I'm Mluleki Ndlovu — electronics technician for 17 years, the last 7 repairing household appliances across Midrand. I come to your home, diagnose the fault, and quote before I touch anything. R650 call-out, deducted from the repair if you go ahead.
All brands · Repaired in your home · 3-month workmanship guarantee
A new fridge costs R8,000 to R25,000. Most of the faults I see in Midrand are fixable for a fraction of that. As a rough guide: if the repair is less than half the price of a comparable new fridge and the unit is under ten years old, repairing usually makes more sense. A burnt relay is R380. A defrost heater is under R1,500. Even a new PCB is R1,800 to R3,500 — still a lot less than replacing the whole unit.
The one fault where replacement starts to make sense is a gas leak on an older unit. I'll tell you straight if yours has crossed that line.
WhatsApp me a photo of the model sticker and tell me what it's doing — I'll give you an honest answer before you commit to a call-out.
These are the five fridge faults I see most in Midrand. If yours sounds like one of them, I've almost certainly fixed it this month.
The relay or overload has burnt out. You hear the compressor try to kick in, fail, and go quiet. One of the most common fridge call-outs and usually one of the cheapest — the part is around R380. Ignore it and the compressor itself burns out, which is R5,500.
WhatsApp about a fridge that clicks →The defrost system has failed. Ice builds up around the evaporator fan and blocks airflow to the fridge compartment. Usually a defrost heater gone open circuit or a faulty bimetal sensor. Common on Defy.
WhatsApp about a warm fridge →The main PCB took a surge when power returned. Samsung, LG and Defy with electronic boards are the worst hit. Board replacement runs R1,800 to R3,500. A R250 fridge guard would have prevented it.
WhatsApp about surge damage →Usually a refrigerant gas leak. The compressor runs constantly because it can't reach temperature. If the unit is under eight years old and the leak is accessible, a regas and seal is worth doing. If it's older, this is the fault where I'll be honest about replacement.
WhatsApp about a fridge not getting cold →A perished door seal or a faulty thermostat. The fridge can't hold temperature, so it runs constantly, ices up, and the food in the back freezes while the front stays warm.
WhatsApp about icing up →Load shedding damages fridges two ways, and both happen at the moment power returns.
When the power comes back, every fridge in the house tries to start at once. The low voltage or spike that comes with it burns the relay and overload. That's a R380 part — but if you keep running the fridge with a burnt relay, the compressor itself burns out, and that's R5,500.
On Samsung, LG and Defy fridges with electronic control boards, the 230V spike fries the main PCB. That's R1,800 to R3,500 depending on the model.
My advice to every client: fit a fridge guard or delay timer. It costs R250 and it waits three minutes after power returns before letting the fridge start. That pause is enough to avoid the spike. Same principle as the surge plug on a washing machine, but designed specifically for compressor appliances.
Borehole water doesn't affect the cooling system itself. But if your fridge has a water dispenser or ice maker — and most Samsung and LG models in the Midrand estates do — the inlet valve and filter scale up the same way a washing machine does. I change a lot of dispenser inlet valves on Samsung and LG fridges in Waterfall and Kyalami for exactly this reason.
If yours is a standard fridge without a water dispenser, borehole isn't a concern.
Vorna Valley
Fridge not cooling, freezer completely iced over. Defrost heater had gone open circuit. Replaced the heater and bimetal sensor, tested the full cycle. R1,450.
Noordwyk
Dead after load shedding — just clicking. Main PCB was burnt along with the relay. Replaced the board, fitted a fridge guard before I left. R2,850.
R650
Call-out
Covers me coming to you and diagnosing the fault. If you accept the quote, the R650 comes off the repair.
Quote first
Before I touch anything
I find the fault, tell you what it needs and what it costs. You decide.
3 months
Workmanship guarantee
On the repair. If something I did fails, I come back and fix it.
On parts — most fridge parts I can source quickly. Some electronic boards take longer depending on the brand, and I'll tell you the lead time when I quote. I use original parts or high-quality equivalents — never cheap generics.
All major fridge brands: KIC, Defy, Samsung, LG, Bosch, Siemens, Whirlpool, Miele, Smeg, Hisense, AEG and Kelvinator.
On volume, KIC comes up most — relay and thermostat issues, but they're usually cheap to fix. Defy is next, mainly defrost system and fan failures. Samsung and LG are the expensive ones — boards after load shedding. The most reliable fridges I see in Midrand are older Kelvinators and older AEGs.
If you're in Waterfall, Carlswald or Kyalami with a built-in or integrated fridge, I repair those too. It's a different job — the unit has to come out of the cabinetry without damaging the surround, the door slider kit needs disconnecting, and it takes longer. I charge R200 extra for the additional labour and risk. The faults themselves are the same.
I'm based in Carlswald and I cover Midrand and the surrounding suburbs.
If you're in one of the estates — Waterfall City, Blue Hills, Kyalami — I need booking in at the gate 24 hours ahead, with my ID and car registration. Send me your gate PIN the night before and I'll be through without losing forty minutes at the boom. I batch estate jobs on Tuesdays and Thursdays for that reason.
Never switch it off and straight back on.
After load shedding, wait at least five minutes before switching back on. After moving a fridge, wait thirty minutes. The compressor needs time for the refrigerant to settle.
Pull it away from the wall.
A fridge pushed flat against the wall overheats the compressor, uses more electricity, and dies early. Leave at least a 10cm gap behind for airflow.
Fit a fridge guard.
R250 against a R5,500 compressor. It delays the restart after a power cut by three minutes — long enough to avoid the surge.
Check the door seal.
Run your hand along the closed door. If you feel cold air escaping, the seal is gone, and the fridge is working twice as hard for half the result.
Tell me the brand, how old it is, and what it's doing. I'll tell you whether it's worth repairing before you commit to a call-out.