What could be wrong if you have power to your refrigerator and freezer but nothing is cooling?

Answer 1

Can you tell if the compressor is running? If it is, is the fan motor in the freezer running? Door switch may have to be pushed in, in order to find out. Is there a fan motor on the bottom of the refrigerator? If so, is it running? Is the thermostat turned up high enough to bring on compressor? Is there an air damper? May look like the thermostat. It should say something like colder freezer or colder refrigerator and have numbers or letters on it. Try setting it mid ways. Also set the thermostat to a higher number. Is the light on in the refrigerator? This will tell you if you have power to the refrigerator and not just to the plug in. If the compressor is not running and the thermostat is turned up, try locating the defrost thermostat. On most GE's and Hotpoint's they are located on the bottom front of the refrigerator. On other brands, they can be located with the thermostat and air damper. Some are on the back. Look for a small round dial on the timer if you can find it. The timer is probably about two and a half inches wide, about three or three and a half inches tall and about two inches deep. There should be a plug on it with about four wires on it. Don't touch the wiring or anything that may shock you. If you locate the timer, take a flat screwdriver and insert in t in the small dial. (about 3/8 of an inch in diameter) Turn the dial slightly, if you hear a distinct click and hear the compressor, the timer probably needs to be replaced. Also, if the back inside of the freezer or possibly the bottom of the inside of the freezer has a heavy frost or ice buildup, you probably have a defrost problem. By turning the defrost timer dial until you hear a distinct click and the compressor shuts off you have successfully put the refrigerator into the defrost mode. Wait twenty or thirty minutes. It may click back into regular cooling mode bu itself, if not turn the dial slightly and the compressor should come back on. If the freezer is frosted up and you do turn the timer dial until it clicks and if the compressor shout off, you should hear a sort of sizzling noise after a minute or two. This is the frost melting inside the freezer. If you don't hear the sizzling, the defrost thermostat or defrost heater, both located in the evaporator coil section of the freezer, may be faulty and you should get a professional to look at it for you. These are normally very reasonable to replace. As a retired service tech. I couldn't agree more with the answer except to add check the condenser to see if it is clogged and the condenser fan is turning.