Food Talk..include the Refrigerator. keep them clean

for the past week, i have been having some fridge headaches.

the coolness was diminished, but more daunting was that drip pan underneath kept overflowing. i would have to stuff my arm under there (the driptray: they are not all removable) with the corners of my dog washing towels to soak up water every two days. super annoying, and my knuckles hated it. i did just make up a suction system with a plastic bottle and some hoses if it kept getting worse..never had to use it.

i called in a technician. in the meantime, i cleaned the coils under the fridge. having a cat and and dog, lets just say...WTF?!!! i actually ran my air hose from the garage in, and blasted out underneath with compressed air. it was effen horrific..then i chased around the ghost-turds with my shop vac. i got it cleaned. instantly, the coolness appeared to return.

enter the technician. he said, "damn, this thing is clean!". i explained my air method and he laughed at the mess i must have made. he then pointed out my condenser fan. it was equally dirty. he showed me how to use a water spray bottle to blast it clean and wipe it with a paper towel. he then changed the condenser start relay (cheap easy insurance), he showed me how as well..cleaned a few more things, and took the time to show me what to look for. the cold line and hot line in particular. it indicates healthy Freon.

in summary..clean underneath those refrigerators. if the coils get dirty, the compressor has to work harder. the fan? not only does it pull warm air from the compressor, it directs is over the drip pan to facilitate evaporation. clean that fan! there was very little water in the tray this morning..typically it would be half full overnight.

saved me from having to buy a new unit..which would have been a PIA since my cabinet is only 67.5" tall in opening..and all new fridges seem to require 70" openings!! looks like i have some cabinet carpentry work in my future. i wont pretend to understand a fridge's inner workings..but they dont seem that complicated.

apparently, there is a refrigerator coil cleaning brush i may want to look into..

 

Makes me feel like I need to clean mine...

 

Don't leave spilled milk in them either, for a week @Fargo Taco

 

Too soon, man. Too soon. I can still smell it.

 

haha..thankfully i am lactose intolerant.

my MIL let a jug of milk slide out of her grocery bag in the trunk. she inadvertently left it there for a long time in the California summer..it gassed up and blew up..and spilled its contents under the back seat. i earned my "favorite SIL" award when i dissasembled her car interior and washed her car. it smelled like vomit...didnt help that i actually vomited (outside, i made it outside).

damn.. cleaning a cold fridge spill seems like low hanging fruit after that event..

 

I had one of those small half pint milks from a to go lunch fall off my seat back when i was active duty in Texas...about a week later i found it under the seat bloated up like a raccoon...really gave me dry hurls cleaning that up...never did get that smell out of the carpet

 

I some how left an 80 count box of hamburgers in my wife's car once..........for 5 days.............in the summer

 

I worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years - cook/kitchen manager - so our kitchen at home is spotless, and I am the only one allowed to clean. I am a moderate germaphobe, and after doing what I did for a living, I definitely have rules for heading off nastiness in the whole room.

We don't have a huge fridge, and the colis are not exposed on the back, so they stay relatively clean. We also don't buy in bulk, so it is rare that something goes bad in the fridge...when I first met my (now) wife, it was A LOT different...we had to have some "meetings" about kitchen usage. And it actually works out great b/c she does not like to cook, and I do...and I don't do laundry "The correct way" for her, so she does that

 

I get the same from my wife...lol

 

Bro. Should’ve PMd me. @aficianado

 

yep

I don't separate...everything goes in at the same time on warm/warm, except t shirs which are cold/cold and hang dry. It takes me one day to do laundry.

She separates, and it takes 4-5 days to do laundry, and there are are half empty baskets everywhere....I still do my own t shirts