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A refrigerator with blinking lights is trying to get your attention, telling you that something requires troubleshooting. That becomes even clearer when you find that the fridge is not cooling on the inside.
Frustrated that your Samsung Refrigerator Not Cooling? When a fridge has blinking lights but isn’t cooling, that means the inside has warmed beyond 59°F. That will happen if you leave the doors open for too long or if its door gasket is letting cold air out due to damage or wear. A fridge without power for extended periods will also become too warm and cause the same outcome, as will a problematic cooling system.
Read through the rest of this article to find out why your fridge behaves that way and what solutions you have at your disposal.
Why Is My Samsung Fridge Not Cooling With Blinking Lights?
The blinking display lights on your refrigerator and the warm temperatures within are closely related. In fact, those lights begin flashing when the fridge becomes too warm and goes above 59°F.
So if you want to resolve both problems, you’ll have to restore cooling to the appliance. Here are the reasons this problem happens and what you can do to fix it quickly:
Reason 1: Fridge Door Was Left Open
One of the first and most common reasons for a warm refrigerator is its compartment doors were left open for too long. As you can imagine, this problem can happen deliberately or by accident.
For example, you might keep the door open for too long when organizing the items inside the refrigerator’s compartments. Besides that, you might also be cleaning the unit or repairing something inside.
Besides that, the doors might also stay open because you didn’t close them fully. That can also happen if too many items are inside or something large prevents the door from shutting completely.
Whatever the reason, the open door allows all cold air inside to leak out. As a result, the temperature goes above 59°F and causes the display lights to blink.
What you can do: You can solve this problem by shutting the refrigerator door firmly and allowing the unit to cool back down. Unfortunately, that can take several hours, depending on how warm the unit is.
Besides that, rearrange your food items to ensure that nothing prevents the door from closing fully.
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Read: 5 Reasons Why Samsung Refrigerator Not Cooling + Service Manual + DIY Heater
Reason 2: Door Gasket Is Worn-Out Or Damaged
The problem you’re experiencing can also be explained by worn-out or damaged door gaskets. These gaskets help your refrigerator doors maintain a tight seal to prevent any cold air from escaping.
Unfortunately, the materials they’re made of wear out over an extended period. That will undermine their ability to keep the door shut and maintain that tight seal.
Of course, that is only likely if you’ve had the refrigerator for a long time. Another explanation is that the gasket has suffered damage, like tears and rips.
Even if your fridge is new, that kind of damage will let cold air leak out until it reaches below 59°F, triggering its lights to blink.
What you can do: Firstly, you’ll want to inspect the entire length of your refrigerator doors’ gaskets. Remember that each door has a gasket; you must check all of them for problems.
When you see signs of wear or damage, there’s nothing else you can do but replace the gaskets with new ones. Taping or patching them up might help in the short term, but nothing beats getting a brand-new one instead.
Door gaskets are affordable, easy to find, and much easier to install. So, this is not a problem you need to worry about too much.
Read: Why Samsung Fridge Is Making “JackHammer” Noise?
Reason 3: Extended Power Outage
Power outages are another issue you must be aware of. A brief power outage isn’t such a big deal because your refrigerator will maintain its low temperatures for quite some time as long as the doors are shut firmly.
However, outages that happen for an extended period will cause your fridge to get too warm, eventually passing the 59°F level.
When power is restored, you’ll see the fridge’s lights flashing, and the unit is warm inside. Sometimes, you might even hear beeping or other noises from the refrigerator.
Long power outages like that are out of your control, given that they come from the municipal power supply. However, there’s no need to panic when power is restored, and the fridge’s lights start blinking.
What you can do: Suppose your household experienced a prolonged power outage. In that case, you need to wait for your refrigerator to cool back down to its set temperatures.
An extended power outage is similar to turning your fridge on for the first time. The unit is starting over and needs a few hours to cool down again.
Read: 3 Ways To Fix Samsung Refrigerator Not Cooling After Power Outage
Reason 4: Cooling System Failure
The lack of cooling in your refrigerator (which also causes the blinking lights) can, of course, be caused by a failure in the cooling system. However, you should rule out Reasons 1-3 first to ensure that you save time and energy on troubleshooting the unit appropriately.
In this case, parts of the cooling system have likely failed. That can include the compressor, the start relay that turns the compressor on, or the main control board that controls the refrigerator’s functions.
You can check the compressor start relay yourself. If you hear a noise while shaking it, you must replace it. Besides that, you can use a
Other problems like the failed compressor or main control board will require a professional to troubleshoot the issue for you.
What you can do: You can troubleshoot and repair some parts of the cooling system yourself. For example, a compressor start relay is straightforward to replace.
But parts of the cooling system (e.g. the compressor) can only be worked on by a certified professional. If necessary, they’ll have to replace the affected component to restore cooling to your refrigerator.
Read: 5 Reasons Why Samsung Fridge Evaporator Fan Is Not Working
Final Thoughts
Your refrigerator will blink its lights when it gets too warm and passes 59°F in temperature. The lack of cooling typically happens due to a door left open for too long, worn-out or damaged door gaskets, or a prolonged power outage.
Once you rule out those possibilities, you must troubleshoot the cooling system for failure. The compressor, its start relay, or even the main control board could be the root of your problem.
