Refrigerator Not Cooling: Fix Refrigerator Problems ?

Have you been thinking of changing your refrigerator because it stopped cooling properly? Don’t worry; a few simple troubleshooting techniques might fix it, you might be wondering if it is really possible! It is entirely possible.

We will guide you in understanding a few issues regarding the refrigerators and the techniques associated with it to fix it properly in your place. And, believe us, you won’t need a mechanic for it.

Home appliances are the most used machines, which are used regularly for our daily needs. Using it periodically needs the best handling, though for the lack of time, we almost all the times forget to handle and maintain it properly.

Refrigerator, on the other hand, needs the best care as it serves to keep our food fresh. Let us quickly see what causes the issues with our favorite machine.

There are two types of reasons for which your refrigerator can stop cooling your food.

Wrong handling
Faulty parts

Wrong Handling:

You might get shocked to know that the issues that come into the picture with a refrigerator are caused by us, most of the time. Knowingly or unknowingly, we do not handle our fridge correctly.

1
Door Ajar: Unlike the sensory system of a car’s door open system, a refrigerator doesn’t come with the ‘Door ajar’ warning. We take out our foods and forget to close the door duly.
2
Wrong compartment: A refrigerator cooling system is designed to serve you with compartments to hold a different type of food. Regularly placing the wrong food type in the chambers causes faulty functionalities.
3
Sudden Switching: If you are switching on your fridge, then sudden switch off within 5 seconds would definitely cause damage in your refrigerating system. It similarly damages your fridge at vice versa application.
4
Door opening and closing period: Continuous usage of the fridge requires opening and closing doors. Periodical use might be helpful, but the continuous use of doors for more than 10 times a minute might cause damage to your refrigeration.

Faulty Parts:

Faulty parts are the very common reasons that your fridge might stop working or might not be cooling. Let us see what might go wrong with the pieces.

1
Defective fridge MCB(miniature circuit breaker)
2
Faulty Motor
3
Insufficient current
4
Coolant shortage
5
Faulty thermostat
6
Faulty start capacitor

All these are the major issues, always need you to call a master mechanic or assistance to fix the problems. Your mechanic will probably replace the faulty parts, and your fridge will start working again. But, with our guidance, you possibly be able to fix the issues at the end of the read.

What do you need to fix the issues of your refrigerator?

You need a few things which would help you fix your current issues. You need to have

A socket/ratchet set
Wire Stripper/ Cutter.

These would suffice to open the system and get it back together as it is.

What else?

A little bit of commonsense and understanding the whole system how it is connected would let you get rid of the issues. Generally, opening the system and cleaning the parts or maybe replacing faulty parts would get your fridge working again.

The most important thing is to understand the current issue and where it leads you to or if it can be resolved by yourself. To understand all these, you need to know what are the parts which commonly showcase flaws and where they are inside the body of your refrigerator. But, in some cases, you might have to call a mechanic.

What are the parts that need to be checked and where it is situated inside the fridge?

1
Evaporator Fan: It usually stays inside the walls of the deep freezer.
2
Condenser: It stays inside the back wall of a fridge.
3
Compressor: The compressor stays lower backside of the fridge.
4
Thermostat: It stays just behind the regulatory knob of the inside wall (the position varies with different makers, also it is highly dependable on sensors used presently).
5
Start Capacitor/Run Capacitor: Run Capacitor stays directly connected with the compressor.

Instead of checking everything by opening every part, there is also a shortcut to understanding the current issues or detecting where the problem lies.

Checking the evaporator fan by opening the inside back of the freezer might help you detect the problem. Standard cleaning procedures might get your fridge back to work and cool the storage foods. If the fan is not working, then replacing it might be helpful.

Things to check before replacing the fan:

Replacing the evaporator fan is easy, but a lengthy procedure. So, before opening the rack, you need to make sure you check the other things listed below.

You need to make sure that the refrigerator is plugged in with the power holes.
Checking the thermostat is essential, as it might be at a minimum or turned in the downside. You need to make it turned up. If it is not working, then you need to replace it. Replacing the thermostat is also an easy task.
Check if you hear the compressor sound while the fridge is plugged in with the power.
The vents of your refrigerator must not be blocked from inside storage of boxes of ice cream or frozen foods. The vents should be cleared to circulate the cold air inside.
The vacuum coils must not be clogged, as it helps to clear the gas from inside through compressor.
You need to make sure that there is nothing stuck inside the condenser fan as well.

