Why refrigerators spontaneously explode and how to prevent it.
Why refrigerators spontaneously explode and how to prevent it.
A potential disaster is lurking in your kitchen: the refrigerator. Here's how a fridge can explode—and what you can do to reduce your chances of catastrophe
While refrigerator explosions are still rare enough that their frequency is unknown, Neil Everitt, former editor at air-conditioning and refrigeration magazine ACR News, dubs these occurrences as "ignored disasters" and views fridges as one of the most dangerous appliances in a home. The reason: While a fire caused by a stove or other appliance is usually preceded by smoke or a beeping alarm, fridge explosions happen spontaneously and without warning, leaving residents unprepared.
how can it all go wrong? Sometimes, as the gas refrigerant moves through the compressor, the back of a fridge can get extremely hot. This causes the compressor's coils to contract, and the gas can become trapped. If this highly flammable gas is not able to properly vent it builds up and can eventually burst through its enclosure.
Most modern refrigerators are now backed with metal that includes a heat shield to prevent fires, but older or cheaper models may use a plastic backing. The plastic is highly flammable and, if ignited, can cause fires that develop quickly and powerfully while giving off toxic gas.
if your fridge makes a choppy sound or, even worse, no noise at all, the coils could be clogged.
“The easiest way to save your refrigerator is to clean the condenser coils,”
Cleaning coils:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=h0ytzetkjGQ