Yearly Refrigerator Maintenance
On this page, I will discuss refrigerator maintenance that should be done at
least once a year. There are a few things you can do that take very little
effort and can extend the life of your refrigerator. For as much as
refrigerators cost, you might as well take care of it while you have it. With a
little effort you can save some headaches in the long run.
Clean Condenser
Refrigerator
condenser cleaning brush
Cleaning the condenser is the most important
refrigerator maintenance because a dirty condenser can cause a refrigerator to
stop cooling. This will cause all your food to spoil so it is wise to clean it
at least once a year.
The condenser is the refrigeration coil on the
outside of the refrigerator. To clean the condenser, first you must locate it.
There are two places that the condenser may be located on your refrigerator. One
is on the back of the refrigerator. If it’s located on the back of the
refrigerator simply brush it off with a broom. The other place the condenser can
be located is underneath the refrigerator. On some refrigerators you can clean
the condenser from the front. Remove the front kick plate and look under the
refrigerator. If you can see the coils use a vacuum cleaner with a long hose to
clean the condenser. Also a long skinny brush may help loosen up the lint. If
you can’t see the condenser coils from the front, you must remove the back cover
to locate the condenser. Then clean it the same way as I described above.
Replace Water Filter
Replacing the water filter
is an important refrigerator maintenance that should be done at least once a
year and if your water isn’t very clean, I recommend changing it twice a year.
Failure to replace the water filter will result in a clogged line. First locate
the filter (your owners manual should help you find it) on most refrigerators
it’s located either inside the fresh food section at the top right hand side or
under the refrigerator on the left hand side. You should be able to access the
filter with out pulling the refrigerator out. Once you locate the filter it
should be easy to replace, just make sure you have the right filter before you
pull the old one out. To remove most filters you just twist it counter clockwise
a ¼ to a ½ of a turn then it should pull right out. Buy refrigerator water filters here.
Clean Drain
Often the drain on refrigerators gets clogged up and causes it to leak. If you
have a side-by-side refrigerator you can prevent this by cleaning out the drain
once a year. But if you have a top-freezer refrigerator or a bottom freezer
refrigerator, the drain is too hard to access be worth doing. But preventing
this is easy on side-by-side refrigerators, just open the freezer door and
remove the bottom bin and the bottom shelf. Once they are removed, you should be
able to access the drain. There should be a ½ inch hole in a trough at the back
of the freezer that is the drain. To clean the drain, force water down it. I use
a turkey baser but you can use any squirt bottle, I have even used a garden
hose. Then mix some baking soda with water and pour it down the drain. This
should prevent it from ever stopping up and causing your refrigerator to leak.
Door gasket
Over time door gaskets will get hard
and rip causing warm air to leak into your refrigerator. This will cause the
refrigerator to sweat and it won’t be as efficient. If the gasket is too bad, it
can also cause your food to spoil. This can be prevented with a little
refrigerator maintenance once a year. Simply rub a thin film of Vaseline around
the entire door gasket. This will keep it soft and prevent it from tearing.
Door gaskets can be found at AppliancePartsPros.com.
I hope these simple refrigerator maintenance tips will help you extend the life of your refrigerator.
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