The
DRSNews
June
2004
Published by Dave's
Repair Service, All Rights Reserved
You are encouraged to forward this newsletter to
friends!
***************************************
A Special Welcome to all our new
subscribers!
In
this issue:
1)
Summertime - Can Your Refrigerator Breathe?
2) Send me a Testimonial - I'm Offering Bribes!
3) Reminder: Saving Your Refrigerator Door Seals
1)
Here we are once again at the start of that season when refrigerators
start to shudder. To help keep yours humming along through the
heat and humidity of summer, here are a couple of tips I always
repeat this time of year:
Best
Refrigerator Tip #1:
Keep
that condenser clean! All the heat removed from the food inside a
refrigerator is moved 'outside the box' by the condenser coil.
Nearly always black because black radiates heat best, these coils
used to be flat and nearly the size of the cabinet. They hung on
the back, where they quietly radiated heat to the kitchen,
requiring no fan to keep them cool.
It
was a good system, using gravity to provide airflow and saving
energy by not requiring a fan ('Did require 2-3 inches of
airspace above the refrig, though).
There
are still a few units
out there with their coils hanging on the back, and if this describes
yours, wonderful! You will never
have the pleasure
of doing what most of us get to do every year or so. (Guys:
you can still lie on the kitchen floor and pretend to do
something useful, but be sure she doesn't read
this newsletter
<g>).
Nearly
all condensers these days are folded or rolled and stuffed
underneath the refrigerator, and need a fan to pull air through
them to do their job.
I
won't get into the logic behind this change, but it adds one more
item to the list of preventive maintenance jobs around your
house. And it's probably the number 2 reason a refrig pro is called
in (and paid!), so you can save some money here.
Once
a year - early summer's a great time - pull the toe-plate off the
refrig and have a look underneath. Most condenser air inlets are
on the right side, though some pull air in across the whole width
of the cabinet. (note there are a few - Maytag products mostly -
that require back cover removal to clean the inlet of their
'jelly-roll' shaped coil).
This
air inlet area's where you'll see lint buildup, and it's often just
a solid wall of lint - definitely NOT what you want! You don't
want any lint there, bc it acts as insulation, and you want the
best heat transfer efficiency you can get from that coil.
Just
turn the refrig off and fire up your trusty shop-vac. A brush
specifically made for this purpose is a really handy tool for
the job, and on the models with tightly packed coils, is an absolute
must. To see an example of one that works well for me and really
speeds up the job, click here
.
For
more on this job, including a precaution or two, please see item #4
in the May '02 DRSNews
2)
I'm looking for testimonials from our subscribers and/or customers, to post
on my website, and I'll BRIBE you to get one! <grin>
Here's
the Deal:
If
the DRSNews or your dealings with Dave's Repair Service have been
at all beneficial to you (or even if you've been disappointed
- this'd be a good time to fix whatever might be broken!),
please send me a short testimonial at drs@sosbbs.com
If
your testimonial is selected for publication, I'll post it, along with
your first name, initial of your last name, and
city/state/country, on my website. I do reserve the right to
edit it for clarity and brevity.
And
here's The Bribe!
I'll
publish, along with your testimonial, a one-line description of your
website, and a live link to it, so be sure to include the
URL!
(I
know this wouldn't be a problem with you guys, but I have a legal
obligation to say that I reserve the right to screen your website
for inappropriate content before posting)
I
plan on keeping one of these testimonials near the top of my homepage,
with a link to a separate page (or pages) of them underneath. This
homepage testimonial will be rotated on a regular basis to keep
it 'fresh', so there's a good chance yours will end up there at one
time or another.
Any
of you that have been marketing for a while know that the more
'external' links pointing to your site, the more traffic you
get, and you'll recognize the value in this 'bribe'.
I
hope to have at least some of these published in next month's issue,
so don't wait - send 'em on in! Remember to include your name,
city/state, and the URL of any website you promote, along with
a one-line description of the site. Send them to me at: drs@sosbbs.com
And
I'm serious about emailing me even if you've been disappointed or
dissatisfied. Please do so. I won't be personally offended, and
if there's a problem, I 'can't fix it if I don't know it's
broke'.
Thanks
in advance! And a special Thanks to you kind folks who've already
sent your 'unsolicited' feedback. I appreciate that.
Ok,
back to refrigerators...
3)
Best Refrigerator Tip #2:
Another
preventive maintenance item that's more important than ever is
door gasket lubrication. Those of you who've been with me for a
while have heard this before, but this is a great time of year to
check on it. I've copied the following article from my website, 'How
to add 10 years of life to your refrig door seals', below:
(from
www.DavesRepair.com/DIYhelp/DIYrefseallube.htm
)
Here's
a simple trick that will most likely prevent your ever
having to replace either of your
refrigerator's door seals.
It
becomes even more valuable if you own one
of the newer models whose seals are no longer attached with
screws, but
GLUED on (a really dumb idea there, manufacturers!)
Once
every year (make it a part of Spring housecleaning? Anyone still
DO Spring housecleaning?) wipe
down the working surfaces of the seals with a damp cloth, and
dry.
Then
apply a thin film of Petroleum Jelly to the HINGE side surface of
both seals. (ONLY to the hinge side working surface that contacts
the cabinet, NOT
the whole seal!). This
allows the sliding face of the seal to, well, slide,
across the hinge-side cabinet face, and prevent its twisting
and tearing, the #1 cause
of failure.
There
was a time when new refrigerators, at least Frigidaires, arrived
from
the factory with this already done, but that was back in the late
70's so
I'm dating myself and we'll drop that subject…
<grin>
***
Thanks
for allowing me into your
inbox again this month.
Feel
free to invite others to subscribe. They can sign up easily right here on the
website, on the signup page .
Also,
if you have any topics you'd like to see discussed
here or covered in an online article, let me know and I'll
do my best to oblige. The website's a resource I'm excited
about, because it allows a lot more flexibility and detail
than email. It's a lot easier, for example, to use photos to illustrate
something in a web document than via email.
May
the Lord richly bless you
& yours!
Your
Friend,
Only
one thing in the physical world is unaffected by entropy!
Know what it is? (Hint: see Isaiah 40:8)