Sub-ZeroRepair Miami
(305) 570-1472 Book a visit

Start from what the unit is doing

Sub-Zero not working right? Start here.

Most people call us with a description rather than a code: it is not cooling, it stopped making ice, the service light is on. Each page below covers what that usually means on built-in refrigeration, what to check in five minutes, and when it stops being a do-it-yourself job.

Book a diagnostic (305) 570-1472
  • 12 symptoms covered in detail
  • 5 min of checks before you call
  • from $95 diagnostic, credited to the repair
  • Photo of the display beats any description

Book a visit

Book a diagnostic visit

Your model number and a line about what it is doing is enough to get started. We will confirm the earliest slot we can genuinely keep.

  • Diagnostic from $95, credited toward the repair when you go ahead
  • The work and the price in writing before anything is opened
  • A warranty on our workmanship
  • Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties
Call (305) 570-1472
  1. 01 You tell us the model and what the unit is doing. A photo of the display helps.
  2. 02 We come back with the earliest slot we can genuinely keep, not the earliest one that sounds good.
  3. 03 Diagnosis on site, then the scope and the price in writing before anything is opened.

Your details stay private. No spam, ever.

Loading the booking form…

The booking form is taking longer than it should. Call (305) 570-1472 and we will book the visit with you.

Before anything else

If the display is showing a code, that is your fastest diagnosis.

A description narrows the problem to a handful of possibilities. A code narrows it to a subsystem: sensor, fan, water valve, door, load. It is the difference between “it is not cooling” and “the condenser fan is out of range” — and it takes a photograph rather than an explanation.

So before you read any further: look at the display, and if there is anything on it, photograph it. Codes clear themselves, often before a technician arrives, and the photograph is frequently the most useful thing anybody has. Then find the code in our list — it will tell you which series show it and what it covers.

Search the error code list
A travertine kitchen and an oval dining table, glazed to a terrace

By symptom

What is it doing?

Pick the one that sounds like your unit. Each page lists the likely causes in the order they are worth checking, which is roughly cheapest first.

  • An empty refrigerator interior with bare glass shelves and door racks
    The most common call

    Refrigerator not cooling

    A cabinet that runs warm, cools unevenly, or holds temperature overnight and not by day. Five ordinary causes, hundreds of dollars apart — and how to tell which one you are looking at.

    • Warm on one side, fine on the other
    • Holds overnight, drifts by day
    • Compressor running far longer than it used to
    What it usually means
  • An open freezer drawer packed with bags of frozen vegetables
    Frost, or not cold enough

    Freezer not freezing

    A freezer running warm, frosting heavily, or holding a temperature that looks right on the display and is not right in the drawer.

    • Ice cream soft, everything else fine
    • Heavy frost on one shelf
    • Display reads correctly, contents say otherwise
    What it usually means
  • An ice maker inside a freezer, its twist trays above a bin filled with cubes
    No ice, slow ice, cloudy ice

    Ice maker not working

    Production that stopped, or halved over a season. Water supply, the freeze cycle and the condenser are the three places this ends up, and they are easy to tell apart.

    • Stopped after a filter change
    • Half the ice it used to make
    • Cloudy cubes instead of clear
    What it usually means
  • A slim control strip on a stainless refrigerator door, the temperature scale lit in amber
    The display asking for attention

    Service light or wrench flashing

    A service light, a wrench symbol or a unit that beeps without any obvious change in temperature. What it means, why the code behind it matters, and what to do first.

    • Light on, temperatures look normal
    • Wrench symbol with no code shown
    • Beeping that returns after a reset
    What it usually means
  • A darkened kitchen lit only by daylight through the blinds, the refrigerator standing in shadow
    Storm season

    Not cooling after a power outage

    A unit that came back up and never quite recovered, or did not restart at all. What a surge does to this equipment, and what is worth checking before booking.

    • Restarted, but never came back to temperature
    • Ice maker at half production since
    • Display blank, or a code that arrived with the storm
    What it usually means
  • A finger pressing a refrigerator touch panel showing the fridge and freezer set temperatures
    Alarm, not failure

    Refrigerator beeping

    A unit beeping steadily or intermittently, with or without a light. Usually a door or a temperature alarm — and occasionally the first sign of something worth catching early.

    • Beeps that stop when the door is pushed
    • Beeping that returns after a reset
    • Alarm with temperatures that look normal
    What it usually means
  • A clear puddle spreading across a pale wood floor, darkening the boards it has soaked into
    Inside, or on the floor

    Water leaking from the unit

    Water inside the cabinet, under a drawer, or on the floor in front. Where it comes from decides how urgent it is — and built-in units hide it longer than freestanding ones.

