Refrigerator. Do you remember to do this?

13 years ago

My fridge was starting to make a lot of groaning noises and seemed to be running a lot. I had visions of an expensive repair. I googled the symptoms and was reminded that a fridge that runs frequently may need to have the coils cleaned.

Yikes! I forgot that. I always would vacuum the coils of my old fridge, so I don't know why I hadn't done it with this one. I pulled off the cover and had a look in there and it was disgusting. No wonder it was groaning! I vacuumed them thoroughly, as well as anything else I could reach with the vacuum. This morning the fridge is quiet and running much less often.

I LOVE when I can solve a problem for free. So here's a reminder to vacuum the coils of your refrigerator.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (19)

lindac
13 years ago
I know.....tomorrow....
LOL!
BeverlyAL
13 years ago
Yes, very easy for me to forget!
Related Discussions
Do you remember CompuServe?
Q
Comments (26)
My sister worked with some of those punch cards when she was in the Army. My first Computer ws a Commodore 64 . I got it at a time when it was very popular but not connected with any internet etc We didn't even know what that was at the time. PC's or desktops were first coming into office use. I remember one or two secretaries in our bank got he first ones. That must have been around 1989. We had things on computer but they were the huge installations usually run by a distant division. We could input and get reports etc but nothing like we are used to today. I really learned a lot using the Commodore but it wasn't compatible with anything else. Later in 1992 I got one of the other kind. I remember the names CompuServe and Prodigy but no experience with them. Poor AOL people we have gone to so many different systems looking for something resembling the great AOL Boards but no luck really. I find this discussion very intereting.
...See More
Grandma's kitchen--what do you remember?
Q
Comments (69)
My grandparents were all born in the 1880s and my last grandmother died when I was 12. She'd been in a nursing home for some time by that point so I was very young when I was visiting their homes. Both of my grandfather's passed before I was born. My maternal grandmother lived in an old duplex on Toledo, Ohio's south side--right near the big Haughton Elevator plant where my grandfather worked. Very industrial and I remember the neighborhood being very gray--dark, charcoal gray. There were railroad tracks that basically ran behind the house. During the depression, the homeless men who were traveling as hitchers on the train would stop and my grandmother would feed them--whatever she had--which wasn't much. Mom said that it was a daily occurrence. And there was a bar called The Showboat just a few doors down. Some time during my young adulthood, it morphed into a drag club. I never went there, but it was VERY important to my grandpa. LOL That grandmother had a small, dank kitchen with a freestanding gas (heating) stove, lino countertops with the banded edge, and (I think) green painted cabinets--and not many. It just felt dirty and old to me--much like that neighborhood. My uncle lived in that duplex apartment for more than 60 years. He had cerebral palsy and lived at home and never married. What I remember most about that house was the smell of his cologne, believe it or not. By the time he moved in the early 80s, the apartment had fallen into horrendous disrepair. My paternal grandmother was a charcter--my last remaining grandparent. Some time between 1915 and 1920, they sold their large farm in Tontogany, Ohio and moved to the "big city" of Bowling Green. Their house was a traditional 2 story, white, with a big front porch and two catalpa trees out front. I spent hours playing with the seed pods--"Indian cigars" as she called them. Her kitchen wasn't big, but it wasn't small. There was a wall of cabinetry that faced the country road to the east with a sink and symmetrical white painted cabinets. Certainly no dishwasher. LOL The floors were a speckled lino--all kinds of colors but basically white and the cabinets had black rubber toekicks. There was a typical 1930s wallpaper, red, blue, yellow with forks and spoons motif on all of the walls above white (?) ceramic tile. I want to say that it was banded in black tile, but...I don't know...maybe... There was a breakfast alcove with a wooden table and 4 chairs--always covered with a vinyl tablecloth. I remember a lot of red and white checks...LOL The stove and refrigerator stood by themselves on 2 walls, and there was a door in the back corner that led out onto a breezeway with a dirt floor that housed the old wringer washer and beadboard cabinets full of home canned goods. I grew up eating her quince jelly and peanut butter sandwiches. We had her jelly YEARS after she passed away. I can STILL taste it. And lebkuchen. Always lebkuchen. And on your birthday, she would sit down at the big upright piano in the living room and belt out the most raucous "Happy Birthday" you ever heard. She'd been a piano player in the silent movie houses and was quite good--sitting there in her flowered shirtwaist and gingham apron with her white-white hair pulled into a tight bun.... My mom always told me that I reminded her of that grandmother.... I like that.
...See More
Reminiscing-MommaBird Do You Remember?
Q
Comments (4)
Mustangs - I still have that wine rack in my basement full of wine bottles and have thought of you every time I get out or put in a bottle!!! DH still has the hat! I vaugely remember the dancing flower & the clutter balls - I think Taz ate the balls. How funny that you found this thread!!!! THANKS so much!
...See More
What Food Do You Remember From Your School Lunch Room?
Q
Comments (67)
I attended high school in the 1950s and our school did not have a lunch room. The students brought a bag lunch from home and ate in the bleachers in the gym. My typical lunch was a sandwich, a fruit, and a pastry. We high school kids carried our lunch in paper bags. If I was careful with my bag, it could be folded after use and slipped inot my back pocket to be used again. I usually got 3 days of use out or one bag. My one room country grade school lunch experience was different. I carried a lunch box with themos. The thermos liner never lasted an entire school year before it was broken. Most of the time it broke when dropped of when I fell during my journey between home and school. One time it was broken when I used my steel lunch box as a weapon to defend my self from the school bully. Times were difficult for my family during my grade school days. My sandwiches were made with cuts of cooked, home cured pork on slices of home-made bread, I remember once when we ran low on luncheon material, I had a bean sandwich. This was navy beans between two slices of bread, one slice was buttered with home made butter. During those times, once I had a raw turnip to munch on. In the fall, I'd grab an apple or two from a tree in our small orchard on my way to school.
...See More
BeverlyAL
13 years ago
Oh and BTW, since I'm short, I also sometimes forget to keep the top of the fridge clean. Yuk, when I remember it.
centralcacyclist
13 years ago
Coils?
lowspark
13 years ago
Ditto barnmom. Coils?

