Why is the refrigerator not cooling?
Spare parts for household appliances
There are several reasons why a refrigerator may not be cooling. It could be due to: dirty condenser coils, poor ventilation, improper installation, defective seals, improper food arrangement, location of the appliance, etc.
Determining the exact reason why your refrigerator is not cooling properly is the first step to solving the problem. Users can fix some of the problems themselves, but others require professional service.
1. Place of placement
The location of your refrigerator also affects its performance. In some cases, improper installation prevents the appliance from maintaining the desired cooling temperature. Make sure there is enough free space around the refrigerator to ensure proper air circulation. Just like the outside temperature, if it is too cold, the appliance will not work properly.
2. The arrangement of food products
Overcrowded appliances have trouble regulating the cooling temperature. The same goes for refrigerators where improperly arranged food items hinder the movement of air inside.
3. Contaminated capacitor windings
Condenser coils help your appliance cool properly. But they can't function properly if they're covered in dust, lint, or food debris. If your refrigerator isn't cooling because of dirty condenser coils, you need to clean them.
4. Blocked ventilation holes
The reason for the inefficient operation of the appliance may be blocked ventilation holes. When they are clogged, cold air is not filtered properly in the refrigerator. This also leads to the inability of the refrigerator to cool properly.
Most models come with at least one fan, usually located on the inside of the unit. It helps keep the condenser coils cool and in turn helps prevent the compressor from overheating. If you notice that the fan has stopped working, then the first thing you can do yourself is let it defrost for 24 hours – a very common problem is when ice blocks the NOfros fan. After that, you can let it start cooling again.
5. Correct leveling of the appliance
This is one of the easiest reasons for the appliance not working properly to fix. Make sure the refrigerator is properly leveled. Each appliance has feet that can be rolled up or down, depending on your needs. If necessary, you can also use shims to help level the refrigerator.
6. Dirty or worn seals
The rubber door seals prevent cold air from escaping or being sucked in from inside the appliance. Over time, they wear out and become dirty. This causes cool air to escape from the appliance. Regularly check the rubber door seals for any defects or signs of wear. In addition, the sealing strips become dirty, often containing food residues and lint.
If air continues to escape from inside the appliance, even after cleaning the seals, and it still cannot cool, then you should contact a licensed appliance repair shop.
7. Incorrectly set temperature control
Ideally, your refrigerator should maintain temperatures between 0°C – 4.4°C, in the refrigerator compartment and -16°C in the freezer compartment, if the appliance has one, to work optimally. The appliance may not cool if the controller is set incorrectly. Sometimes the temperature settings are reset. In most cases, this happens unintentionally when you put food in the appliance.
If this is the cause of your refrigerator malfunction, set the controller to the desired values. The change in temperature settings may not take effect immediately and it may take hours to see the desired results.
8. Damaged circuit board
This is a rather annoying problem because of the importance of the circuit board to the operation of the refrigerator. It controls everything from the temperature to the power supply to individual parts. If after checking for various possible causes and troubleshooting your refrigerator, it still does not cool properly, then the circuit board may be damaged. Keep in mind that replacing it with a new one is not cheap.
If the freezer section of the appliance is cooling but the refrigerator is not, there could be several reasons, including:
- Defective or blocked evaporator fan;
- The valve control may be stuck or in the closed position;
- Defective thermistor that does not read the temperature correctly;
- The temperature board needs replacement;
Among the other causes of such a problem is the lack of freon. If the refrigerator compressor turns on, the reason is more likely not due to a defect in the electrical module. Rather, the freon in the appliance has run out.
In most models of appliances that have separate freezer and refrigerator compartments, the freezer compartment cools down first. When there is a freon leak, the back of older appliances swells and the insulation foam cracks inside and it is obvious at first glance that something is wrong. Modern appliances equipped with No Frost technology do not have such problems, due to their different design. If the freezer functions properly and freezes, but the refrigerator compartment does not maintain the desired temperature, then there is a blockage in the cooling system.
Reasons why the refrigerator is not cooling |
Contaminated capacitor windings |
Blocked ventilation holes |
Damaged circuit board |
Freon leak |
