Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are a variety of reasons why a refrigerator will not cool. If you want to spare yourself a little time and inconvenience, give Payne Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Michigan. We’re eager to come out and diagnose the issue and fix it for you.

When your refrigerator isn’t cold, it’s time to figure out what the problem could be. A lot of times it is something as common as a good coil cleaning behind the refrigerator. But, with modern models of refrigerators, they are manufactured with a variety of sensors as well.

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

Is the refrigerator plugged into an electrical outlet? This may seem like it’s a silly question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the problem. For some reason, it was not plugged in. Maybe a child or pet unplugged it, or an electrician during a service visit. Whatever the reason may be, be sure it is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside. This is a very typical problem for anyone with small children in their home. After all, kids love buttons and dials and so, without understanding they are doing something bad, they mess with them. So, check that the thermostat setting is not the cause of the warm fridge.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

Be sure all of the vents in the freezer area aren’t blocked with containers or food. This is common since bags of frozen vegetables get stuck in the back. There might be food in the way back of a freezer unit that has been forgotten.

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of debris. To do this, unplug the fridge and slide it away from the kitchen wall. The cooling fan for a lot of models is just at the bottom or in the back part of the freezer section. Often times, people don’t think about cleaning this section of the appliance. But, it’s very important to clean it. And, it builds up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially in homes that have cats and dogs. So, get a clean rag and get the 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 notice if the cooling fan spins.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge is Not

There are a few more reasons for a refrigerator not cooling after these more common ones to start to check if the freezer is cool but your refrigerator isn’t. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This occurs if there is a malfunction in the defrost system. Or if the automatic defrost has an issue. The evaporator fan motor can be another cause.

Every fridge has a pair of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what gets cold and then the fan circulates the cool air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly isn’t working correctly. The temperature control board provides the electricity to the fan and compressor, this probably isn’t the issue but it is worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor might be malfunctioning, which is a small sensor within the appliance that tells the temperature. Having one of our repairmen look at it is the best solution 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