Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are a variety of reasons why a refrigerator isn’t cooling. If you want to spare yourself a little time and hassle, give Renew Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Bowie, MD. We’re eager to visit and troubleshoot the cooling problem and correct it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold, it is time to determine what the problem could be. Often times it’s something as simple as a routine coil cleaning. But, with these modern fridges, they are equipped with various sensors too.

Before we look too deep, we inspect the most typical and common reasons for this issue. Here are some of the things that we’ve found lead to a refrigerator that will not cool:

Is it plugged in? This may seem like a odd question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the problem. For some reason, the refrigerator was unplugged. it’s possible a kid did it, or an electrician during a service visit. Whatever the reason might be, be sure it’s plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside of the refrigerator. This is a typical problem for those with small children in their house. After all, children are fascinated with dials and buttons and so, without knowing they’re doing anything bad, they mess with them. So, be sure that the thermostat temperature is not the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

Check that each of the vents inside the freezer are not blocked with food or boxes. This is common since sometimes frozen vegetables get stuck in the back. There could be food in the very 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 out from the kitchen wall. The fan for a lot of models is right at the bottom or in the back part of the freezer section. Often times, people don’t think about cleaning this section of the fridge. But, it is very important to keep it clean. And, it builds up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially with homes that have dogs and cats. So, find a clean rag and clean the collected dust out of the coils and cooling fan.

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

The Freezer is Cold but the Refrigerator is Not

There are many reasons for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these obvious ones to take a look at if your freezer is cool but your refrigerator isn’t. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This occurs when there’s a malfunction in the defrost system. Or the automatic defrost has an issue. The evaporator fan motor can be another cause.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what gets cold and the fan circulates the cold air throughout the appliance. The damper control assembly working correctly. The temperature control board transports the electricity to the compressor and fan, this is not likely the problem but it’s worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be defective, 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 some of the most common issues.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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