550 Model · 500 Series
Sub-Zero 550 Bottom-Freezer
The Sub-Zero 550 is a 36-inch 500 Series built-in: one refrigerator door over a roll-out freezer drawer, with both lit dials on the refrigerator back wall. It shows no codes, so a fault is traced through temperatures, the machinery behind the grille and the freezer defrost timer. Sub-Zero Repair Redmond, (425) 905-2822.
Identify it
- One refrigerator door over a roll-out freezer drawer, 36 inches across; the 511 has the same layout at 30 inches.
- Two lit dials together at the top of the refrigerator back wall, and no display.
- A cam on the refrigerator door that stops it at roughly 120 degrees and draws it shut over the last stretch of travel.
- 550 on the plate inside the refrigerator door.
- Rough opening
- 35 1/2 in. wide, 83 3/4 in. high
- Door panel
- 34 1/8 × 48 1/16 in.
- Drawer panel
- 34 1/8 × 18 3/8 in.
- Door clearance
- 36 1/16 in. at 90°
- Dials
- Refrigerator back wall: refrigerator right, freezer left
- Tag
- Inside the refrigerator door, top hinge
Both dials on one wall
Open the refrigerator door and look up at the back wall: the 550 carries its two dials side by side near the top, the refrigerator on the right and the freezer on the left. That puts the freezer setting where it is easy to turn by mistake while reaching for the top shelf, so it is read before any part is suspected.
Tracing a fault on a 550
The drawer. The freezer drawer rides on rollers with a built-in incline that lets gravity close it. A drawer that stops a little short leaks cold air all day, and the freezer runs warm and frosts up without anything having failed.
The defrost timer. The refrigerator section defrosts in each off cycle of its compressor, but the freezer depends on a timer. When the freezer coil is packed with ice and airflow dies, the timer and then the defrost element are tested before anything else.
The grille. The condenser and the single fan that cools the compressor area sit behind the top grille, which comes off with one centre screw and a pair of springs. A blocked coil or a stalled fan warms both compartments together.
The door. Sub-Zero excludes the 550 from the Allen-screw hinge adjustment it describes for the other 500 models, so a sagging door on this model is not set with those screws, and the closing cam is checked along with the hinge.
Asked on the phone
- Why did the 550 stop making ice?
- On a 550 the ice maker switches off whenever its container is lifted out of the freezer basket and resumes once the container is back. Check that first, then the water shut-off. Past that, Sub-Zero Repair Redmond, (425) 905-2822, traces it from the valve.
A 550 that needs a technician?
Sub-Zero Repair Redmond · $89 service call, deducted once the repair goes ahead · on site 0800 to 2000 hrs, all seven days
- Checked by
- Dean Halvorsen
- Bench
- sealed systems and airflow
- Trade
- 19 yrs
- Card
- EPA 608 certified
- Revised
