Can we talk about how many guys skip cleaning the condenser coils on a fridge call

I keep seeing posts where people swap a compressor or add refrigerant without even looking at the coils. Last month I had a customer in Phoenix say their fridge was running nonstop for 2 days. Pulled the bottom grille and the coils were basically a dust blanket. Hit them with my pressure washer on low, fridge cycled normal in 10 minutes. Charged $75 for the trip and they were happy. Why do so many guys just jump to the expensive fixes first without checking the basics? Anyone else run into this?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry_anderson5411h ago

Yeah "hit them with my pressure washer on low" is exactly what my buddy Dave did on a call last month. He was the third guy out there and found the coils packed with dog hair, two minutes of cleaning fixed it. Housewives keep telling him they're scared to touch the fridge so they just call.

blair9903h ago

Right? Had a call last week, same exact thing, dust city under there.

sethm583h agoTop Commenter

Pressure washer on low is a solid trick, I've used a garden hose on the coils outside a few times myself. @henry_anderson54 reminds me of a call where a lady had a golden retriever and I had to pull out three dust bunnies the size of small birds. These people are paying for the fix and it's nice when it's something simple like coil cleaning instead of a whole compressor swap.