Fridge compartment is not cooling down to set temperature

First some fridge 101, the refrigerator/freezer models cool by directly refrigerating the freezer section and the refrigerator section is cooled when "some" of the cold air from the freezer is directed over to the refrigerator side (typically by a fan) to keep food fresh and not frozen a temperature controlling damper opens and closes to regulate the temperature of the fridge by introducing more or below freezing air into the cabinet. In older models where the freezer was on top the air simply "gravity" drained into the refrigerator cabinet, if the food was too cold you turned the fridge knob up and less air sank from the freezer to the fridge, simple but effective.

When you adjust the temperature level it controls the freezer temperature and this turns the compressor on and off to keep the food frozen. There is typically a knob or lever and some even have electric dampers that open and close to direct more or less air from the freezer and direct it to the refrigerator cabinet based on your temperature requirements.

Now that you know how it works there are a couple things to check. If the condenser coil is plugged with dust the internal system pressure will rise and in some cases make the fridge an over achiever and can chill too much so check/clean the condenser coil. Check the freezer temperature control and turn in up, also make sure the fridge temperature control setting is not set too cold.

Finally as the temperature changes around the refrigerator it will have an effect on the inside of the fridge too so expect to turn it up and down as the environment changes, down in the summer and up in the winter.

Hope the novel helps to resolve your issues.

1-The condenser coils are usually located under the refrigerator. They dissipate heat as refrigerant passes through them. If the condenser coils are dirty, they won't dissipate the heat effectively. As debris builds up on the coils, the refrigerator becomes less efficient, causing the refrigerator to work harder to cool down. If the coils are significantly dirty, the refrigerator will not be able to maintain the proper temperature. Check the condenser coils to determine if they are dirty-if the condenser coils are dirty, clean them.
2-The evaporator fan motor draws air over the evaporator (cooling) coils and circulates it throughout the refrigerator and freezer compartments. Some refrigerators have more than one evaporator fan motor. On refrigerators with only one evaporator, the evaporator is located in the freezer compartment. If the evaporator fan is not working, it will not circulate the cold air to the refrigerator compartment. If this occurs, the freezer may still get cold, while the refrigerator will not get cold. To determine if the evaporator fan motor is defective, try turning the fan blade by hand. If the fan blade does not turn freely, replace the fan motor. Additionally, if the motor is unusually noisy, replace it. Finally, if the motor does not run at all, use a multimeter to test the motor windings for continuity. If the windings do not have continuity, replace the evaporator fan motor.

Hi,

Check out these tips...they can help you figure out what is going wrong withyour refrigerator and why it is not cooling

Refrigeratornot Cooling or Fridge not Cooling

How to Defrost Refrigerator DefrostTimer Problem

WaterRunning in refrigerator from Freezer

Refrigeratoror Freezer not Cooling or Getting Cold
heatman101

If freezer compartment is cold and fan is working, do a 12 hour defrost and all should be ok.

If you are not capable to do that much better to call service Engineer to avoid big damage of your Freezer.

I can find only one good reason why your refrigerator may not be cooling. There is a control board inside the fresh food compartment and no signs of a defrost timer. If there is someone that go through some test to eliminate other possible problems would be good. If the refrigerator is still running, unplug and open the freezer compartment. Remove the back panel so we can have a look at the evaporator coils. Clean or are they frozen with a large piece of ice? Let me know, Thanks Sea Breeze

check damper control

Top mount refrigerator installed in a garage and the food in the freezer is defrosting when
the temperature in the garage goes below 55 degrees fahrenheit.
On top mount refrigerators you cycle the compressor and fan/fans from the food
compartment temperature. When the room temperature gets colder than 55 F, you have
long off times waiting for the food compartment to warm enough to trip the cold control.
This long off time is allowing the freezer temperature to get high enough that food can start
to defrost.
There is a kit for refrigerators installed in applications where the temperature can go as low
as 34 F and still maintain good freezer temperatures. The kit part number is 5303918301
and it contains a heater that mounts in the control box and an instruction sheet advising
how to install the heater.
Kit 5303918301 contains:
Part # 5303950194 Instruction sheet
Part # 241532101 Heater

Re. Zanussi ZK87/46EFS Fridge Freezer

The same symptom occurred in our fridge freezer. The fridge compartment warmed up whilst the freezer compartment continued to keep temperature.

The cause of our problem was diagnosed as a frozen sensor that controls a flap, that controls the flow of cold air from the freezer compartment up into the fridge compartment. We were advised to power off the fridge freezer (removing all food and trays from the freezer unit first), and to leave it to defrost for 24hrs. We needed to place a few towels on the floor of the freezer compartment to soak up the melt water. After 24hrs we followed the power up instructions in the manual (versions are available online if you have lost yours). Within a few minutes it was obvious that the fridge compartment was being cooled – Problem solved :)

I've had this happen to my Kenmore 73503 several times. The 1st time took me a few hours to figure out what the problem was.

Basically the fridge is cooled from the freezer, so when you say your freezer is -2 degrees, it's a big tip off to the problem.

If you look very close in the freezer compartment at the back, you'll notice an opening with a little door at the top of the freezer compartment. This opening extends up the inside of the back of the fridge to the top of the fridge area via a square plastic tube.

Basically what happens in my fridge is the family loads the freezer to high especially at the top/back. This restricts or closes off the opening for the cold air to the fridge portion of the appliance ....resulting in a warm fridge, but cold freezer. Just remove the articles at the back of the freezer to correct problem. (It will take a few hours for the cold air to cool the fridge down)

Note: the temperature control unit in the fridge area controls the little door at the top of the freezer compartment, so if you haven't blocked off the opening, the next place to look would be either at the mechanical parts of the little door or the temperature control unit itself in the fridge