Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are many reasons a refrigerator will not cool. If you would like to save yourself a little time and inconvenience, give Donaldson Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Texas. Our repairmen are happy to come out and troubleshoot the issue and repair it for you.

When a refrigerator isn’t cold, it’s time to see what the issue is. Often times it is something as basic as a routine coil cleaning behind the refrigerator. But, with these latest models of refrigerators, they’re manufactured with various sensors as well.

Before we investigate further, we inspect the most common and simple causes for this issue. Here are some issues that we have found lead to a refrigerator not cooling:

Is the cord plugged into an outlet? This might seem like it’s a odd question, but we’ve been called out to jobs that this was the reason for the problem. For some reason, the refrigerator was not plugged in. it’s possible a a pet unplugged it, or an electrician during a service visit. Whatever the case might be, make sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Check the thermostat inside. This is a common problem for customers with children in their home. After all, kids like buttons and dials and so, without knowing they’re doing something wrong, they mess with them. So, check that the thermostat temperature isn’t the reason for the warm fridge.

Refrigerator Components to Troubleshoot?

Check that all of the vents in the freezer are not blocked with food or containers. This is common since sometimes bags of frozen vegetables get stuck in the back. There could be food in the back of a freezer that has long been forgotten about.

Be sure the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of all debris. To check this, unplug the refrigerator and slide it away from the kitchen wall. The cooling fan for many models is just at the bottom of the appliance or in the back of the freezer section. Many times, homeowner do not think to clean this section of the appliance. But, it’s important to clean it. And, it builds up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially with houses that have dogs and cats. So, find a rag and clean the collected dust out of the refrigerator coils and cooling fan.

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

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge is Not

There are a few more causes for a refrigerator not cooling after these obvious ones to start to check if your freezer is cool but the fridge isn’t. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This happens because there is a failure in the defrost heating system. Or if the automatic defrost has an issue. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what gets cold and the fan circulates the cool air around inside the appliance. The damper control assembly working properly. The temperature control board that provides the electricity to the compressor and fan, this probably is not the issue but it is worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be malfunctioning, which is a little sensor in the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our technicians inspect it is the best option 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
• Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working