There are a variety of reasons a refrigerator won’t cool. If you want to save yourself some time and inconvenience, give Express Irvine Appliance Repair a call for refrigerator repair in Irvine, CA. We’re happy to visit and diagnose the problem and repair it for you.

When your refrigerator is no longer cold anymore, it’s time to figure out what the issue might be. Often times it is something as basic as a routine coil cleaning. But, with these modern fridges, they are manufactured with a variety of sensors as well.

Before we look too deep, we monitor the most common and easy reasons for this problem. Here are a few of of the things 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 a odd question, but we’ve been called out to appointments that this was the reason for the issue. Somehow, it was not plugged in. Maybe a child or pet unplugged it, or an electrician while doing a project. Whatever the cause might be, make sure it’s plugged in.

Look at the thermostat inside. This is a typical issue for anyone with small children in the house. After all, children like dials and buttons and so, without knowing they are doing anything wrong, they play with them. So, check that the thermostat setting is not the cause of the warm refrigerator.

Which Refrigerator Components to Inspect?

Be sure the vents in the freezer aren’t blocked with food or boxes. This is very common because sometimes bags of frozen vegetables get jammed in the back of the freezer. There might be food in the very back of a freezer unit that has been forgotten.

Check that the condenser cooling fan is clear and clean of debris. To be sure, unplug the fridge and pull it out from the kitchen wall. The cooling fan for a lot of models is right at the bottom or in the back of the freezer unit. Many times, customers do not think about cleaning this area of the refrigerator. But, it’s very 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 rag and clean the collected dust out of the refrigerator coils and fan.

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

The Freezer is Cold but the Refrigerator is Not

There are a few more reasons 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 malfunction in the defrost heating system. Or the automatic defrost experiences an issue. The evaporator fan motor is another cause.

Every fridge has a set of evaporator coils. These coils are what cool and the fan pushes the cool air throughout the appliance. The damper control assembly isn’t working the right way. The temperature control board that carries the electricity to the fan and compressor, this isn’t likely the problem but it’s worth mentioning.

And, the thermistor could be defective, which is a tiny sensor in the unit that displays the temperature. Having one of our repairmen inspect it is the best course of action 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