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Maytag fridges are expected to be cold enough to preserve your food and drinks inside. Still, your appliance can sometimes give you too much of a good thing. For instance, the fridge could get too cold to the point it freezes the items inside. But why would that happen?
A Maytag refrigerator will get too cold if your set temperature is much lower than it needs to be. Besides that, defective temperature control thermostats or thermistors can also cause the refrigerator to cool down excessively. Lastly, an ice maker with no water supply or a blocked vent can also lead to uneven or excessive cooling, making your fridge too cold.
Troubleshooting a Maytag fridge that’s too cold isn’t’ as difficult as it might seem. This guide will help you understand the most likely causes of that problem and how you can fix them.
Why Does My Maytag Refrigerator Get Too Cold?
When troubleshooting your Maytag refrigerator, you should start with things that you can rule out quickly.
Below, you’ll find the most likely issues causing your appliance to get too cold. More importantly, you’ll also discover how to resolve those issues quickly.
Temperature Settings Too Low
About this part: Your Maytag refrigerator allows you to choose how cold you’d like the fridge compartment to be. When you select a set temperature, the fridge will then use its cooling system to achieve and maintain its coolness at that level.
Like any other appliance brand, Maytag refrigerators have a broad range of temperature settings for you to choose from. Part of that is because people live in different kinds of climates.
So, if you’re in a place where it’s colder outside, you won’t have to set your fridge temperature too low. However, you’ll want to do that if it’s hot out, like during summer.
How it fails: The first likely reason your Maytag fridge is too cold is that you’ve set its temperature too low relative to your local climate.
For example, if it’s winter outside and you set your fridge temperature too low, the inside will be too cold, and your food will freeze over.
How to fix it: Finding the ideal temperature setting for your Maytag fridge can be quite challenging. One way to do that is to start by setting your fridge in the middle-temperature range.
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Then, let 24 hours pass so the compartment’s temperature can stabilize. When that time passes, you can adjust the temperature up or down depending on whether it’s still too warm or too cold.
Read: How To Put Maytag Fridge In Defrost Mode?
Temperature Control Thermostat
About this part: Another likely reason your Maytag fridge is cooling too much is that it has a faulty
When you set your desired fridge temperature, that thermostat communicates the information to the fridge’s components. Then, those components will cool the fridge down until it reaches your set temperature.
How it fails: Unfortunately, a faulty
While you might have set your fridge at a reasonable temperature, the faulty thermostat will mistakenly communicate a much lower temperature to the fridge’s components.
Then, the fridge will make itself too cold and freeze your food items by accident..
How to fix it: When you inspect the
A new thermostat will work correctly and ensure that your set temperature and the fridge’s internal temperature match perfectly.
Read: Why Maytag Fridge Is Freezing Food? Troubleshooting Guide
Thermistor
About this part: The thermistor in your Maytag fridge plays a crucial role in regulating its temperature. It does that by continually sensing the temperature inside the fridge compartment.
When the fridge is too warm, the thermistor will trigger it to cool down further. But once it’s cold enough, it causes the appliance’s cooling system to turn off.
How it fails: A thermistor can become faulty with extended use. When that happens, the thermistor loses its ability to react accurately to the fridge’s current temperature.
So, even if the fridge is cold enough and has reached your set temperature, the thermistor fails to stop the refrigerator from cooling further.
As a result, the fridge becomes far too cold, causing items to freeze inside.
How to fix it: Unfortunately, the thermistor is not a part that you can repair. Instead, you’ll have to remove it and install a new one.
Replacing a faulty fridge thermistor is possible as a DIY job. However, you should never perform any repairs unless you’re confident you can do it correctly. If you’re not, be sure to contact a qualified professional instead.
Read: 5 Common Maytag Fridge Problems
Blocked Air Vents
About this part: Look around and you’ll notice several air vents inside your appliance that help to circulate cold air.
That air originates in the freezer compartment but moves to the fridge through the vents at a controlled rate, depending on your set temperature.
How it fails: Well-distributed cold air is crucial for your Maytag refrigerator. Unfortunately, blocking those air vents could cause problems, causing some parts of the compartment to be much colder than others.
For example, a food container that’s too close to a vent will block it from distributing cold air evenly. As a result, that food container and other nearby items will become too cold and freeze over.
Even if you’ve set the fridge correctly and the appliance has no other faults, that will happen.
How to fix it: You can resolve this problem quickly by ensuring that none of the air vents is blocked. Move any food containers or other items aside and spread them out evenly.
That way, cold air from the vents can spread out, allowing all parts of the refrigerator compartment to cool down evenly.
Read: Why Maytag Fridge Is Leaking Water? Troubleshooting Guide
Ice Maker Is Not Being Used
About this part: The ice maker in your Maytag refrigerator has a simple job to do. First, it receives a continuous supply of water. Then, it freezes that water into ice and stores it in a bucket, ready for you to enjoy.
How it fails: Normally, this component will work to freeze water into ice. However, if that ice maker has no water coming in for any reason, that excess cooling power will spread to the rest of your fridge compartment instead.
As a result, your Maytag fridge compartment will become colder than it should. Even if you’ve set your fridge temperature correctly and there are no other active faults, that will still happen.
How to fix it: The solution to this problem is to turn your ice maker off whenever it’s not in use. In a Maytag refrigerator, you can do that by lifting the wire shutoff arm to the OFF position (with the arm up) until you hear a click.
The unused icemaker will not continue cooling, and your fridge will only be as cold as you set it to be.
Read: 3 Reasons Why Maytag Fridge Water Dispenser Is Not Working
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If you’re still feeling a bit confused, don’t worry. Here are a few more questions and answers to help you understand what’s happening.
Why Is My Fridge Freezing My Food?
Your food is freezing in the fridge because the internal temperature is too low. Check that the fridge temperature is reasonable, or troubleshoot parts like the thermostat, thermistor, and air vents for any issues.
What Is The Best Temperature Setting For A Fridge?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends keeping your fridge at or below 40° F. That will ensure your food is stored at a safe temperature until you decide to consume it.
Read: Why Maytag Fridge Light Not Working?
How Do I Reboot My Maytag Refrigerator?
Power cycling is a quick and easy way to do that. Start by shutting off the refrigerator’s power for 10 minutes. When you turn it back on after that time, the process is complete.
How Long Do Maytag Refrigerators Last?
Maytag estimates that appliances last anywhere from about 10 to 11 years. You can maximize your refrigerator’s lifespan with correct use and regular maintenance. When the machines reach the end of that estimated lifespan, you might find it worth investing in a newer model.
Read: Why Maytag Fridge Control Panel Not Working?
How Do I Know If My Fridge Is Cold Enough?
As you saw above, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends keeping your fridge at or below 40° F. However, the only way you can ensure that your fridge is cold enough is by using a
Fridges require at least 24 hours to stabilize the temperature inside. So, leave a
