Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are many reasons for why a refrigerator will not cool. If you want to save yourself a little time and burden, give Appleton Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Appleton, WI. We are eager to visit and troubleshoot the issue as well as fix it for you.

When your refrigerator isn’t cold anymore, it’s time to see what the issue might be. Often times it’s something as simple as a routine coil cleaning behind the appliance. However, with these modern fridges, they are equipped with various sensors as well.

Before we investigate further, we look at the most common and easy reasons for this issue. Here are a few of of the issues that we’ve found can lead to a refrigerator that won’t cool:

Is the cord plugged into an electrical outlet? This will seem like it is a silly question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the reason for the problem. Somehow, it was not plugged in. Maybe a a pet unplugged it, or an electrician while doing a service visit. Whatever the reason might be, be sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside. This is a common issue for anyone with small children in the house. After all, children like buttons and dials and so, without understanding they’re doing something wrong, they play with them. So, be sure that the thermostat setting is not the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

Check that each of the vents inside the freezer area aren’t blocked with boxes or food. This is very common because frozen vegetables get jammed in the back of the freezer. There could be food in the very back of a freezer unit that has been forgotten about.

Be sure the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and pull it away from the wall. The cooling fan for a lot of models is just at the bottom of the appliance or somewhere in the back part of the freezer portion. Many times, customers don’t think to clean this section of the appliance. But, it’s important to keep it clean. And, it fills up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially in homes that have cats and dogs. So, get a clean rag and clean the built-up dust out of the refrigerator coils and cooling fan.

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

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Refrigerator Isn’t

There are several causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these obvious ones to take a look at if your freezer is cold but the refrigerator isn’t. The evaporator coils are frosted over. This occurs if there’s a failure in the defrost heating system. Or when the automatic defrost experiences a problem. The evaporator fan motor can be another reason.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what gets cold and the fan pushes the cold air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly working the right way. The temperature control board provides the electricity to the compressor and fan, this is not likely the problem but it’s worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be malfunctioning, which is a small sensor within the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our technicians look at it is the best solution but these are some of the most typical problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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