Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are a lot of reasons why a refrigerator isn’t cooling. If you want to spare yourself a little time and burden, give Hi-Tech Midlothian Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Midlothian, VA. We are eager to come out and troubleshoot the problem as well as correct it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold, it is time to determine what the problem is. A lot of times it’s something as basic as a good coil cleaning behind the appliance. But, with latest refrigerators, they’re manufactured with a variety of sensors too.

Before we look too deep, we monitor the most typical and easy causes for this problem. Here are a few of of the things that we’ve found can lead to a refrigerator that will not cool:

Is it plugged into an outlet? This might seem like a odd question, but we’ve been hired for appointments that this was the problem. For some reason, it was unplugged. Maybe a a pet did it, or an electrician during a service visit. Whatever the cause might be, be sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside of the refrigerator. This is a very typical issue for those with small children in the home. After all, children love dials and buttons and so, without knowing they are doing anything wrong, they mess with them. So, check that the thermostat temperature isn’t the reason for the warm fridge.

Refrigerator Parts to Inspect?

Be sure each of the vents in the freezer area are not blocked with food or containers. This is common since bags of frozen vegetables get pushed in the back of the freezer. There might be food in the way back of a freezer that has long been forgotten about.

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of all debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and pull it away from the wall. The cooling fan for most models is just at the bottom or in the back part of the freezer portion. Often times, people don’t think to clean this section of the refrigerator. But, it’s important to keep it clean. And, it piles up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially in homes that have pets. So, find a rag and clean the collected dust out of the refrigerator coils and fan.

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

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Refrigerator is Not

There are several causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these more common ones to start to take a look at if the freezer is cold but your fridge isn’t. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This happens when there’s a failure in the defrost system. Or the automatic defrost experiences an issue. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every refrigerator has a pair of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what gets cold and the fan circulates the cold air around inside the appliance. The damper control assembly working the right way. The temperature control board that transports the electricity to the fan and compressor, this probably isn’t the problem but it’s worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor might be defective, which is a little sensor inside the appliance that tells the temperature. Having one of our repairmen inspect it is the best course of action but these are a few of 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