Why is My Refrigerator Not Cooling?

refrigerator coolant

There are a few reasons why a refrigerator isn’t cooling. If you would like to save yourself a little time and burden, give Action Missouri City Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Missouri City, TX. We are happy to visit and diagnose the issue as well as correct it for you.

When your refrigerator has lost its cold, it’s time to determine what the problem might be. A lot of times it is something as basic as a good coil cleaning. But, with latest refrigerators, they’re manufactured with various sensors too.

Before we investigate further, we look at the most typical and easy causes for this issue. Here are some of the things that we’ve determined lead to a refrigerator that will not cool:

Is it plugged into an outlet? This will seem like it is a odd question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the issue. Somehow, the refrigerator was unplugged. Maybe a child or pet did it, or an electrician while doing a service visit. Whatever the cause may be, make sure the refrigerator is plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a very common issue for customers with children in their house. After all, children love buttons and dials and so, without knowing they are doing something wrong, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat temperature is not the reason for the warm refrigerator.

Which Refrigerator Parts to Inspect?

Check that the vents in the freezer are not blocked with containers or food. This is very common since bags of frozen veggies get jammed in the back. There might be food in the very back of a freezer unit that has been forgotten about.

Check that the refrigerator’s condenser cooling fan is clean and clear of all debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and slide it out from the wall. The cooling fan for a lot of models is right at the bottom of the appliance or somewhere in the back of the freezer portion. Often times, customers do not think about cleaning this section of the refrigerator. But, it is important to clean it. And, it piles up with fuzz and dust quickly, especially in homes that have cats and dogs. So, grab a clean rag and clean the collected dust out of the coils and fan.

This is not a suggestion for refrigerators that have the rear coil system. Once everything is clean, plug it back into the wall and see if the fan moves.

The Freezer Unit is Cold but the Fridge Isn’t

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

Every refrigerator has a set of evaporator coils. These evaporator coils are what cool and then the fan moves the cool air around inside the appliance. The damper control assembly isn’t working properly. The temperature control board that provides the electricity to the fan and compressor, this probably is not the problem but it’s worth troubleshooting.

And, the thermistor could be malfunctioning, which is a small sensor inside the appliance that tells 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