My Refrigerator Isn’t Cooling Like It Should Be?

Technician Checking Refrigerator With Screwdriver

 

 

My Refrigerator Isn’t Cooling Like It Should Be?

Your refrigerator might cool efficiently, but it is losing its cold through the unsealed doors. That is why, if your refrigerator is not adequately insulated, it can make the refrigerator feel like it is not cooling at all. Sometimes, the issue with cooling a fridge goes a bit deeper than just vents and door seals.

Overloaded refrigerators may not be properly dispersing cooling air, and it is even possible for items inside the refrigerator to clog cold air vents. If boxes of food are blocking a vent, the cold air can get blocked from getting through the refrigerator. Freezer ice accumulation also blocks a vent, decreasing or blocking the cool air that gets to your coolers compartment.

When an air dam cannot open, cold air cannot move from the freezer into the refrigerator compartment, making it warmer. If the air damper cannot shut, or cannot open, then air cooling affects the fridges temperature, whereas the freezer stays at a proper temperature. The fridge can function properly when a malfunctioning air damper is working properly, but the amount of cool air that gets to the fridge might be insufficient.

If your evaporator fan is not working, there is no way for cool air to reach your fridge. Your fridge contains two fans, which are an important part of keeping your appliance running, and if these are not working, it could be a reason why your refrigerator is not getting enough cold air. If this fan is blocked, either side, your refrigerator is not getting enough cold air, and the freezer may freeze over time. If cool air is not reaching certain parts of your refrigerator, take out some items inside your refrigerator, and make sure that the airflow is not blocked, particularly near the vent.

If the vents are blocked, this can hinder airflow and can make your refrigerators temperatures go up. If vents are blocked, the airflow decreases, which causes temperature and humidity problems. If vents are blocked with objects (or broken fans), frost may also collect on top of vents, blocking the cold airflow. If that vent is covered by withering ice, or stored food on both sides, it could severely hamper the fridges ability to circulate cool air and maintain cooling at the cooler end.

Even if everything else in your refrigerator is working properly, if your doors magnetic seal–also called a door gasket–is not working properly, cool air inside the refrigerator could escape. Door gaskets help keep cool air in the interior of the fridge, preventing it from leaking out. Refrigerator door gaskets (the rubber strips that seal your cooler) get dirty, get older, and get dryer.

Under the refrigerator, or behind it, are the coils that cool and condense your refrigerators refrigerant. Then, room-temperature air is passed over the condenser coils, creating a cooler air which is then circulated throughout the freezer and the refrigerator.

The condenser fan is located in the cupboard on the bottom of the refrigerator, next to the compressor and condenser coils (note that refrigerator models that feature coils at the rear, rather than at the bottom, will not include the fan). The condenser fans job is to keep the compressor and coils cool, so if one breaks, your refrigerator starts heating up. If the condenser fan does not work correctly, your refrigerators temperature could go up, and your compressor could get too hot. If the condenser fan motor does not function, you might get a cooler freezer, but not any cooling at all in the freezer.

The condenser fan motor is responsible for cooling the air, and if both the refrigerator and the freezer are not cooling correctly, this is the most likely culprit. Without a working fan, it is easy for your fridge to get too hot and stop cooling. Normally, your fridges condenser fan and compressor, located near the floor in the back of most fridges, turn on when your thermostat calls for extra cooling.

The two crucial parts of your fridge we mentioned before that keeps your air cool are the compressor. The compressor is the part of your fridge that compresses and pumps the vapors from your refrigerant through coils on the outside of the fridge. On the back of the refrigerator/freezer, the fan pushes air through the condenser coils into the compressor, cooling down the coils. Melted ice drips out from inside the freezer, into the drainage pipe, and then out the back of the refrigerator/freezer to the compressor region, where the fan then blasts heat across the condenser coils, which causes that water to vaporize.

The evaporator fan is responsible for pulling cold air out from a different set of coils, which is then circulated through the whole unit – first into the freezer, and then the cooler (or fresh foods section). Every 8-12 hours, a defrost circuit halts cooling activities, so heaters within the rear freezer panel can melt frost that has built up on the evaporator coils, thus making sure that air flows freely through the entire system.

If you hear the compressor running, but the refrigerator is not cooling, it is most likely because of either frost-clogged evaporator coils or an stuck or broken evaporator fan. If your refrigerator is not cooling but the freezer seems to be doing fine, the problem may be the evaporator fan. A faulty fan or compressor, contaminated or clogged condenser coils, or clogging of air vents (or any of those areas) all will impact coolant flow and temperature in the refrigerator/freezer.

When that door is not working properly, it may prevent the cooling air from flowing to the fridge as needed for the temperature to stay right. The Air Inlet Damper controls how much cool air flows from your freezer to the refrigerator. It is not good to fill up your refrigerator with too much food, as the air circulation can get limited.

To schedule refrigerator repairs in Oklahoma City contact Appliance Repair OKC Services by calling 405-378-4566 or visit our website at https://www.okcappliance.com to also our Google business page at https://cutt.ly/YEnc8qk. Call now!

 

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