When you think about your refrigerator, you probably think more about what it’s holding than how it’s running. Everyone loves their refrigerator because it keeps their food nice and cold, but too often, we tend to take our refrigerators for granted. It’s important for homeowners to perform regular maintenance on their refrigerators. Without regular maintenance, it’s more likely you’ll need refrigerator repair from Kimball Appliance Parts & Service sooner rather than later.
Clean the Coils
Cleaning the coils is one of the most important maintenance jobs homeowners can do for their refrigerator. Many refrigerators’ coils are on the back of the fridge, but some are on the bottom.
The coils do a critical job helping to getting rid of warm air in the refrigerator and replacing it with cool air. However, over time, these coils can become thickly coated in dust, and this can make the job of cooling harder. Neglecting to clean your refrigerator coils means the coils have to work harder to release the heat — it’s like working out with a heavy sweater on. This type of overwork can lead to the need for refrigerator repair, and over time, it can shorter the life span of your refrigerator.
Clean Gaskets
The rubber seals around your refrigerator and freezer doors are called gaskets. They work to make a tight seal when you close your fridge door. While a few crumbs in the folds won’t make a big difference, a lot of food buildup — especially sticky spills — can impair the gaskets’ effectiveness. For instance, if someone spills a sticky drink into the folds of the gasket, it might cause the gasket to remain compressed. This would affect its ability to form a tight seal, and cold air would leak out of your refrigerator or freezer.
Periodically clean your gaskets with a sponge or soft brush and some hot water and soap. Be gentle, because if your gasket cracks or separates from the door, you may need to call a refrigerator repair person to replace it.
Defrost the Freezer
Most modern refrigerators are equipped with freezers that automatically defrost. However, if you have a freezer that must be manually defrosted, it’s important to do this chore regularly. The longer you let frost build up inside your freezer, the harder the freezer has to work to keep your food frozen.
The chore of defrosting the freezer is especially onerous if you are defrosting a standalone freezer. That’s because to do this job, you must empty the freezer of all the food. Unless you can work especially quickly, put the food into a cooler or the fridge while you do the work.
Turn the freezer dial to off so that it does not run while you are trying to defrost it. You can put a hot pot of water inside or use dishrags soaked in hot water to hasten the melting of the ice. Sometimes a big piece of ice will come off all at once. Although this is satisfying, you must resist chopping away at the ice with an object in an effort to get all of it to come off in chunks. This could break your freezer’s plastic lining, possibly destroying the appliance.
Best Appliance Repair in Salt Lake City
When you’ve done all of your maintenance chores but your fridge is still giving you trouble, call Kimball Appliance Parts & Service for refrigerator repair. We have offices in Salt Lake City, Denver and Kansas City.
