Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cold

There are a few reasons why a refrigerator won’t cool. If you want to spare yourself a little time and burden, give Blair Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair. We’re eager to come out and diagnose the cooling problem and correct it for you.

When your refrigerator is not cold anymore, it’s time to see what the issue might be. Most times it is something as common as a good coil cleaning behind the refrigerator. But, with new fridges, they’re equipped with a variety of sensors too.

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

Is the refrigerator plugged into an electrical outlet? This will seem like it’s a funny question, but we’ve been hired for jobs that this was the reason for the issue. Somehow, it was unplugged. it’s possible a a pet did it, or an electrician while doing a project. Whatever the reason might be, make sure it is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside of the appliance. This is a very common problem for anyone with children in the house. After all, kids like dials and buttons and so, without understanding they are doing something bad, they mess with them. So, check that the thermostat setting isn’t the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

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

Check that 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 cooling fan for several models is right at the bottom of the appliance or in the back part of the freezer section. Often times, homeowner don’t think about cleaning this area of the fridge. But, it is important to keep it clean. And, it builds up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially in houses that have cats and dogs.

So, find a rag and clean the dust out of the refrigerator coils and cooling fan.
This is not suggested for refrigerators that have a back coil system. Once all clean, plug it into the wall and see if the fan spins.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Refrigerator is Not

There are several reasons for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these more common ones to start to take a look at if your freezer is cool but your refrigerator isn’t. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This happens if there’s a malfunction in the defrost heating system. Or if the automatic defrost has a problem. The evaporator fan motor can be another reason.

Every fridge has a pair of evaporator coils. These coils are what cool and the fan circulates the cool air throughout the unit. The damper control assembly working the right way. The temperature control board which transports the electricity to the fan and compressor, this probably is not the problem but it’s worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor might be malfunctioning, which is a little sensor within the unit that tells the temperature. Having one of our technicians inspect it is the best solution but these are some of the most common problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES