Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cold

There are several reasons why a refrigerator is not cooling. If you would like to spare yourself some time and inconvenience, give Federal Way Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Federal Way, WA. Our repairmen are happy to come out and troubleshoot the cooling problem and repair it for you.

When your refrigerator isn’t cold, it is time to determine what the issue could be. Most times it’s something as common as a routine coil cleaning behind the appliance. However, with these new fridges, they’re manufactured with various sensors as well.

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

Is the refrigerator plugged into an outlet? This may seem like a silly question, but we have been hired for appointments that this was the reason for the problem. Somehow, the refrigerator was unplugged. it’s possible a a pet unplugged it, or an electrician during a project. Whatever the case might be, make sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside of the appliance. This is a very common issue for anyone with small children in their home. After all, children like dials and buttons and so, without knowing they’re doing something bad, they mess with them. So, be sure that the thermostat setting is not the cause of the warm refrigerator.

Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

Be sure the vents in the freezer area aren’t blocked with containers or food. This is very common because frozen veggies get stuck in the back. There might be food in the way back of a freezer unit that has long been forgotten about.

Be sure the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of all debris. To be sure, unplug the refrigerator and slide it away from the wall. The fan for a lot of models is just at the bottom of the appliance or somewhere in the back part of the freezer unit. A lot of times, homeowner don’t think about cleaning this section of the fridge. But, it is important to keep it clean. And, it clogs up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially with houses that have cats and dogs. So, find a rag and clean the dust out of the refrigerator coils and cooling fan.

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

The Freezer is Cold but the Refrigerator is Not

There are a few more reasons for a refrigerator not cooling after these more common ones to take a look at if the freezer is cold but your fridge is not. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This happens if there is a malfunction in the defrost heating system. Or the automatic defrost has a problem. The evaporator fan motor can be another cause.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what cool and the fan circulates the cool air throughout the unit. The damper control assembly is not working correctly. The temperature control board that provides the electricity to the fan and compressor, this is not likely the issue but it’s worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor could be malfunctioning, which is a small sensor in the unit that tells the temperature. Having one of our repairmen look at it is the best option but these are some of the most typical problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES