Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator not cooling

There are many reasons a refrigerator is not cooling. If you would like to spare yourself a little time and burden, give Five Star Yakima Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Yakima, WA. We are eager to come out and diagnose the cooling problem and correct it for you.

When a refrigerator isn’t cold, it is time to figure out what the problem is. A lot of times it is something as basic as a routine coil cleaning. But, with these new fridges, they’re equipped with various sensors as well.

Before we investigate further, we look at the most typical and common reasons for this problem. Here are a couple of things that we have found can lead to a refrigerator not cooling:

Is it plugged in? This will seem like it’s a silly question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the reason for the issue. For some reason, it was not plugged in. Maybe a child or pet did it, or an electrician doing a project. Whatever the case might be, be sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a very common issue for families with children in the home. After all, kids are fascinated with dials and buttons and so, without knowing they are doing something wrong, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat temperature isn’t the reason for the warm fridge.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Troubleshoot?

Check that each of the vents in the freezer are not blocked with boxes or food. This is very common since sometimes frozen vegetables get pushed in the back. There might be food in the back of a freezer unit that has long been forgotten about.

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of all debris. To be sure, unplug the refrigerator and pull it away from the kitchen wall. The fan for most models is right at the bottom of the appliance or in the back of the freezer section. Often times, customers do not think about cleaning this area of the fridge. But, it is important to keep it clean. And, it builds up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially with houses that have dogs and cats. So, get a clean rag and clean 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 fan moves.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Refrigerator Isn’t

There are many reasons for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these more common ones to check if your freezer is cool but your refrigerator is not. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This happens when there’s a failure in the defrost heating system. Or the automatic defrost has an issue. The evaporator fan motor is another reason.

Every fridge has a pair of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what cool and then the fan pushes the cold air around inside the unit. The damper control assembly working the right way. The temperature control board that provides the electricity to the compressor and fan, this probably isn’t the problem but it’s worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be defective, which is a small sensor in the unit that tells the temperature. Having one of our technicians inspect it is the best course of action but these are some of the most typical problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES