Outrageous engineering! Whirlpool WRS325FDAM pleated condenser coils?

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AC1DD

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I recently want to clean the condenser coils on our side by side Whirlpool fridge WRS325FDAM and was completely shocked and stumped to find that
the engineers decided to make easy cleaning for consumers nearly impossible! The pleated style makes is IMPOSSIBLE to clean anything but the very front and possibly the rear coil, the rest are INACCESSIBLE to the average consumer.

Our previous fridge a 1998 Whirlpool side by side had stacked condensor coils and was fairly easy to clean with the proper narrow tools. This newer fridge is nearly IMPOSSIBLE without using a appliance hand truck which we don't have access to.

I was so annoyed I sent a e mail to their engineering department to complain. The coils are pretty plugged with dust and I know it's reducing the efficiency and
ability to cool properly. This problem COULD be easily solved by offering the option of a window air conditioner like filter that would be placed in back of the unit covering where the ventilation holes (for the blower fan) are for a few extra bucks...this is ridiculous.

Anyone here from Whirlpool? I'd appreciate a response on how to clean these without lifting it up on a appliance hand truck and tilting it!
 
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When we moved our French door bottom freezer fridge yesterday I noticed that the front most set of "pleats" was covered in dust and I had a similar thought. My old Roper side by side was the same way.
 
Does Whirlpool actually make anything? Arent they just a brand now. Our last fridge was a whirlpool and it was just a LG with a different badge.
 
Yes, it seems like it depends on the unit but the high efficiency units seem to use this design, whereas the non energy star units like our older Whirlpool used the stacked coils. Considering they for a few bucks extra the manufacturer could offer an optional air filter which covers the ventilation holes which provide air flow for the fan would prevent much of the dust, and every 3-6 months you simply clean it off by sliding it off the back from the side of the unit. This seems like a deliberate attempt to help accelerate the death of the unit if you ask me.
 
Originally Posted by Colt45ws
Does Whirlpool actually make anything? Arent they just a brand now. Our last fridge was a whirlpool and it was just a LG with a different badge.


No. Whirlpool is a huge appliance maker and now owns many different brands like Maytag, Jenn Air, Amana, ect.

LG has no connection to Whirlpool, not to mention that LG appliances are junk especially their fridges there is a huge lawsuit pending for all LG fridges that were made with their linear compressor that is in almost all their recent fridges. They almost all fail after 2-3 years.
 
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Originally Posted by AC1DD
This seems like a deliberate attempt to help accelerate the death of the unit if you ask me.


Devils Advocate: how many people honestly clean their fridge coils though? In the 3.5 years we had owned our house we never once touched the bottom of it, and judging by the sheer amount of dust on it neither did the previous owners. Worked great, didn't notice a difference going from the "plugged up" one to the new one in our electricity bill, so the efficiency difference seems to be negligible.
 
Originally Posted by Skippy722
Originally Posted by AC1DD
This seems like a deliberate attempt to help accelerate the death of the unit if you ask me.


Devils Advocate: how many people honestly clean their fridge coils though? In the 3.5 years we had owned our house we never once touched the bottom of it, and judging by the sheer amount of dust on it neither did the previous owners. Worked great, didn't notice a difference going from the "plugged up" one to the new one in our electricity bill, so the efficiency difference seems to be negligible.


It probably depends on the model, however even if you didn't notice it, the compressor probably increased run time to compensate for the plugged coils, and if the unit is very energy efficient it might not be obvious to the casual observer, but I can tell you that it WILL shorten the life of the compressor and other related parts if you plan on keeping a unit for any length of time. Our side by side has greatly decreased in efficiency and cooling ability since the coils have gotten plugged, and they are completely plugged up not just dusty coating but a thick layer of lint perhaps an inch or more on each coil. That means that the blower fan is NOT moving air across the coils to cool them off at all.

The optional filter idea would be easy to offer and a cheap bit of insurance for very dusty environments.
 
My Kenmore Elite 3 door is 12 years old and I never have … in fact 6 KE appliances (from a remodel) are that old and never serviced my me or a tech …
 
Take it outside and blast it with the leaf blower, then finish up with air from an air compressor.

That should clean it up.
 
I have to agree the coils are hard to clean on the newer fringes cannot get to the ones in the middle. I clean what I can with brush then tape a large trash bag to the front and use a can of compressed air and blow them clean. Most of the dust goes into the bag not all. But it works well, do it twice a year.
 
Its easy to clean pleated coils, like another mentioned, use a leaf blower, needs to be done only once in your life (read on!) .

Once done and all nice, get a standard cheap window air conditioner foam air filter (the kind you can see right through), cut to size and place it in front of the pleated coils so no air passes by it. You will never have to use the blower again.

Then twice a year when you change your water filter like you are supposed to, simply pull the air filter out and shake it outside your home and put it back in place. Easy as cake. :eek:) and your coils stay clean for life.
 
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I just use a small air tank charged up to about 60 psi, and then blow in short blasts of controlled air from the extended nozzle to focus the effect. Works great.

