Help! My Refrigerator is Freezing Everything!
There's nothing quite like reaching for fresh lettuce only to find it's turned into a frozen brick, or pouring milk that's become an icy slush. If your refrigerator seems to be working overtime, freezing things that should stay fresh, you're not alone and some causes have simple fixes you can do right now.
How Your Refrigerator Actually Works
Before diving into fixes, it helps to understand the basics. Your fridge maintains two zones: the fresh food section (ideally 37°F–40°F) and the freezer (0°F). Most modern refrigerators use a single cooling system that distributes cold air between these sections through fans and vents. When something disrupts this system. whether it's a setting, a sensor, or a physical blockage, your fridge can start overcooling and freezing items that should stay fresh.
The Most Common Culprits
Thermostat Set Too Low
Your thermostat tells the compressor when to turn on and off based on temperature. Many older fridges use a dial numbered 1 to 5 or 1 to 9, and here's where people often get confused: a higher number means colder, not warmer. Digital thermostats are clearer but can still be accidentally set too low.
What you can do: If your fridge reads 33°F or below, or everything is freezing evenly, adjust your thermostat. Look for the temperature control dial or digital display inside your fridge (usually on the top or side wall). Set it to between 37°F–40°F. If you have a dial, turn it down one or two numbers. Wait 24 hours and check the temperature again with a separate fridge thermometer you can buy at any grocery store for a few dollars.
When to call Cavalry: If adjusting the thermostat doesn't change anything after 24 hours, the thermostat itself may be broken and needs professional replacement.
Blocked Air Vents
Cold air circulates from your freezer into the fridge compartment through vents, typically located at the back or sides of your fridge. When you block these vents with containers or overpacked food, cold air gets trapped and concentrates in one spot, freezing whatever's nearby.
What you can do: Open your fridge and look at the back wall and sides. You'll see small vents or slots where air comes through; they might look like narrow openings or grilles. Check if any food containers, bottles, or boxes are pressed up against them. Move everything at least 2 inches away from these vents. Also avoid stacking items high near the back wall. Once you've cleared the space, wait 24 hours to see if the freezing stops.
When to call Cavalry: If you've cleared all the vents and the problem continues, there may be an issue with the fan or air circulation system that needs professional diagnosis.
Faulty Thermistor
The thermistor is a small sensor that measures the temperature inside your fridge and reports back to the control board. When it malfunctions, it sends incorrect readings, essentially lying to your fridge about how cold it actually is. The control board then makes decisions based on bad information, often keeping the compressor running when it should shut off.
What you can do: Unfortunately, there's no simple fix you can do yourself for a faulty thermistor. If your fridge keeps cooling even though it's already cold, adjusting the temperature doesn't help, and you've ruled out blocked vents, the thermistor or control is a likely culprit.
When to call Cavalry: Testing and replacing a thermistor requires specialized tools and electrical knowledge. Call Cavalry to diagnose and repair this issue.
Damaged or Dirty Door Seals
Those rubber strips around your door (called gaskets) keep warm air out and cold air in. When they fail, warm air seeps in, causing condensation. Your fridge then overcompensates by cooling more aggressively, sometimes dropping temperatures too low.
What you can do: First, clean the seals. Mix warm water with a little dish soap, dampen a sponge, and wipe down all the rubber gasket around your fridge door. Get into the folds and crevices where dirt builds up. Dry it with a clean towel.
When to call Cavalry: If the gasket feels cracked, torn, or warped, the gasket needs replacement. While you can order replacement gaskets online, installing them properly can be tricky. Call Cavalry to ensure it's installed correctly and creates a proper seal.
Defective Control Board
Your fridge's control board is essentially its brain, managing everything from cooling cycles to defrosting. When it fails, it can misread inputs from the thermostat or thermistor and run the compressor too long, causing erratic behavior like irregular cooling or inconsistent temperatures.
What you can do: There's nothing you can safely do yourself with a control board issue. These are complex electronic components.
When to call Cavalry: If nothing else has fixed the problem, you notice sometimes it freezes and sometimes it doesn't, or buttons and lights aren't responding normally, call Cavalry. Control board issues require professional diagnosis and replacement.
Malfunctioning Damper
The damper controls how much cold air flows from the freezer into the refrigerator section. When the fridge needs cooling, the damper opens to let cold air in. If it gets stuck in the open position, cold air rushes in continuously, freezing your food.
What you can do: You can listen for the damper. Open your fridge and listen near the top back area. You might hear a faint motor or clicking sound when the damper opens and closes. If you hear continuous rushing air or the top of your fridge is significantly colder than the bottom, the damper may be stuck.
When to call Cavalry: Accessing, inspecting, and replacing a damper requires removing panels and working with internal components. This is a job for Cavalry's professionals.
Start with the Simple Fixes
Before calling for help, try these two things first:
Adjust your thermostat to 37°F–40°F and wait 24 hours
Clear any vents by moving food and containers at least 2 inches away from the back and side walls
If these don't solve the problem within a day or two, it's time to call Cavalry. Our technicians can diagnose sensor issues, replace gaskets properly, fix control boards, and repair dampers—all the things that require expertise and specialized tools.
Five Tips to Keep Your Fridge Running Right
Use an actual thermometer. Don't trust your fridge's display- an inexpensive thermometer tells you the real temperature inside.
Leave room for air to circulate. Never overpack your fridge, especially around vents. Cold air needs space to flow.
Clean your gaskets monthly. A quick wipe-down with warm, soapy water keeps them sealing effectively and helps you spot damage early.
Don't go to extremes with temperature settings. Setting the dial too high or too low causes irregular cooling and overcompensation.
Schedule regular maintenance. Having Cavalry check your fridge annually can catch small problems before they become big ones.
The Bottom Line
A refrigerator that freezes everything usually starts with simple causes: a mis-set thermostat or blocked vents. Try these fixes first, and you might solve the problem in minutes. But when the issue is deeper (faulty sensors, worn components, or control board problems) that's when Cavalry's expertise makes all the difference. We'll diagnose the real problem and fix it right, so your fridge keeps your food at just the right temperature.
Cheers,
Your Cavalry Team