Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are a variety of reasons why a refrigerator won’t cool. If you want to save yourself a little time and burden, give Freedom Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Fontana, CA. We’re happy to come out and diagnose the issue and fix it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold anymore, it is time to determine what the issue could be. Often times it’s something as basic as a good coil cleaning behind the refrigerator. But, with these latest fridges, they are manufactured with various sensors too.

Before we investigate further, we monitor the most typical and common causes for this issue. Here are some of the issues that we’ve found can lead to a refrigerator not cooling:

Is it plugged in? This might seem like a silly question, but we’ve been hired for jobs that this was the issue. For some reason, the refrigerator was not plugged in. Maybe a child or pet unplugged it, or an electrician while doing a project. Whatever the reason might be, make sure it is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside. This is a typical problem for anyone with small children in their house. After all, kids are fascinated with buttons and dials and so, without knowing they are doing something wrong, they play with them. So, be sure that the thermostat temperature isn’t the cause of the warm refrigerator.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

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

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of all debris. To do this, unplug the fridge and pull it out from the kitchen wall. The fan for most models is right at the bottom or somewhere in the back of the freezer portion. Many times, homeowner do not think about cleaning this area of the appliance. But, it’s very important to keep it clean. And, it builds up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially with homes that have dogs and cats. So, grab a clean rag and clean the dust out of the refrigerator coils and cooling fan.

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

The Freezer is Cold but the Fridge Isn’t

There are many causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these obvious ones to take a look at if the freezer is cold but the refrigerator isn’t. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This occurs when there’s a failure in the defrost heating system. Or if the automatic defrost has an issue. The evaporator fan motor is another reason.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These coils are what cool and the fan moves the cool air throughout the unit. The damper control assembly is not working the right way. The temperature control board which transports the electricity to the fan and compressor, this probably isn’t the issue 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 technicians look at it is the best course of action but these are some of the most typical issues.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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