If all these criteria are good to go ahead with, then follow the below steps to check the evaporator fan by opening it or by replacing the same.

How to replace the fan?

Procedure:

While replacing or checking for the evaporator fan, you need to hear the compressor sound, and if it is clear but mild, then probably the issue lies somewhere else. The issue that your fridge is not cooling, because apparently the vacuum coil is clogged or maybe evaporator fan is broken.

To be sure with the issue, open the refrigerator door, you would get to hear the mild sound gets louder suddenly. You might feel that sound is a vibration noise from the backside wall of the fridge. As the evaporator coil is in the backside of the wall.

Try to locate the vibration if it is from the middle back of the refrigerator, or it is from the upper back of the fridge near the deep freezer. If it is from the down back wall, then you need to replace the vacuum coil. The vacuum coil can be bought from the online site of the brand you are using the refrigerator from.

If the noise and vibration are coming from the upper backside of the wall, then probably your evaporator fan got broken. You need to replace the fan ASAP. You need to buy an evaporator fan of a similar brand of the refrigerator.

Before completing the process, remove all the frozen material from the fridge and switch it off for at least 24 to 48 hours to melt all the ice inside for defrosting it(Keep a few towels handy for leaking water). Turn it back in and check if it is working like before.

Working properly, you might not need anything at all. The issue was staying with defrosting and frosting. If the problem remains with defrosting, kindly call a mechanic.

Step 1:

Remove the Cover:

This is the first step where you can be 100% sure that your evaporator fan got broken. Inspect the exact place of the evaporator fan, and you need to remove the cover of the inside back of the deep freezer.

The back-cover would be probably screwed up with 2 or more screws and 2 or more clips to hold the cover in its due place. Sometimes, the screws are covered with a few plastic caps; pry them out to open with your screwdriver.

Step 2:

Remove the Fan Cover

The fan cover is also to hold the fan in its place; it usually is designed to be there with every other brand. If it is there, then remove the fan cover by unscrewing it.

Step 3:

Unscrew the Fan and remove it:

The evaporator fan is attached with a wire along with the condenser coil inside the wall. Check if it is spinning correctly. If it is turning, then try to detect if there is any noise source. Fan sound and noise source identified? It's time to remove the faulty one.

Step 4:

Replace the broken fan with a new one.

There is a mounting bracket at the backside of the fan, through which it is attached to the wall. Remove the old fan from it and place a new fan there. Unplug the wires that are attached to the ports of the old fan and switch it to the new one.

You are almost done!

You can certainly close the lid with screws, and the reinstallation process would be complete. But issues would be staying there if the condenser fan is not checked along with evaporator fan as both are directly connected and control the circulation of inside cold air.

Step 5:

Replacing The Condenser Fan

To replace the condenser fan, get in the backside of the fridge, push it to create a place so that you can remove the back lid or unscrew it and reach to the condenser fan.

Plug out the refrigerator and extract the back cover. Check if there is any sound that is occurring or getting louder, through which you can detect the exact place where it is coming from. You can also check if the fan is not running, and the compressor is getting heated.

You are getting a positive result on the given criteria; then, it's time to replace the fan.

Note: If you are going to replace the fan, then note that your fan might not be running, and there might be a lot of dust and unclean objects which should be removed. Clear all those and try running the system once again. If the order is working correctly, then there is no need to replace the fan.

In case you are positive that the fan is faulty after all these tests, then it might be bracketed with the wall or hinge. You have to open those before you reach the condenser fan.

Step 6:

Reinstalling the Fan.

Plug out the refrigerator and wait for the condenser to cool down a bit. Cut the wires and note the color of the cables attached to which port. Reinstall the system with the new fans by reattaching the wires.

This is a general issue that has been resolved by yourselves with all these steps mentioned. But we would always suggest you keep check with regular habits of handling a fridge properly. “Wrong Handling” push your fridge to work more to keep the inside temperature intact.

For the extended lasting experience with your refrigerator, proper handling might help your fridge a lot to sustain and serve well.