Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cooling

There are several reasons for why a refrigerator won’t cool. If you want to spare yourself some time and inconvenience, give Achieve Dearborn Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Dearborn, MI. Our repairmen are eager to visit and diagnose the issue and correct it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold anymore, it is time to see what the problem is. Often times it is something as simple as a good coil cleaning behind the refrigerator. However, with these modern models of refrigerators, they’re manufactured with a variety of sensors too.

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

Is the cord plugged into an electrical outlet? This will seem like a funny question, but we have been called out to jobs that this was the issue. Somehow, it was not plugged in. 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.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a very typical issue for those with children in their home. After all, kids love dials and buttons and so, without knowing they are doing something bad, they mess with them. So, be sure that the thermostat setting isn’t the cause of the warm fridge.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Inspect?

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

Be sure the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of debris. To be sure, unplug the refrigerator and pull it out from the wall. The fan for many models is just at the bottom or somewhere in the back part of the freezer section. Many times, customers don’t think about cleaning this section of the refrigerator. But, it is important to clean it. And, it fills up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially in homes that have pets. So, find a clean rag and get the dust out of the refrigerator coils and fan.

This is not suggested for refrigerators that have a rear coil system. Once all clean, plug it into the outlet and see if the fan spins.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Refrigerator Isn’t

There are many causes for a refrigerator not cooling after these more common ones to take a look at if your freezer is cool but your fridge is not. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This occurs if 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 evaporator coils are what cool and then the fan pushes the cold air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly working properly. The temperature control board which carries the electricity to the compressor and fan, this probably is not the problem but it’s worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor might be malfunctioning, which is a tiny sensor inside the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our repairmen look at it is the best course of action but these are some of the most typical problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES