Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are many reasons for why a refrigerator won’t cool. If you would like to spare yourself some time and burden, give Palmdale Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Palmdale, CA. We are eager to come out and diagnose the cooling problem and repair it for you.

When your refrigerator isn’t cold, it’s time to see what the issue might be. A lot of times it is something as common as a good coil cleaning behind the appliance. But, with latest models of refrigerators, they are equipped with various sensors too.

Before we investigate further, we inspect the most common and easy causes for this issue. Here are a couple of things that we’ve found can lead to a refrigerator not cooling:

Is the cord plugged into an electrical outlet? This might seem like it is a silly question, but we’ve been called out to jobs that this was the issue. For some reason, it was unplugged. Maybe a kid did it, or an electrician while doing a service visit. Whatever the reason may be, be sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a very common problem for families with children in their house. After all, kids like buttons and dials and so, without understanding they’re doing anything wrong, they play with them. So, be sure that the thermostat setting isn’t the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Refrigerator Components to Inspect?

Be sure each of the vents inside of the freezer area aren’t blocked with food or boxes. This is common because frozen vegetables get jammed in the back of the freezer. There might be food in the way back of a freezer unit that has long been forgotten.

Check that the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of all debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and slide it out from the wall. The cooling fan for many models is right at the bottom of the appliance or somewhere in the back of the freezer unit. Many times, customers don’t think to clean this section of the refrigerator. But, it’s very important to clean it. And, it piles up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially in homes that have dogs and cats. So, grab a rag and clean the built-up dust out of the refrigerator coils and fan.

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

The Freezer is Cold but the Refrigerator Isn’t

There are a few more causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these more common ones to take a look at if your freezer is cool but your fridge isn’t. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This happens if there’s a malfunction in the defrost system. Or if the automatic defrost experiences a problem. The evaporator fan motor can be another reason.

Every refrigerator has a pair of evaporator coils. These coils are what gets cold and the fan pushes the cold air around inside the appliance. The damper control assembly is not working correctly. The temperature control board which carries the electricity to the fan and compressor, this probably isn’t the problem but it’s worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be defective, which is a tiny sensor in the appliance that tells the temperature. Having one of our repairmen inspect it is the best option 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