Appliance Spares
Quick answer: A fridge that stops cooling while the compressor still hums usually has a dead fan motor, not a dead compressor. The evaporator fan behind the freezer panel moves the cold air; the condenser fan down the back near the compressor gets rid of the heat. Most replacement motors sit in the $30–60 band and the swap is a screwdriver job. What matters is matching the model number on your fridge’s model sticker to the part listing before you order.
Last updated August 2026
Your fridge has two fans, and they die differently
The light comes on, the compressor hums, and the milk is warm anyway. In a fridge that sounds alive but won’t hold temperature, the cold is often still being made — it just isn’t being moved. Moving it is a fan’s job, and your fridge has two of them.
The evaporator fan sits behind the plastic panel at the back of the freezer. It pulls air across the evaporator coil — the part that actually gets cold — and pushes it around the freezer and through a duct into the fridge section. When it dies, the freezer holds on for a while because it sits right beside the coil, but the fridge section warms within hours and the steady airflow hum goes silent.
The condenser fan lives at the bottom rear of the cabinet, next to the compressor. It drags room air over the condenser coil to dump the heat your fridge has pumped out. When it dies, the compressor runs hot and clicks off on its overload, the sides of the cabinet feel hot, and the whole fridge — freezer included — slowly warms.
Some fridges add a third: Fisher & Paykel in particular fit a small 12-volt DC circulation fan inside the fresh-food section to even out the temperature. The compressor cops the blame in most kitchen post-mortems, but it is usually a fan that walked off the job first.
Match the motor to your model
Which motor fits is decided by one thing: the model number on your model sticker, usually inside the fresh-food section on a side wall or just inside the door frame. Read it off, then match it against the models in the part listing. These are the fan motors Australians replace most:
| Fan motor | Which fan it is | Fits these models |
|---|---|---|
 Hisense fridge fan motor K1960962 | Cabinet fan, Hisense French door family | HR6TFF459, HR6CDFF670S, HR6CDFF670B |
 Westinghouse condenser fan motor | Condenser — rear, near the compressor | RS592V, RS612V, RS825S, NE820F, SS570A |
 Westinghouse evaporator (freezer) fan motor | Evaporator — behind the freezer panel | RJ390M, RJ275M, RJ300M, RJ340M |
 Fisher & Paykel small fan motor 884518P | 12V DC circulation fan inside the fridge | Many F&P fresh-food sections — check the listing |
 LG condenser fan motor 4680JB1026B | Condenser — rear, near the compressor | GR-B197DVCA, GR-B207EC, GR-L247EQ |
 GE, Whirlpool, Amana and Maytag fridge fan motor | Large American-style fridges | Check the listing against your model sticker |
Those Westinghouse codes are fridge model numbers, not part numbers — RS and NE models take the condenser motor, RJ models take the evaporator motor, which is exactly why you read the sticker instead of guessing. K1960962 is a Hisense global part number, so the same code turns up on those fridges wherever they are sold. And this table is the fast movers, not the whole shelf: the full refrigerator and freezer parts range carries dozens more fan motors, including motors for Haier families such as the HRF422TW1 and HRF502TS1.
Which fan died? A five-minute diagnosis
- Listen at the freezer door. A healthy evaporator fan makes a constant soft hum with the door shut. Most fridges cut the fan the moment you open the door, so listen through the closed door, or open it and hold the door switch pressed with a finger.
- Feel for airflow at the freezer vents. Cold air should be moving. Vents that are silent and still while the compressor hums point straight at the evaporator fan.
- Check the sides and the back. Pull the fridge out and listen low down near the compressor for the second motor. Hot cabinet sides plus a compressor that clicks off every few minutes means the condenser fan isn’t clearing the heat.
- Unplug, then spin the blade. With the fridge unplugged at the wall, take off the lower rear access panel (condenser) or the freezer back panel (evaporator) and turn the blade by hand. A good motor spins freely; a gritty, stiff or wobbly one is finished.
- Look for ice. An evaporator that chirps, scrapes or buzzes may be a defrost fault burying a working fan in ice rather than a dead motor. Clear the ice and fix the cause, or the new motor meets the same fate.