My last fridge, I had from 1985 till we remodeled this kitchen in 2004. 19+ years and not a single vacuuming event of said coils. Who knew???
claire_de_luna
13 years ago
Oh yeah. I put it on my monthly calendar as part of ''maintenance''. Of course it used to be much worse when we had a dog with all those shedding fur balls floating around the floor. I'd happily trade having to vacuum more, to have my dog back.
dedtired
Original Author
13 years ago
My last fridge was purchased in 1972 and given away, still running, in 2004. It was a Sears Coldspot, in harvest gold!

I think all refrigerators have coils underneath, don't they?

This is a fancy-dancy Kitchen Aid, stainless steel with ice through the door. It's a side by side and I won't get one again. I do like the stainless, though.
User
13 years ago
I remember, since I have cats, it's one of the things I do remember. I had the same experience, and saved myself a bucket of money "fixing the fridge".

I got a nice attachment for the vacuum that does a good job, too, and fits any vacuum. I also use in on the dryer.
shaun
13 years ago
OH dear. Lived here since 2003 - never knew to do that. And get this - I work for an appliance company! hahahah!
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
Thanks. A great tip, dedtired. You should post this in the Discussions.

Refrigerator works the same way as an air conditioner mechanically. The "coil" is called condensing coil. Sometimes under the unit, sometime vertically in the back. Sometimes there is a little fan to help cool the coil which will also need cleaning.

If it is not cleaned, the coil cannot dissipate heat well, the compressor will overwork against greater back pressure, your fridg will not cool efficiently, you will pay more in electric charge, and your unit will breakdown eventually with an expensive compressor replacement fee.

For many models, you also should take out the tray under the unit to completely wash it. That's the tray to catch water from the freezer defrosting. It is disgusting the dried up dirt collected on it.

Also, there may be a little tube that goes from the freezer to the tray which drains freezer water to the tray. You will find there is a lot of gummy green growth inside the tube which will need to be cleaned.

If you have dogs and cats, you will need to clean the coil more often.

dcarch
chase_gw
13 years ago
Who knew?

I have never cleaned a coil in my life! Now I'm scared to look!
centralcacyclist
13 years ago
I really must get a boyfriend. Will trade services.
bunnyman
13 years ago
My cats like to push their toys up under the front of my fridge... which blocks the air flow.

I need a gf. I'm really good at holding down the couch and keeping beer from going stale. I'm more then happy to shout instructions on how to change a tire or repair the roof.

: )
lyra
centralcacyclist
13 years ago
Lyra, you have far more skills than my ex, let's talk. ;)
BeverlyAL
13 years ago
I've never been able to find the coils on the eight year old fridge I have in the garage. Haven't checked on the one in the kitchen which is only about three yrs old. Is anyone sure they are still cooled this way?
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
Beverly,

See if this helps:

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=refrigerator+coil&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

If not, let me know.

dcarch
BeverlyAL
13 years ago
Thanks dcarch. I've cleaned coils both on the back and underneath fridge's before, just can't find any on the ones I have now.
wizardnm
13 years ago
Note to self: When shopping for the new refrigerator look for one with self-cleaning coils. :)
doucanoe
13 years ago
LOL, I know about cleaning the coils. It's doing it that I forget I know!

(Sigh....one more job to add to my "to do" list....)

Linda

Refrigerator. Do you remember to do this?

Comments (19)

lindac

BeverlyAL

Related Discussions

BeverlyAL

centralcacyclist

lowspark

claire_de_luna

dedtired
Original Author

User

shaun

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

chase_gw

centralcacyclist

bunnyman

centralcacyclist

BeverlyAL

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

BeverlyAL

wizardnm

doucanoe

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Refrigerator. Do you remember to do this?

Comments (19)

Related Discussions

dedtiredOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

dedtired
Original Author