Why does nobody talk about how many refrigerator compressors fail from dust bunnies?

I was at a training class last Tuesday in Denver and the instructor dropped a stat that blew my mind. He said 60 percent of compressor failures in fridges over 5 years old are caused by dust buildup on the condenser coils. I have been doing this trade for 8 years and I always assumed it was bad start relays or just age related. Sure, I clean coils on calls sometimes but I never realized how many units I could have saved with just a $5 brush and 10 minutes of work. Has anyone else seen a crazy high number of compressor replacements that could have been avoided with basic coil cleaning?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylerr291mo ago

And it's the same story with dryer vents (the amount of house fires that start from lint buildup is insane).

wesleypatel1mo ago

Actually most dryer vent fires are from improper installation or crushed vents, not just lint buildup.