    • Water pooling in the bottom of the cabinet
    • A wet floor in front of the unit
    • Ice in the drain or under a drawer
    What it usually means
  • A technician working on the condenser coil at the back of a refrigerator with a screwdriver
    New sounds, or louder ones

    Unusual noise

    Buzzing, rattling, clicking or a compressor that sounds like it is working harder than it used to. Some of it is normal, and some of it is the earliest warning this equipment gives.

    • A hum that got louder over months
    • Rattling that stops when a door is opened
    • Clicking every few minutes
    What it usually means
  • An open wine cabinet drawer with two bottles on wooden slats, the control panel above showing the set temperature
    Drift, not failure

    Wine cabinet not holding temperature

    A zone reading two or three degrees off, humidity that has changed, or a cabinet that holds by night and drifts by day. Wine storage fails quietly, which is what makes it expensive.

    • One zone off, the other fine
    • Humidity changed before temperature did
    • Corks and labels showing it first
    What it usually means
  • Three tumblers of iced drinks on a marble counter, the cubes clear and rounded
    Filter, line or drain

    Ice or water tastes off

    Ice that smells of the freezer, water that tastes flat or metallic, or both arriving together after a filter change.

    • Started after a filter change
    • Ice smells of whatever is in the freezer
    • Water tastes flat rather than wrong
    What it usually means
  • A hand holding the edge of an open refrigerator door, the seal and door frame close to the camera
    Gasket, alignment or hinge

    Door not closing or sealing

    A door that does not sit square, a seal that has gone hard, condensation around the frame, or a panelled door that no longer lines up with the cabinetry.

    • Condensation around the door frame
    • A door that swings back open
    • Panelled door out of line with the run
    What it usually means
  • A technician easing a refrigerator away from the wall, its condenser coil exposed down the back
    Never cycling off

    Unit running constantly

    A compressor that runs without stopping, or cycles far more than it used to, while temperatures still look about right. Usually the earliest warning sign this equipment gives.

    • Runs all day, temperatures still fine
    • Warmer kitchen than it used to be
    • Higher electricity bill with no other change
    What it usually means

Worth checking on anything

Four checks that solve a surprising share of calls

None of them need tools, and all of them are worth doing before booking.

The condenser

  • Pull the grille and look at the coil
  • Dust inland, salt corrosion near the water
  • Behind a large share of everything on this page

The door seal

  • Close the door on a sheet of paper and pull
  • Test it at several points, not just one
  • A soft corner is enough to cost the cabinet its temperature

The display

  • Photograph any code before it clears
  • Note whether a service light is on
  • Write down the model number from the plate

Recent history

  • Any power cut or storm in the last month
  • Any filter change in the last week
  • Whether it started suddenly or drifted

Not on the list?

Describe it in your own words. That is enough to start.

These are the symptoms we are asked about most often, not the limit of what goes wrong. Built-in refrigeration fails in more ways than any list holds, and plenty of visits turn out to be something that has no name until the panel comes off.

Tell us the model number and what the unit is doing — in whatever words fit — and we will tell you what it usually points at and what it is likely to involve. If it is not our work, we will say so.

Call (305) 570-1472, or use the form above.

Call (305) 570-1472 Describe it in the form

Before you book

Questions we get about symptoms

How do I know whether this is urgent?

Water anywhere near a built-in unit, and a cabinet that has been above temperature for hours, are worth acting on today. A new noise with normal temperatures, or a service light on a unit that is otherwise behaving, is worth booking rather than rushing — but it is also the cheapest moment to look.

Is there anything I can safely check myself?

Yes, and it is worth five minutes: the condenser through the grille, the door seals with a sheet of paper, the breaker, and whether anything changed recently — a filter, a power cut, a kitchen refit. Anything inside the sealed system or involving the control board is not a do-it-yourself repair on this equipment.

Why do you keep asking for the model number?

Because it decides what a code means, which parts fit, and how the unit is built into the cabinetry. It is on the data plate, usually inside the fresh food compartment near the top or behind the grille on undercounter units. A photograph of it is enough.

The display cleared itself. Is the problem gone?

Not necessarily. Many codes clear once the condition passes, which means the unit recovered rather than that nothing happened. If it returns, the second appearance matters more than the first — and if you photographed the first one, we start much further along.

Can you tell me what it will cost from a description?

We can tell you the range. A description narrows it to a few possible causes, and those sit hundreds of dollars apart, so the exact figure is confirmed after the on-site diagnostic and agreed with you before any work begins.

Tell us what it is doing, and send the photo.

The display and the model plate are usually enough for us to say what is likely, what it involves, and what it should cost.

Call (305) 570-1472

This article is based on:

  • Official manufacturer documentation
  • Internal repair procedures
  • Technician repair history
  • Company quality standards
Call (305) 570-1472