With the refrigerator being an essential electronic appliance in every home that has one, seeing blinking lights from it can send warning signals to every owner’s brain.
So, if the light on yours has suddenly started to blink, you may wonder what’s causing it to behave abnormally.
Your freezer lights are blinking because there is a loose connection, the electricity is fluctuating, or the fridge’s temperature is too high. The blinking could also be because the door may have been left open. On the other hand, if the internal bulb inside the refrigerator is blinking, it’s because the bulb is going bad or the circuitry has an issue.
What Do The Lights Mean On A Freezer?
Temperature displays on freezers usually have a limited range of colors that mean different things.
Blinking lights indicate that the temperature is too high or that the electricity has an issue.
Red is often an indicator of an abnormally high temperature in the cabinet. On the other hand, the green light means that the freezer is connected to a working power source and amber implies that the fast freeze feature is on.
#1. Red Light
If your freezer shows red lights, the cabinet is abnormally hot. In most cases, abnormal heat usually comes from the wiring and circuitry of the freezer.
For example, if wires carrying opposite currents melt and touch each other, that could cause a short circuit which could cause the temperature of the wiring to rise.
Furthermore, a shorted circuit could also cause less voltage to flow through the system; thus, it won’t be able to get cold.
On the other hand, when the coolant gets exhausted, there’s no way the refrigerator will stay cold.
So, if the red lights stay on for a while and you’re sure the wiring has no issue, then the fault is definitely from the coolant.
In addition, if you put hot food in the freezer, the lights will turn red, indicating that you need to take the food item out.
The heat could damage your freezer if you ignore the lights or don’t see them on time.
#2. Green Light
When your freezer’s temperature display shows a green light, your freezer is receiving electricity.
Green lights are usually associated with good things, and in this case, it is too.
While the presence of green light in your freezer is a good thing, its absence, even when your freezer is plugged into the outlet, can be frightening.
In this case, a couple of things could be the culprit. Usually, freezer plugs are fused to protect the entire appliance from damages caused by power surges.
So, if the outlet is working and the freezer isn’t while it’s plugged in, the fuse has probably gotten damaged.
If your freezer is hardwired, that’s another problem on its own. Some complications in the circuitry could cause the freezer not to receive any electricity and stop functioning; hence, the green light won’t show.
#3. Amber Light
An Amber Light from your freezer’s display means it’s in fast freeze or turbo mode. As with the green light, the amber light isn’t a warning.
Modern freezers have fast freeze options because of the high demand for ice cubes and quickly frosted food items.
So, if your freezer shows the amber light when you turn on this feature, that’s a good thing, and it means it’s functioning.
However, if you notice that your freezer is cooling at the average rate with the amber light on, there’s a problem.
On the other hand, if the amber light is not on and your freezer is frosting everything quickly, the problem is most likely from the bulb or display unit.
#4. Blinking Lights
Blinking lights indicate a faulty or loose connection in the wiring. It also could mean that the electricity is unstable and fluctuating.
And in some freezer models, it could occur when the freezer door is left open, or the temperature is too high due to a faulty evaporator fan motor.
On the contrary, if the lights inside the freezer are blinking, it indicates that the bulb is bad or loose. It could also mean that the door is improperly shut.
How Do You Fix A Blinking Fridge Light?
The freezer light blinks in modern freezers, most likely because the temperature is too high or the door is left open.
When the temperature of your fridge is too high, there is usually one of two culprits involved.
The evaporator fan motor is not working to cool off the fridge’s engine, or there’s hot food in the freezer.
If you suspect hot food in the freezer is causing the blinking lights, then take the following steps:
- Remove any hot item in the freezer. If you don’t allow a food item to cool down before you put it in the freezer, it will exceed the temperature limit for the freezer and cause the lights to blink. Thus, it’s best to remove it.
- If the lights still blink after turning it off, press the refrigerator reset button if there is one on display, and it will go back to normal. In models without one, you’ll have to press the top left and right buttons together for this function to work.
Also, some refrigerators without reset buttons require a hard reset. You can do this by turning off the fridge for about 30 minutes and then turning it back on. - On the other hand, if there is no hot item in the freezer and the lights are blinking, it’s best to turn it off and call an electrician as the culprit may be the internal wiring.
If you feel the fault is from the evaporator fan motor, then do the following:
- Check whether the fan is running by closing the door and then opening it again.
- Immediately after you open the door, you should hear the fan running.
- If it’s not running, then the evaporator fan motor is faulty.
- But if the fan is running and then goes off after a while, the problem could be the wiring.
- It’s best to call an electrician to fix the issues after identifying the problem.
In some cases, the door left open could be the issue:
- So first, try to close the door properly.
- If it can’t stay closed, check if the fridge is balanced on the floor. If the body tilts forward, it will be hard for the door to remain closed.
- Check whether there is nothing inside the fridge or on the door stopping it from closing.
- If you’ve taken the previous steps and the door still won’t close properly, call a technician to check the door.
Conclusion
The light in your freezer blinks because the wiring is faulty, the temperature is too high, or the electricity fluctuates.
Also, if you’re using an old model freezer, the lights could be blinking because the bulb is malfunctioning. It’s best to get a new one in that case.
