Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cold

There are a lot of reasons why a refrigerator is not cooling. If you would like to save yourself some time and hassle, give Accel Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Auburn, WA. Our repairmen are eager to visit and diagnose the issue and correct it for you.

When your refrigerator is not cold anymore, it’s time to figure out what the issue might be. Often times it is something as common as a routine coil cleaning behind the refrigerator. However, with latest models of refrigerators, they are equipped with a variety of sensors too.

Before we look too deep, we look at the most typical and common reasons for this problem. Here are a couple of of the issues that we have found lead to a refrigerator not cooling:

Is it plugged in? This may seem like a silly question, but we have been called out to appointments that this was the issue. For some reason, the refrigerator was unplugged. Maybe a child or pet did it, or an electrician doing a service visit. Whatever the cause might be, make sure it is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside of the refrigerator. This is a common problem for those with children in their house. After all, kids love dials and buttons and so, without knowing they’re doing anything bad, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat setting is not the cause of the warm refrigerator.

Which Refrigerator Components to Troubleshoot?

Check that the vents in the freezer aren’t blocked with food or boxes. This is very common since sometimes frozen veggies get stuck in the back of the freezer. There might be food in the back of a freezer unit that has been forgotten about.

Be sure the condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of debris. To do this, unplug the fridge and pull it away from the kitchen wall. The cooling fan for most models is just at the bottom or somewhere in the back part of the freezer section. Often times, homeowner don’t think to clean this area of the appliance. But, it’s important to keep it clean. And, it builds up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially with homes that have dogs and cats. So, grab a clean rag and get the dust out of the refrigerator coils and cooling fan.

This is not recommended for refrigerators that have a back coil system. Once all clean, plug it into the outlet and monitor if the cooling fan spins.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge is Not

There are many causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these more common ones to start to take a look at if the freezer is cold but your refrigerator is not. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This occurs if there’s a malfunction in the defrost heating system. Or if the automatic defrost experiences a problem. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every fridge has a pair of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what gets cold and the fan pushes the cool air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly is not working the right way. The temperature control board provides the electricity to the compressor and fan, this probably isn’t the problem but it is worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor could be defective, which is a little sensor inside the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our repairmen look at it is the best solution but these are a few of of the most common problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES