Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are many reasons a refrigerator will not cool. If you would like to save yourself a little time and inconvenience, give Yates Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair. Our repairmen are eager to visit and troubleshoot the cooling issue as well as fix it for you.

When your refrigerator is no longer cold, it is time to see what the issue could be. Often times it is something as simple as a good coil cleaning. However, with these modern refrigerators, they are manufactured with a variety of sensors as well.

Before we look too deep, we monitor the most common and common reasons for this problem. Here are a couple of of the things that we have found lead to a refrigerator that will not cool:

Is the cord plugged into an electrical outlet? This might seem like a silly question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the issue. For some reason, the refrigerator was not plugged in. Maybe a a pet unplugged it, or an electrician while doing a service visit. Whatever the cause may be, be sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside of the refrigerator. This is a very typical problem for those with small children in their home. After all, children love buttons and dials and so, without understanding they’re doing something bad, they play with them. So, be sure that the thermostat setting isn’t the cause of the warm fridge.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Inspect?

Check that the vents inside the freezer area aren’t blocked with containers or food. This is common because frozen veggies get jammed in the back of the freezer. There can be food in the back of a freezer that has long been forgotten about.

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of debris. To do this, unplug the refrigerator and slide it away from the wall. The fan for several models is just at the bottom or in the back of the freezer portion. Often times, people don’t think to clean this section of the refrigerator. But, it’s very important to clean it. And, it fills up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially with homes that have dogs and cats. So, get a clean rag and clean the collected 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 wall and see if the fan spins.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Refrigerator Isn’t

There are many reasons for a refrigerator not cooling after these obvious ones to start to take a look at if the freezer is cold but your refrigerator is not. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This occurs because there’s a failure in the defrost system. Or when the automatic defrost experiences a problem. The evaporator fan motor can be another cause.

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

And, the thermistor could be malfunctioning, which is a small sensor in the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our repairmen inspect it is the best solution but these are a few of of the most common problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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