If both fans run, the compressor never seems to stop and the temperatures drift anyway, the fan isn’t your problem — start with Fridge Too Warm or Freezing Your Food? The Thermostat Is the Usual Suspect. And if a fan still runs but sounds like a helicopter, our noise guides for Whirlpool fridges and LG fridges walk through that version of the fault.
Check the voltage before you order
Older fridges run 240-volt AC fan motors fed straight from the mains. Most newer, electronically controlled fridges run low-voltage DC motors — like the 12-volt Fisher & Paykel 884518P above — driven from the control board. The two are not interchangeable in either direction, and they can look nearly identical on the bench. The old motor’s label states its voltage: match it, along with the mounting bracket and the way the blade fixes to the shaft. If your original motor is discontinued, universal reversible fan motors cover many older 240V fridges — send us your model number and a photo of the old motor’s label and we’ll match one properly before you spend a cent.
Doing the swap, and where DIY stops
Unplug the fridge at the wall before you touch anything. Every time, both jobs.
Evaporator fan: food into an esky, freezer shelves and drawers out, then the screws holding the plastic back panel. The fan sits on a bracket behind it with a plug-in harness; the blade pulls off the shaft or comes attached to the new motor. Most people are done inside an hour, defrosting time aside.
Condenser fan: pull the fridge right out, remove the lower rear access panel, and the motor is on a bracket beside the compressor, held by a few screws and a plug or spade connectors. Take a photo of the wiring before you disconnect anything, and mind the condenser fins — they are sharp and they bend easily.
Where DIY stops: the sealed system. If both fans spin and the compressor still won’t run, or the coil never gets cold, the fault is in the gas circuit or the compressor itself — and that work is licensed-only in Australia. Anyone opening the refrigerant circuit must hold a refrigerant handling licence, so a sealed-system repair belongs to a licensed repairer, no exceptions. A repairer’s call-out and diagnosis typically runs $100–165 before parts, so working out which fan died before you pick up the phone puts you in front either way.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How do I tell whether the evaporator fan or the condenser fan has failed?
A: By where the symptoms show up. A dead evaporator fan silences the hum behind the freezer panel: the freezer stays cold at first while the fridge section warms. A dead condenser fan shows up at the back — hot cabinet sides and a compressor that clicks on and off — and the whole fridge warms together.
Q: Can I replace a fridge fan motor myself?
A: On most fridges, yes. Fan motors sit outside the sealed system: with the fridge unplugged it is panel screws, a plug-in harness and a blade. Anything involving the refrigerant gas or the compressor is licensed work in Australia and is not a DIY job.
Q: Why is my freezer cold but the fridge warm?
A: That is the classic dead evaporator fan: the freezer sits beside the coil, but the fridge section relies on the fan to push cold air through the duct. Check for a heavily iced freezer back panel too — a defrost fault can bury a working fan in ice. If the airflow is fine, look at the thermostat or the damper instead.
Q: The fan still spins but it is getting loud. Replace it now or wait?
A: Chirping, scraping or grinding means the bearings are on the way out, and fan motors do not heal. If the noise is ice hitting the blades, fix the defrost problem first; otherwise replace the motor on your schedule rather than during a January heatwave.
Q: What if the fan motor for my fridge is discontinued?
A: Universal reversible fan motors cover many older 240V fridges. Match the voltage and wattage printed on the old motor’s label, the shaft length and the mounting, or send us your model number and a photo of the label and we’ll do the matching for you.
The model number does the heavy lifting here. Find it on the model sticker inside the fresh-food section, then search it — or the part number printed on the old motor — in our store. Not sure which motor you are looking at? Send the model number through our contact page and we’ll match the right fan motor before you order. In-stock parts are dispatched from Sydney’s Northern Beaches the day you order when your order is in by 12pm.
Disclaimer: this article is general information only and is provided without warranty of any kind. Appliance designs vary between models and production runs — always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, switch off and unplug the appliance before starting any work, and confirm parts against the model number on your appliance’s model sticker. Any repair is undertaken at your own risk and Oz Appliance Spares accepts no liability for injury, loss or damage arising from work performed after reading this guide, to the maximum extent permitted by law. If in doubt, use a qualified technician.
