Basic Refrigerator Maintenance

Much of the household appliances failures are the fault of the owners themselves. This also applies to refrigerators. Improper installation, defrosting, operation, untimely cleaning of the refrigerators  condenser can lead to malfunctions.

In order to avoid the situation with a faulty refrigerator and unscheduled repair costs, it is sufficient to know and follow some rules of operation of the equipment:

1. Wait 5 – 7 minutes before switching on the refrigerator after it has been switched off, premature switching on the refrigerator may cause the motor-compressor malfunction.

2. Do not load food immediately after defrosting the fridge. Let it work empty until the first shutdown when the set temperature is set.

3. Do not install the temperature sensor and thermostat indicators above the middle of the scale. This is not rational. If the regulators are set to the maximum, the temperature will drop insignificantly and the load on the refrigeration unit will increase multiply.

4. Do not cover it with food in refrigerators with a “leaking” evaporator. The water flow under it should be free. During the refrigerator operation the drain hole is often clogged, from now on water flows inside the refrigerator under the vegetable crates, then further down into the freezing chamber, through the lintel between the chambers where the pipeline is located. Corrosion of the pipeline can take from a week to two. Then there is freon leakage, depending on the degree of corrosion – from day to week. Therefore, if you notice water in the cooling chamber, remove the clogging immediately, which will save you from the cost of overhauling the refrigeration unit.

5. Defrost the fridge with warm water. Use a soft cloth or flannel for wiping. Knives and other sharp and hard objects to clean the fridge are contraindicated. A fairly common problem among fridge owners is a puncture in the evaporator of a freezer or fridge chamber. As a rule, it happens by negligence. Many people can “help” the refrigerator with a knife by breaking ice or cleaning a snow coat to noticeably speed up the refrigerator defrosting process. Also, it is not uncommon when a hostess urgently needs to get something out of the freezer, but the food is so frozen to the walls or bottom of the chamber that without a stabbing object just can not do. That’s how holes, punctures, punctures appear. The evaporator is designed in such a way that if there is damage to it, freon starts to come out of it. If you do not see the puncture in time and turn off the fridge, it is fraught with serious damage. We’re talking about water getting into the evaporator. It threatens, first of all, by the fact that even having repaired the evaporator it will be difficult to restore the refrigerator efficiency.

6. The same detergents are also contraindicated for cleaning the fridge.

7. The “quick freeze” button can only be pressed for 4 to 6 hours. Remember to switch off the mode at any other time. Continuously activated freezing mode will cause the motor-compressor to fail.

8. If you operate a self-freezing refrigerator, you still have to defrost it manually at least two or three times a year. In modern refrigerators it is impossible to see, so it is impossible to know whether the evaporator has thawed or not. If you turn off the fridge, you can be sure that the fridge has thawed completely. Besides, it is necessary to thoroughly dry all the refrigerator constructions.

9. Where should I put the fridge? Put it where you feel comfortable! But there are a few rules to remember? The fridge should be placed on a flat surface, away from electrical appliances and heating systems, electric stoves. The fridge should also not be exposed to direct sunlight. Do not lean it close to the wall.

10. Every two years remove the refrigerator and clean the condenser coils of the refrigerator from dust and dirt. If the condenser of the refrigerator has a fan for forced air ventilation, clean the condenser annually. This will increase the life of the compressor and the fan motor. To reduce the operating time ratio of the refrigerator, save energy.

Condenser contamination causes guaranteed malfunction of the refrigeration equipment. Condensation of the condenser leads to increase of condensation pressure of the refrigerant and freon and oil temperature, which causes clogging of the capillary pipeline with oil decay products and increase of the compressor load. Even earlier than there are problems with clogging of the capillary piping, there is a drop in cooling capacity of the refrigeration unit, the temperature in the refrigerated volume increases and the motor-compressor stops switching off.

If the owner does not pay attention to the fact that the equipment operates continuously without switching off, the next stage is failure of the motor-compressor. Thus, not observing the low-cost operation of maintenance for cleaning the condenser, leads to the most expensive overhaul – the need to replace the motor-compressor. And if the contamination of the condenser with the free air movement on the domestic refrigerator becomes critical after several years of operation, the condensers cooled by the forced air movement provided by the fan are contaminated much faster. Condensers on commercial refrigeration equipment need to be cleaned almost on a monthly basis, and the pollution on the equipment with the lower position of the refrigeration unit is particularly rapid. Call us for help at ️(800)657-0765