But then I also look at appliances before I buy them, so I know how easy they are to maintain. Just like cars. My wife looks at colors and interior features; I spend most of my time shopping under the hood and under the chassis.

Car, truck, tractor, appliance ... I don't care what it is. The first thing I look at is how easy/hard it will be to maintain.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Interesting fact. "Dirty" condenser coils have essentially no impact on the efficiency of refrigeration systems.

http://theconversation.com/skip-thi...probably-wont-make-it-work-better-113158


Note: Yes this link is about coils on a HVAC system, but these coils are infinitely more dirty than anything you'll find on the coils of a refrigerator.

Sounds like somebody wants to sell some new compressors! The dirtier it gets, the longer & harder it will run to make setpoint, and the faster the compressor (and fan, and contactor, and furnace blower motor) will wear out! This is like saying running a car with the radiator blocked or no fan won't make it overheat! Come on, we're smarter than that.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Interesting fact. "Dirty" condenser coils have essentially no impact on the efficiency of refrigeration systems.

http://theconversation.com/skip-thi...probably-wont-make-it-work-better-113158


Note: Yes this link is about coils on a HVAC system, but these coils are infinitely more dirty than anything you'll find on the coils of a refrigerator.

Sounds like somebody wants to sell some new compressors! The dirtier it gets, the longer & harder it will run to make setpoint, and the faster the compressor (and fan, and contactor, and furnace blower motor) will wear out! This is like saying running a car with the radiator blocked or no fan won't make it overheat! Come on, we're smarter than that.


I believe you're thinking of the evaporator coil not the condenser coil. The condenser coil releases the heat absorbed by the evaporator coil.

Runtime is partly related to efficiency. Compressors just run. They don't run "harder".
 
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I noticed our old, 12-year old Whirlpool 2-door ref no longer shut off the compressor, all day long. Even though it ran all day, I also noticed it didn't get as cold as before. I also noted that the usual clicking sound of the defrost timer motor was not there anymore. Couldn't find a replacement timer on ebay nor the nearby stores so I reluctantly called the service company who verified they indeed had the exact replacement part needed. The repairman came over 2 days later and replaced the defective part. After which, we both noted that the timer clicking sound had returned. So back to normal then. Or so I thought.

Next day, I kept tabs on the compressor and noted it still didn't turn off. I was beginning to think something wrong with the thermostats, but I looked underneath the unit and the condenser coils were caked in fluff. Took me 2 hours to get most of the fluff off with a long-reach narrow grabbing tool. After that, everything was back to normal. I dare say this was the first time any such cleaning was done.

@BMWTurboDZL, the high side pressure goes up when the heat dissipation is reduced by blocked condenser coils, and then the compressor definitely runs harder and the unit's efficiency goes down. Some better designed compressors (including those for air conditioner home systems) have a pressure cutoff switch built in that turns the compressor power off in case the high side pressure reaches a critical level, to protect the unit.
 
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Originally Posted by berniedd

@BMWTurboDZL, the high side pressure goes up when the heat dissipation is reduced by blocked condenser coils, and then the compressor definitely runs harder and the unit's efficiency goes down. Some better designed compressors (including those for air conditioner home systems) have a pressure cutoff switch built in that turns the compressor power off in case the high side pressure reaches a critical level, to protect the unit.


Perhaps but I suspect it requires a lot of if not complete blockage.

The individuals who performed the test are members of the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) so I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand.

https://www.techstreet.com/ashrae/s...hangers-rp-1705?product_id=2005124#jumps
 
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Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Interesting fact. "Dirty" condenser coils have essentially no impact on the efficiency of refrigeration systems.

http://theconversation.com/skip-thi...probably-wont-make-it-work-better-113158


Note: Yes this link is about coils on a HVAC system, but these coils are infinitely more dirty than anything you'll find on the coils of a refrigerator.

Sounds like somebody wants to sell some new compressors! The dirtier it gets, the longer & harder it will run to make setpoint, and the faster the compressor (and fan, and contactor, and furnace blower motor) will wear out! This is like saying running a car with the radiator blocked or no fan won't make it overheat! Come on, we're smarter than that.


I believe you're thinking of the evaporator coil not the condenser coil. The condenser coil releases the heat absorbed by the evaporator coil.

Runtime is partly related to efficiency. Compressors just run. They don't run "harder".
Trust me, I do refrigeration for a living, so you're in my wheelhouse on this one! As airflow over the CONDENSER a decreases due to dirt, bad fan, etc., the head pressure of the compressor climbs until it gets high enough to condense the refrigerant at the hotter temperature. Many commercial applications, and even some automotive ones, use a high pressure cut out switch to prevent damage-but most home A/C and refrigerators DON'T have one! So the coil and compressor get hotter, run times get longer, and compressor failure becomes more likely. Excessive head pressure is hard on everything, especially the newer R-410A/Puron A/C systems-they routinely run 400 PSI high side pressure in hot weather.
 
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