I’ve had my Hotpoint refrigerator for a while. And I’ve done a few repairs on fridges I’ve had over the years. Recently, I had some issues with my Hotpoint fridge so today I thought I’d share how to fix a Hotpoint refrigerator that isn’t working.
Generally, this is caused by the temperature control dial being in the off position, the fridge is unplugged, turned off at the outlet, the circuit breaker to the fridge has switched into the off position. Or, it’s doing a defrost cycle and you need to give it 30 minutes to resume normal operation.
To get it working again it’s a matter of performing each of these steps until it begins working again. Below, I will explain how to perform each of these troubleshooting steps.
Hotpoint Refrigerator Not Working
During normal operation of your Hotpoint fridge, you’ll be able to feel cool air inside the fridge. You’ll also regularly hear it humming on and off. When you have none of these and it’s not working here’s what to do:
Begin by checking that the fridge is getting power at the wall outlet, as well as the circuit breaker at the fusebox. Next you should check that the temperature dial set is not in the off position. Finally, it can be temporarily in a defrost cycle and will start operating as normal after 30 minutes.
Finally, if you get to the end of each of these steps then you should have a repair technician take a look at it. Each of these steps is easy to do and you don’t need any special experience to do them.
Here’s step by step instructions for each of these steps:
Step 1: Fridge is not getting power at the wall outlet
The simplest check to start with is that it’s plugged in at the wall. And if the wall outlet has a switch that can turn it on and off then ensure it’s in the on position. It’s also a good idea to check that the wall outlet is working by trying another device.
The easiest is normally a phone charger as they’re easy to move around and virtually everyone has one one. But, other good options are a lamp or other small electrical appliance.
You may also be using a multiway adapter that plugs into the wall outlet and then you can plug the fridge and a few other electrical devices/appliances into it. These generally have a reset button that you press in to reset it. If you’re using one of these it’s a good idea to plug the fridge directly into the wall outlet to see if the multiway adapter is causing the issue.
If you’re using an extension cord as well, use a different extension cord and plug the fridge directly into the wall outlet to see if the extension cord is causing your Hotpoint fridge to not receive any power.
Step 2: The circuit breaker has clicked off at the fusebox
As you may know, every house has a fusebox that has circuit breakers that control power to the different parts of a home. They are there to protect appliances if there is a power surge. Rather than the power surge blowing the appliances the circuit breaker will switch into the off position.
This can also happen if you draw too much power from one part of the home. For example, if you plug in too many appliances into one outlet.
Some older electrical wiring systems have replaceable fuses that will burn out when there is a power surge. And rather than turning them back on they need to be replaced.
Step 3: The temperature dial is in the off position
There is a temperature dial for Hotpoint fridges that is turned up or down. A coin or similar sized object is needed to turn the dial. You play a coin in the middle of the dial and use it to turn it. It goes from 1 to 9. With 1 being the warmest and 9 being the coolest.
This is generally only an issue for new fridge installs. And if your Hotpoint fridge was working before it stopped working then this is likely not the cause. But, it’s worth checking just to make sure.
Step 4: Room temperature is too hot
During warmer weather the fridge needs to work harder to cool the air. And a lower setting may not cool it enough for your fridge to be cool. It can also be the case that your Hotpoint fridge now regularly gets direct sunlight due to a change in the seasons. This can significantly affect the air temperature around the fridge.
Once the temperature dial is set to a colder setting you need to allow 24 hours for the change to take effect. As it takes some time for the temperature to equilibrate inside the fridge.
Step 5: It’s in a defrost cycle
Fridges have what’s called an evaporator coil. Over time ice builds up on it, and a Hotpoint fridge will do a defrost cycle. This temporarily heats the evaporator coil and melts the ice or frost that is accumulated on it.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on September 30, 2021.
During this time the fridge will not be cooling. Wait 30 minutes and it will resume normal operation.
Hotpoint Fridge Not Turning On
When you first get a new Hotpoint fridge, or all of sudden it can not power on when you open the door the light won’t come on. And you won’t hear any noise from the normal operation of your fridge. This is caused for one of the following reasons which you should check to get it to start working.
The fridge isn’t getting power from the wall outlet. This is caused due to the circuit breaker at the switchboard having been triggered. The fridge can also not be plugged in at the wall outlet, or turned on at the wall outlet. An extension cord or multiway plug adapter can also be faulty.
In the first instance the best thing to do is plug in another device such as a smartphone charger into the wall outlet to verify that the wall outlet is indeed not working.
Sometimes, though the wall outlet can be particularly hard to reach so there are some other steps I’ve explained that you can try first. And then you come back to testing the wall outlet if none of the other steps work.
Each of the steps are listed at the start of this article. It’s best to go through each one, one by one. Start with step ‘2. The circuit breaker has clicked off at the fusebox’, if the wall outlet is inaccessible, very hard to get to. Then come back to step 1, which explains how to troubleshoot the wall outlet once you’ve tried all the other steps.
Hotpoint Refrigerator Not Cooling
It can also be the case that your Hotpoint fridge powers on, and the interior light works, however, the fridge isn’t cooling. To fix this issue, here’s what you should do.
This is caused by the temperature being set too low. Or, the fridge being in an unsuitable location. The room temperature affects the fridge’s ability to cool and the temperature dial should be turned up to a higher setting when it is not cooling.
Full step by step instructions for how to do that is explained at the top of this article. Scroll to near the top of this article and look for step ‘3. The temperature dial is in the off position’. Once you’ve done that step, you should do each of the other steps in that list to get your Hotpoint fridge to begin cooling.
If you’ve tried all of the steps and your Hotpoint fridge is still not working, it’s best to have a repair technician repair the fridge for you. As this indicates a component inside the fridge has failed mechanically or electronically.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on September 30, 2021.
As a general rule, the fridge is not receiving power or the temperature dial is not on a cold enough setting. The wall outlet should be tested with another electrical device to verify it’s producing power. The temperature can also need to be set to a colder setting.
If you have a different brand fridge, be sure to check our troubleshooting guide for your refrigerator that is not cooling.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on September 30, 2021.