Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

There are a lot of reasons a refrigerator isn’t cooling. If you would like to spare yourself some time and hassle, give Mason Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Fort Lee, NJ. Our technicians are happy to come out and troubleshoot the issue and repair it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold anymore, it is time to see what the problem might be. Often times it’s something as common as a routine coil cleaning. But, with these latest models of refrigerators, they’re equipped with a variety of sensors as well.

Before we investigate further, we inspect the most common and simple causes for this issue. Here are some of the things that we’ve determined lead to a refrigerator that won’t cool:

Is the refrigerator plugged in? This might seem like it is a silly question, but we have been called out to appointments that this was the reason for the issue. For some reason, the refrigerator was unplugged. it’s possible a child or pet unplugged it, or an electrician during a project. Whatever the reason might be, make sure it is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a very common problem for customers with small children in their house. After all, kids are fascinated with buttons and dials and so, without understanding they’re doing anything wrong, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat setting isn’t the cause of the warm fridge.

Which Refrigerator Components to Inspect?

Be sure the vents inside the freezer are not blocked with food or containers. This is very common because bags of frozen vegetables get jammed in the back. There could be food in the very back of a freezer unit that has long been forgotten.

Be sure the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and pull it out from the wall. The fan for many models is just at the bottom or in the back of the freezer section. A lot of times, people don’t think about cleaning this section of the refrigerator. But, it is very important to keep it clean. And, it piles up with dust and fuzz quickly, especially with homes that have cats and dogs. So, find a rag and clean the collected dust out of the refrigerator coils and fan.

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

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge is Not

There are several causes for a refrigerator that won’t cool after these obvious ones to start to check if the freezer is cool but your refrigerator is not. The evaporator coils have frost on them. This happens when there’s a malfunction in the defrost system. Or if the automatic defrost has a problem. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every fridge has a pair of evaporator coils. These coils are what cool and the fan moves the cold air throughout the appliance. The damper control assembly isn’t working correctly. The temperature control board that provides the electricity to the compressor and fan, this probably is not the issue but it is worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor might be defective, which is a tiny sensor within the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our technicians look at it is the best option but these are some of the most common problems.

ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES

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