KitchenAid KRFC704FSS03 French Door Refrigerator: how to access coils to clean them?

[Ladd]

Subject line says it all: How do I access the condenser coils so I can brush/vacuum them?

[Econo Appliance]

Unfortunately that is not a valid KitchenAid model number so I cannot tell you for sure,  but on most of the KitchenAid French doors you either pop off the toe kick Grill and access from the front, or you pull the fridge from the wall and access from the back.

[Ladd]

Well, that's embarrassing; I must have got the Model number off of something I downloaded. Checking the actual refrigerator, the model number is:  KRFC704FSS03

My old KitchenAid side-by-side had coil access from the front kickplate and the rear. If the current French Door refrigerator has a front kickplate, it is no more than an inch high. I have yet to pull the refrigerator out to see what access from the back looks like.

Does the correct model number offer any guidance?  (I'll see if I can edit the Title of the posting).

[Ladd]

On 3/19/2024 at 6:10 PM, Ladd said:

Subject line says it all: How do I access the condenser coils so I can brush/vacuum them?

Model Number in Title is INCORRECT! The correct model number is KRFC704FSS03.

[Ladd]

The reason I ask the question as to how to clean the coils, is that my owner's manual says to "call a qualified service person" to perform this task.

Not to take work away from any of you hard-working folks, but all my other refrigerators could have the coils cleaned by a careful homeowner. I believe I fall into that category and am looking for confirmation as to how to access the coils.

[vee8power]

The owner is asked to make sure air can move out one side or the front grill and in the other side. The instructions do say to clean the front of the condenser from the front, which by looking at the parts diagram, doesn't seem practical. A different Whirlpool built condenser is like that. There are vent holes in the machine compartment cover on the back; you can move the unit out to clean those. You could also remove the machine compartment cover to get at the condenser itself if you wanted. The only reason I see for doing all that is if it had been left for years without cleaning from the front, or that grease laden dust that happens in some kitchens.

You don't need to dust it like you dust your knick-knacks; you just want to make sure there is air flow for the heat to escape. Those instructions assume you don't want to risk hurting the floor by moving the machine. If you do do it every 6 months, that's all you need to do.  

[Ladd]

May I correctly assume that you are saying that some (all?) of the coils can be accessed from the outside rear of the machine?

I recall seeing a video that showed many multiple parts having to be removed from the INSIDE back of the refrigerator to fully access the coils.

[vee8power]

2 minutes ago, Ladd said:

I recall seeing a video that showed many multiple parts having to be removed from the INSIDE back of the refrigerator to fully access the coils.

That' the evaporator. There is no maintenance to be done there.

[Ladd]

Thank you very much for your time and advice.

As it appears there is little to no kick plate on the front (where I did half the coil cleaning on the older KitchenAid side-by-side), I will pull the fridge out and see what can be found under the removable panels on the back side.

[Ladd]

FWIW: I just received an email from KitchenAid support ( 10 days after I asked) quoting from the owner's manual regarding cleaning the coils: "Please call a certified service person to clean the coils".

Which, of course, I had already read in the manual,  so no help there.

I look forward to pulling the refrigerator out in the near future and seeing what can be done from the rear.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

@Ladd Only way you're getting to this one is from the back.

Best way to clean would be to set up a vacuum sucking from front opening and with compressed air blow the coil off from the back.

From the right hand side if you have a condenser coil cleaning brush you might be able to get in from that end - the condenser fan covers the left hand side of the coil.  Not sure how hard it is to remove the condenser fan to gain access to the coils from the left side of the coil.

The coils don't have enough of a gap between coils to brush through the coils directly from back to front.

Here's some good pictures of the condenser coil on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116000221515

https://www.ebay.com/itm/335162154456

The mounting base would be on the bottom and the end that is shown UP in the above picture is the end that will be obstructed from the condenser fan.

[Ladd]

Willie:

Thank you for that detailed response!