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Did You Clean That? · No. 03

Refrigerator Coils: the one-page checklist

Things everybody uses. Almost nobody cleans.

Check these parts

  • Condenser coils
  • Ventilation grille
  • Drip pan
  • Door gaskets

What you need

  • Your appliance manual, because coil locations vary
  • A refrigerator coil brush
  • A vacuum with a hose
  • A flashlight

Do it in this order

  1. 01. Find your coils. Look in the manual. Some are behind a kick plate at the bottom front, some are on the back, and some newer models are sealed and not meant to be serviced.
  2. 02. Unplug it. Not negotiable. You're putting a brush near a motor.
  3. 03. Pop the grille or pull it out. Bottom grilles usually unclip. If it's a back-coil model, walk it out from the wall slowly.
  4. 04. Brush, then vacuum. Work the coil brush gently through the fins, then vacuum up what falls. Do the floor underneath while you're down there.
  5. 05. Wipe the door gaskets. Warm soapy water, then dry. A gasket that seals is free efficiency.
  6. 06. Plug it back in and push it back. Leave the manufacturer's clearance behind the unit. It needs to breathe.

Don't do this

  • · Don't bend the coil fins. Brush along them, not across.
  • · Don't spray water or cleaner into the coils.
  • · Don't do this with the unit plugged in.
  • · Don't force a sealed unit open because a video told you to.

Know when to stop

If the refrigerator still isn't holding temperature after clean coils, or you hear the compressor cycling constantly, that's a sealed-system or a fan issue. Call an appliance tech.

LaLa says

“We are not buying a new refrigerator because nobody vacuumed underneath the old one.”