Access to coils on bottom of fridge?

[dparm]

How do you typically get access to the coils on the bottomside of a fridge? The one in my apartment is a Hotpoint (GE), but there appears to be no method to access the coils on the bottom. No access panel on the front (inside the door), and there's only a small panel on the back for access to the motor itself.

Any ideas? It's causing the condenser to glow red hot and the maintenance guys aren't in until 10am tomorrow. I'd rather not have to unplug my fridge for the whole night. I suspect the coils are just dirty.

 

[Donald]

Hard to tell without seeing it. How are you seeing the red hot condenser? Behind a grate. Put a vacuum hose against the grate, stick a coat hanger through the grate to loosen things.

 

[R80RS]

Condenser is glowing red hot? Something's way wrong. Sounds like a combustion hazard. I'd unplug it now and run out for some bags of ice (and maybe some extra coolers) to keep your food cool until the maintenance guy delivers a new refrigeradora tomorrow.

 

[R80RS]

Recalling my heat treatment experience, ferrous metals emit roughly as follows (cut & pasted):

400°C (752°F) Red heat, visible in the dark
474°C (885°F) Red heat, visible in the twilight
525°C (975°F) Red heat, visible in the daylight
581°C (1077°F) Red heat, visible in the sunlight
700°C (1292°F) Dark red

From Wikipedia, autoignition point for paper, for example, is 218–246 °C (424–475 °F).

If your fridge is really glowing turn it off.

 

[Rolla07]

Only way i know is below the front of the unit. Coat hanger or try to extend a vacuum hose under the to get the dust..honestly mine is full of dust..i miss my old fridge that had coils on the back.. also i had to take my fridge apart 3 times to unclog the condensate drain..which i assume got clogged with dust and cat hair..my fridge is on its 3rd year..disappointed in it so far..old fridges i had were 25-30 yrs old and had fewer issues..im so fed up with how cheaply things are made today

 

[JHZR2]

seriously, glowing? To get enough insulation for dust to do this, it would have to be thick enough that youd not see the glow anyway.

I think you have a fan out.

Every fridge Ive seen that has coils underneath just has a plastic front piece that comes off, and then you can put a vacuum with a long nozzle attachment in there to suck dust off the coils...

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Hard to tell without seeing it. How are you seeing the red hot condenser? Behind a grate. Put a vacuum hose against the grate, stick a coat hanger through the grate to loosen things.



There are some slits on the back of the freezer, and there's a red glow coming from there.

 

[Warstud]

I took the grill off the front and the panel off the back and used my leaf blower to get the dust out. Vacuum didn't work.

 

[79sunrunner]

That's a bit strange, you think the engineers who made the fridge would put the coils in the freezer side of the fridge to keep itself cool???

I'd unplug it, I'd rather have some perishable items go bad instead of waking up to a burning apartment building.

 

[dparm]

After removing the cardboard access panel and just blowing into the compressor fan and wiring a few times, I plugged it back in for grins -- no more glowing or heat, and the ticking noise is almost entirely gone. So crisis averted for now.

 

[Rick in PA]

I use my shop vac. Put the hose on the outlet side and blow the dust out. I know it makes a heck of a mess, do it before vacuuming the house, and not while the wife's around, but it works.

 

[Fleetmon]

Maybe something else was glowing....in order for the condensor to actually glow red due to excessive pressure, the pressure would have to be well north of probably close to 1000psi.....ain't gonna happen unless something else is causing the coils to get that hot.

Maybe an electrical cmponent is grounding through the coil in which case the entire refrigerator could be a danger to life safety?

 

[demarpaint]

Glowing red and dust in the coils, the perfect formula for a fire. As mentioned above, unplug it and stick bags of ice in it to keep your food from spoiling. Why chance it?

 

[rshaw125]

I'll tell you how I cleaned mine. I emptied the fridge completely. I needed to wipe the shelves down. I put a hand truck (dolly) under the side of the fridge. Then a friend helped me lower the fridge on it's side. Sitting on the hand truck. Voila, the underside and coils are revealed. I 'shop vaced' it. Still dirty. I took some foaming cleaning and soaked the coils. Wiped it down. Repeated. Clean as new. Let it dry for a few minutes. Then we raised it up and back into service.

Runs a lot less.

 

[dparm]

Maintenance guys claim the red glow is from the defrost coils, and that I probably just caught it on the defrost cycle.

Good thing I have a lot of renter's insurance in case it burns the place down.

 

[sleddriver]

My now 30+ yr. old Whirlpool has coils on the bottom. I clean them periodically with a long, thin coil brush made for the purpose. The front metal panel drops down when two clips are removed. I duct-tape a large throated funnel to the hose of my shopvac and lay it on the floor where the air is flowing out from the fan. This sucks all the fuzz-bunnies up as they exit while I'm brushing the coils. Takes longer to set up and take down than actually cleaning.

BTW, an easy quick way to deal with a fridge in Toes Up mode or when the power dies in a storm, is with dry ice. It lasts longer than ice, is colder, not usually thought of and it doesn't melt: It sublimates. So it won't leave a pool of water nor flood your floor. You'll just have to keep your kids away to watch the vapor fall to the floor when they open the door....

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Rick in PA
I use my shop vac. Put the hose on the outlet side and blow the dust out. I know it makes a heck of a mess, do it before vacuuming the house, and not while the wife's around, but it works.

Best advice !

I never clean or do anything to the coils of my fridges, this current bottom freezer is about 6-7 years old. What should I check to see if the coil is needed some cleaning ? I don't know where the coil is. My fridge is Maytag.

 

[Merkava_4]

What's the model number of the refrigerator?

 

[Thermo1223]

The maintenance guys are right, every frost free fridge has had a heating coil back there.

It will not burn your house down, it will not start a fire. It's only purpose to to keep the evaporator inside the freeze/fridge ice free. The ticking is from the timer that runs the defrost cycle. I don't remember how long they last but it is usually 15 or so minutes.

The sky is not falling, you will be just fine. Insurance not required.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
What's the model number of the refrigerator?


MBF2556KEW

I looks at Maytag parts from Searspartsdirect.com and could not find the coil.

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdir...EW/3048/0161000