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Triple the Lifespan of Your Fridge With These Easy Tips

Triple the Lifespan of Your Fridge With These Easy Tips

If you aren’t a fan of buying a new refrigerator every five years, then it is important that you take care of it properly.

So many people make the mistake of buying a new fridge one when it breaks. The truth is, your fridge probably could have lasted a longer if you were performing the proper refrigerator maintenance that it required.

If you’re clueless when it comes to taking proper care of your refrigerator, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. We have provided step-by-step guides to various aspects of refrigerator maintenance.

Note: If you’re having trouble locating the parts that we are referring to in these instructions, refer to your users’ manual! It will have lots of diagrams and specific instructions for your particular refrigerator.

1. Change the Water Filter

If your refrigerator has an icemaker or water dispenser, it also has a water filter needs to be changed on a regular basis. This should be done approximately every six months to keep your water tasting fresh and cool. To find what kind of filter your refrigerator requires and how to change it, see your user’s manual.

2. Clean the Condenser Coils

Cleaning your condenser coils is so important to keeping your refrigerator running and cool, especially if you have pets. The condenser coils are what relieve the heat that the refrigerator generates into the air and when hair and skin particles get attached to the coils, it creates an airflow blockage which can cause the refrigerator to malfunction or stop cooling altogether.

Depending on your fridge, these coils are located in one of four places: underneath the fridge, in the back of the fridge on the bottom behind a panel, running along the backside of the freezer, or inside of the refrigerator on the top next to the motor. These coils should be cleaned every 1-2 years. You can clean them several different ways:

  • Take a brush to brush out the fridge and then clean the coils with a moist paper towel
  • Vacuum out the coils with a vacuum hose. (Be careful not to damage the coils)
  • Purchase a chemical that you can spray and it’ll eat all of the excess gunk up

3. Clean the Gaskets

The gaskets are located on the refrigerator doors and what keep your refrigerator cool and keep the warm air out. To test to see if your gaskets are working properly take a dollar bill and shut it in the door and see how much resistance there is. If it is extremely easy to get your dollar bill out, clean your gaskets with an all-purpose cleaner and if that doesn’t do the trick, consider getting them replaced.

4. Clean the Drip Pan

Many refrigerators have a drip pan to get rid of condensation. You should clean out your drain hole and drip pan as needed by getting rid of food particles and mineral deposits that are in there and then scrubbing the drain pan for excess germs and residue.

 

No need to memorize all of this information, print it out, and stick it on your refrigerator so you don’t forget!

If you’re having any other problems with your refrigerator or have more questions about refrigerator maintenance give us at New Life Appliance Repair a call at (949) 929-3198.