Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cooling

There are many reasons a refrigerator won’t cool. If you would like to spare yourself a little time and burden, give Pride Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair. We are happy to come out and diagnose the cooling problem as well as fix it for you.

When your refrigerator is not cold anymore, it is time to determine what the issue could be. A lot of times it’s something as simple as a good coil cleaning. However, with these latest models of refrigerators, they’re manufactured with a variety of sensors too.

Before we investigate further, we inspect the most common and common causes for this issue. Here are a couple of of the issues that we have determined lead to a refrigerator not cooling:

Is the cord plugged in? This might seem like it’s a silly question, but we have been called out to appointments that this was the reason for the issue. Somehow, it was unplugged. it’s possible a child or pet unplugged it, or an electrician doing a service visit. Whatever the case may be, make sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a typical issue for customers with small children in the home. After all, children like dials and buttons and so, without understanding they are doing something bad, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat setting is not the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

Be sure all of the vents in the freezer area aren’t blocked with food or boxes. This is very common since frozen veggies get stuck in the back of the freezer. There can be food in the way back of a freezer unit that has been forgotten.

Check that the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of all debris. To do this, unplug the fridge and pull it away from the wall. The fan for many models is just at the bottom of the appliance or in the back of the freezer section. Often times, people do not think to clean this section of the fridge. But, it’s very important to keep it clean. And, it piles up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially in homes that have pets. So, grab a clean rag and get the built-up dust out of the coils and cooling fan.

This is not suggested for refrigerators that have a back coil system. Once everything is clean, plug it back into the wall and see if the cooling fan moves.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge is Not

There are a few more reasons for a refrigerator not cooling after these obvious ones to start to check if the freezer is cool but the fridge isn’t. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This occurs if there is a malfunction in the defrost heating system. Or when the automatic defrost has an issue. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every refrigerator has a pair of evaporator coils. These coils are what cool and then the fan circulates the cool air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly working the right way. The temperature control board that carries the electricity to the compressor and fan, this is not likely the issue but it is worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be defective, which is a small sensor in the unit that tells the temperature. Having one of our technicians inspect it is the best course of action but these are some of the most typical problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES