Your refrigerator has probably been running for a few years with no problems. Here are a few things you should check to make sure it continues to perform. There are two heat exchangers that remove heat from inside your refrigerator and deposit it into the room. One requires some maintenance, the other does not. The evaporator, which picks up the heat, is inside either behind the freezer compartment or between the fresh food and freezer compartments. It does not require any maintenance. The condenser, which expels the heat into the room, is located under the refrigerator or on the top on the Sub-Zero brand. It is made of tubing through which the refrigerant flows, and steel wires welded on the tubing then painted black.
The condenser gets fouled by dust, which deteriorates the performance of your refrigerator. The radiator in your car is another heat exchanger that you may be more familiar with. You know that if paper gets trapped in front of the radiator, your car will overheat, and in the worst case, the engine will fail. The same is true of your refrigerator. Since air is drawn over the condenser to dissipate the heat, it acts like a filter, pulling dust and animal fur out of the air. This dust and fur insulates the condenser, preventing it from expelling heat from your refrigerator, just like paper on your car’s radiator.
One year of dust will cause your refrigerator to run longer, costing you dollars on your electrical bill. If you never clean your condenser, you will shorten the life of your refrigerator from three to five years.
To clean the condenser under your refrigerator, remove the grill by pulling it straight out or by rotating it upward from the bottom. Using the crevice tool on your vacuum cleaner, suck out as much dust as you can. Now take a bottle brush and tease out as much of the remaining dust as you can and vacuum it away. You can remove additional dust by slipping pantyhose over a yard stick and running it under the condenser.
While you are working under the refrigerator, you will see a flat drain pan. This is used to get rid of the defrost water that comes off that other heat exchanger, the evaporator. It drains down into this drain pan every eight to 12 hours when the refrigerator goes through a defrost cycle. The condenser fan blows the warm air from the condenser across the water in the pan to evaporate it into the air. You can pull this pan out and clean it. It sometimes contains some nasty gunk that can cause a bad odor. Be careful when reinserting it to make sure the rear edge is seated on the rear rail.
The condenser should be cleaned about once a year, but if you have pets that shed, you should clean it more often.
The inside and outside surfaces of the refrigerator should be cleaned with a secret solution you can make yourself. Check the owner’s manual before applying to be sure the ingredients are safe for use on your appliance. Into a gallon container put the following:
• 1 cup of clear ammonia
• 1/2 cup of white vinegar
• 1/4 cup of baking soda
Fill the container with hot water. Pour this solution into a spray bottle or use it in a bucket with a sponge. This solution is a no-rinse degreaser that will prevent mold and mildew. Wipe down the outside of the case, doors, and handles with this solution. Inside, wipe the shelves, pans, buckets, drawers, inner doors, and liner.
If you found grease and dust on the top or sides of the refrigerator, you can slow down this buildup by waxing these surfaces with paste wax. If you have some tough stains, they can be removed with toothpaste and a tooth brush. Don’t rub too hard, as you may dull the surface.
Apply a very thin layer of petroleum jelly to the door gaskets at the hinge side to prevent them from sticking, rolling over, and bending out of shape.
To absorb odors in your refrigerator, place an open box of baking soda at the back of the middle shelf. Place a crumpled piece of a brown paper sack in your vegetable bins then remove after 48 hours. This will absorb odors. To add a pleasant odor inside your refrigerator, put several drops of vanilla extract on some cotton balls and place them on a saucer on one of the shelves. For a change, use orange extract.
If your refrigerator is not very full, you can keep the temperature more constant by putting one or more gallon jugs of water inside. This will work in both the fresh food and freezer compartments.
These few simple cleaning tips can keep your refrigerator looking and smelling new. They can also add years to the life of this expensive appliance.
Smoke Alarm Disposal
In the last issue we told you how to change out your 10-year-old smoke alarms. There is some confusion about how to dispose of old smoke alarms, as they contain a small amount of radioactive material.
According to several government sites on the internet: “The amount of naturally-occurring alpha-emitting radioactivity in normal soils is equivalent to a dozen or more smoke alarms in every cubic meter. The dispersal of smoke alarms, even in large numbers, through refuse land-fill sites is therefore not significant in comparison.”
In the Montgomery County, MD website is the following instruction: “While there is indeed radioactive material in a smoke or carbon monoxide (CO) alarm/detector, it is extremely weak. Therefore, it may be safely disposed of in the regular household trash.”
• If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com
