Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are a lot of reasons why a refrigerator will not cool. If you want to spare yourself a little time and inconvenience, give Remedy Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Central California. We are eager to visit and diagnose the issue as well as repair it for you.

When a refrigerator is no longer cold anymore, it’s time to see what the problem is. Often times it is something as common as a routine coil cleaning. However, with new fridges, they’re manufactured with various sensors too.

Before we investigate further, we inspect the most common and easy reasons for this problem. Here are some things that we’ve determined lead to a refrigerator that will not cool:

Is it plugged into an electrical outlet? This might seem like it’s a odd question, but we’ve been called out to jobs that this was the issue. Somehow, the refrigerator was unplugged. it’s possible a child or pet unplugged it, or an electrician during a service visit. Whatever the case might be, be sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside of the refrigerator. This is a very common problem for families with children in the home. After all, children love dials and buttons and so, without understanding they’re doing anything wrong, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat temperature is not the cause of the warm fridge.

Refrigerator Components to Inspect?

Check that each of the vents inside the freezer aren’t blocked with food or boxes. This is common because sometimes bags of frozen vegetables get jammed in the back. There might be food in the way back of a freezer unit that has long been forgotten.

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of debris. To do this, unplug the refrigerator and pull it away from the kitchen wall. The fan for most models is right at the bottom of the appliance or in the back of the freezer portion. Often times, people don’t think about cleaning this section of the appliance. But, it is important to keep it clean. And, it fills up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially with houses that have cats and dogs. So, get a clean rag and get the dust out of the coils and cooling fan.

This is not a suggestion for refrigerators that have the rear coil system. Once everything is clean, plug it back into the outlet and monitor if the cooling fan moves.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge Isn’t

There are many causes for a refrigerator not cooling after these obvious ones to start to check if your freezer is cold but your refrigerator is not. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This happens when there’s a failure in the defrost heating system. Or the automatic defrost experiences a problem. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every refrigerator has a set of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what cool and the fan pushes the cool air throughout the unit. The damper control assembly isn’t working properly. The temperature control board that transports the electricity to the compressor and fan, this probably is not the issue but it’s worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor could be malfunctioning, which is a tiny sensor within the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our repairmen inspect it is the best option but these are a few of of the most typical problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

• Ice Maker Isn’t Working
• How Does a Refrigerator Work?
• Refrigerator is Noisy
• Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working