Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cold

There are a lot of reasons for why a refrigerator will not cool. If you would like to save yourself a little time and burden, give G&C Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Encino, CA. Find our phone number at this link. We are eager to come out and troubleshoot the cooling problem as well as fix it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold, 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 new refrigerators, they are equipped with a variety of sensors as well.

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

Is the refrigerator plugged into an outlet? This may seem like it is 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 a pet unplugged it, or an electrician doing a project. Whatever the case may be, make sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside of the unit. This is a very common problem for those with small children in the house. After all, children love dials and buttons and so, without knowing they’re doing anything wrong, they mess with them. So, be sure that the thermostat temperature isn’t the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Refrigerator Parts to Inspect?

Be sure the vents inside of the freezer aren’t blocked with boxes or food. This is very common because frozen vegetables get pushed 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 debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and slide it away from the kitchen wall. The cooling fan for a lot of models is right at the bottom of the appliance or somewhere in the back part of the freezer portion. Often times, people don’t think about cleaning this section of the refrigerator. But, it’s important to clean it. And, it builds up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially in homes that have dogs and cats. So, get a clean rag and get the dust out of the coils and cooling fan.

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

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge is Not

There are several causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these obvious ones to check if your freezer is cold but the refrigerator is not. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This happens because there is a malfunction in the defrost system. Or when the automatic defrost has a problem. The evaporator fan motor can be another reason.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These coils are what cool and then the fan moves the cool air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly is not working the right way. The temperature control board that transports the electricity to the compressor and fan, this isn’t likely the issue but it is worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor might be malfunctioning, which is a tiny sensor inside the unit that tells 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 (information)