How to clean condenser and make your refrigerator to last longer without repairs.

Being appliance technician at D&V appliance repair, I am often asked by people how long they should expect refrigerator to last. It depends on a lot of factors. But for this article I would like to take to the point the most important factor which is maintenance. Yes, the maintenance is the secret to adding years of life to your refrigerator. Don’t be nervous that maintenance is something difficult and not possible to DIY.  

Basically, you just need to keep your refrigerator clean wherever it’s possible. And the most important it to keep a condenser of your refrigerator clean.  The condenser is the bunch of black tubing that is sometimes located on the back of the product, but more often underneath it. The condenser must be kept free of dust, lint, animal hair and other debris. 

When the condenser is logged, the compressor becomes so hot that I could fry an egg on top of it. When that happens, the wattage draw is so high that it sometimes blows a fuse. The fan motor and defrost timer are hurting from all the excessive heat load. The life of the refrigerator is being slowly drained from it because of the dirty condenser. Cleaning the condenser will save you from having costly repair, save on the cost of running the appliance and save the appliance for more year of use. 

Here is how to clean that condenser. Every three months pull the plug on the refrigerator and pull the refrigerator away from the wall. Take the lower card board over off of the backside. Use a brush with a long handle to shake loose all the dirt you see on the condenser, then vacuum the debris. Replace the cardboard back. Then, remove the front toe plate and do the same there. Use care around the fan motor blades – don’t bend them. Clean the blades tenderly with a toothbrush. By doing this regularly your energy bill will stay where it should be, the refrigerator’s operational noise level will no longer sound like a runaway train. And you appliance will do a better job of food preservation. 

The average life expectancy of major appliance today is much less than products built more than ten years ago, so it is in our best interest to do what we can to prolong its life. Condenser cleaning can save you hundreds of dollars on refrigerator repairs.