looks like to be a big job.

First I replaced the door hinge cams and adjust the refrigerator door to close and seal the compartment properly.

Second I replaced the compressor for the freezer. Also replaced dryer filter and recharge the system with the new portion of freon.

Third I replaced the compressor for refrigerator side and evaporator coil. Weld the new dryer filter and recharge with freon.

Fourth I replaced condenser fan motor to give proper cooling to the almost new sealed system.

Fifth I replaced cold control for refrigerator and mount sensor probe to the back wall. Unlike the tech before me who just let the probe touching the warm drain heater which caused damage to this part.

And finally, I vacuumed and washed with the steam and chemicals condenser coil. Surprise, guess what the previous tech did? Yes, he banded all aluminum foils on the coil. Because of that system did not get proper airflow and cooling. I took the quarter and make them straight one by one. I took me 30 min just to band them to the proper shape.

Another happy customer!