If your refrigerator is warm and not working but your freezer is cold, then something is wrong with one or more of the components in your refrigerator. In this article, we discuss the most common causes and how you can fix them.
The first possible cause of a warm refrigerator is your evaporator coils being frosted over. This is caused by the defrost heater assembly becoming faulty, resulting in ice not melting off the coils, which adversely affects airflow.
To check the coils:
The first component of the defrost system to check is the evaporator fan motor. This component acts to distribute cold air over the evaporator coils and then around the freezer. If the fan stops working, then your refrigerator will not be able to stay cold.
To check the fan:
The next component to check is the damper control assembly, which is responsible for opening and closing to allow the correct amount of cold air into the refrigerator. When it fails to open correctly, your refrigerator will not be able to cool down.
To check it:
Another possible cause of the problem is a faulty thermistor. This component monitors the temperature in the refrigerator and then sends it to the control board. The control board then knows how much power to send to the compressor and evaporator fan so your refrigerator can stay at a cool temperature. When it fails, then your refrigerator will be warm.
To inspect the thermistor, you need to:
This component monitors the temperature of the evaporator coils, and when they drop below their desired temperature, the contacts on the thermostat close so that power can flow to the defrost heater when it is going through a defrost cycle. If the defrost thermostat becomes faulty, then the contacts don’t close and the fridge will ultimately not be able to operate correctly.
To check if the defrost thermostat is operating correctly, you need to:
If you’re still looking for the cause of the problem, the next component to check is the defrost timer. The main function of the defrost timer is to turn the defrost heater on every few hours to ensure frost on the evaporator coils gets melted off. When it stops working, frost might accumulate on the evaporator coils to the point that the refrigerator won’t be able to keep cool.
To check the defrost timer:
This component is responsible for providing voltage to the compressor and the fan motors. When it becomes faulty, it won’t send the required voltage, which means those other components won’t work. The temperature control board is difficult to test to see if it’s faulty; if you’ve checked out all of the other components and your refrigerator still doesn’t work, then replace the temperature control board and see if this solves the problem.
If the temperature control board has been replaced and your refrigerator still won’t cool down, the final component to check is the main control board. If it has become defective, then this could be causing your refrigerator to stay warm even if your freezer is cold. It’s very difficult to test the control board to see if it is faulty, so if you have tried all of the other possible fixes above and it still won’t work, then consider replacing the main control board and seeing if that fixes the problem.
If your Bosch dishwasher is displaying the E15 error code, this usually indicates excess water…
An unbalanced washing machine can lead to excessive noise and vibrations, which can reverberate around…
Gas stoves are great—they work even if you experience a power outage, and they’re widely…
It can be disappointing when the ice maker stops working as it's one of those…
If your Electrolux dryer is displaying the E64 error code, it usually indicates an issue…
An ice maker is one of those extra features that people are often prepared to…
Leave a Comment