Why did back coil refrigerators vanish?

[jetgraphics]

I was wondering if anyone knows why the "old fashioned" back mounted
coil refrigerators were replaced with bottom mounted coils?

Back coil mounts didn't become as filthy nor did they need a fan to
blow air over them.

Just curious...

TIA!

[Jim Yanik]

jetgraphics <jetgr...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1192292840....@v23g2000prn.googlegroups.com:

perhaps they were more subject to damage?
and you have to move the fridge to clean them.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

[Rick Blaine]

jetgraphics <jetgr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Actually they did collect dust, but the primary reason for moving them underneat
was to get the fridge closer to the wall. Looks better when the frige isn't
enclosed and keep things stored on top from getting pushed off the back.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars

[Art Todesco]

Also, I have a fridge with the
compressor and coils up top, and they
too, get
dirty.

[Don Young]

"jetgraphics" <jetgr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1192292840....@v23g2000prn.googlegroups.com...

I suspect it was when self-defrosting units came to be. They need some place
to drain the water. The heat from the coils along with the fan works to
evaporate the water from the drain pan so you don't need a drain through the
floor.

Don Young

[DerbyDad03]

On Oct 13, 2:11 pm, Rick Blaine <d...@bother.com> wrote:

--- the primary reason for moving them underneat was to get the

fridge closer to the wall

That, and the elimination of the need for ventilation above the unit.

If I'm not mistaken, you can't "build in" a fridge with coils on the
back without providing gap above the unit for the heat to escape
through. That can be difficult if there are cabinets directly above
the fridge.

[tra...@optonline.net]

On Oct 13, 9:39 pm, "Don Young" <no...@nonesuch.com> wrote:
> "jetgraphics" <jetgraph...@gmail.com> wrote in message

They made self-defrosting units for a long time with coils in the
back. The one I have now from mid 80s is made that way and I know
they were made in the 70's with auto defrost and coils too. Not sure
when the non-exposed coil units first appearerd, but I would guess
90's?

Definitely better, as you don't have to worry about the exposed coils
in back when moving it and it goes back close to flush.

[<RJ>]

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:32:12 -0700, tra...@optonline.net wrote:
>
>They made self-defrosting units for a long time with coils in the
>back. The one I have now from mid 80s is made that way and I know
>they were made in the 70's with auto defrost and coils too. Not sure
>when the non-exposed coil units first appearerd, but I would guess
>90's?
>
>Definitely better, as you don't have to worry about the exposed coils
>in back when moving it and it goes back close to flush.

But there's a down side.
Cleaning the under-fridge heat exchanger is a real pain.

I still have to pull out the fridge and unplug it..
Then, crawl on the floor,
remove half-dozen hex sheet-metal screws from the back cover.
( this exposes the fan and the coils ( sort of ) )
Lots of dust.... worse if you have a dog or cat
Squeeze the shop-vac hose into all the nooks and crannys.
Try not to bend, break or disconnect anything.
Replace access cover
Rassle fridge back in place, and plug it in.

How many average households will do this
once or twice a year ?

How many will have poor performance
or shorter appliance life due to clogged coils...

It was alot simpler when Momma could roll out the fridge,
run the vac hose over the ( exposed ) coils, and roll it back.

clogged heat
<rj>

[scott...@gmail.com]

My best guess at this is because people are stupid, and don't read the
manufacturers recomendations which specify minimum distances around
the refrigerator (specifically to dissipate the heat). Sine they know
you are going to cram in a refrigerator that will take up nearly 100%
of the space available, they put it at the bottom so they can vent it
out the bottom front.

[Dave Martindale]

My theory: look at the volume occupied by a rear-mounted condenser with
the appropriate amount of air space behind the fridge (and above it as
well). That's a lot of volume that isn't storing anything cold. By
using a fan-cooled condenser, the refrigerator case can be about 3
inches deeper and a couple inches higher and still fit into the same
space without projecting any further into the room. That gives a
significant increase in inside room if the box insulation remains the
same thickness, or allows thicker insulation (for better efficiency)
while keeping the interior volume the same.

Dave

[hal...@aol.com]

no doubt the current style is at least a bit cheaper to build
manufacturers will do anything to save a dime multiplied by millions
it makes big bucks

[Frustrated]

replying to , Frustrated wrote:
Absolutely! I would gladly have the "ugly" back coils again, at least you
could keep an eye on them and clean when necessary. Just learned the hard way
that vacuuming the front grill cover like manual says does absolutely nothing.
The condenser coils are zigzagged underneath in a way no vacuum can reach.
Have a 2 year old warped and ruined bamboo floor to remind me now that I
should have bought the brush (that no one tells you about) and been cleaning
this inaccessible part every 6 months or so.

--
posted from
http://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/why-did-back-coil-refrigerators-vanish-257822-.htm

[TimR]

On Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 12:44:06 PM UTC-4, Frustrated wrote:

> The condenser coils are zigzagged underneath in a way no vacuum can reach.
> Have a 2 year old warped and ruined bamboo floor to remind me now that I
> should have bought the brush (that no one tells you about) and been cleaning
> this inaccessible part every 6 months or so.

I have one refrigerator where the coils are horizontal and stacked. That special brush will get between them.

But my other one has angled coils in a \/\/ configuration (side view). From the front you can vacuum the front \ of the coil. By moving away from the wall and taking the machine screws out and removing the back cover, you can vacuum the / of the coil. Well, part of it. That compressor makes access tricky.

However there is no way to get vacuum or brush anywhere near the inner /\ coils. I blow them off with a can of spray air, as best I can. It's better than nothing but doesn't really clean them.

[Oren]

On Thu, 21 Apr 2016 11:54:35 -0700 (PDT), TimR <timot...@aol.com>
wrote:

>However there is no way to get vacuum or brush anywhere near the inner /\ coils. I blow them off with a can of spray air, as best I can. It's better than nothing but doesn't really clean them.

+1 Unless your take the box outside and put some real air to dislodge
crud.

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

Or put it on the back deck and take the water hose to it. That will
remove a lot of what air won't touch.

[sms]

There is a way to clean them. I followed what this guy did on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms28ypfO2Jw

It does work. Just be very very sure that all three sides are completely
sealed or the dust will come flying out and go everywhere. I tried using
foam pipe insulators jammed in between the cabinets and the side of the
refrigerator. This did not stop all the dust from escaping out the sides.

[hrho...@att.net]

9 year old post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Oren]

They make a coil cleaner for outside condenser coils , then hosed off.
Wouldn't it work outside on the fridge, too...

[Stormin Mormon]

On 4/22/2016 2:50 PM, Oren wrote:
>
> They make a coil cleaner for outside condenser coils , then hosed off.
> Wouldn't it work outside on the fridge, too...
>

The coils are a different design. I'd expect
the refrig coils don't really need such
chemical action.

--
.
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
. www.lds.org
.
.

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

Don't see why not. The crud I've seen on some condenser coils - and on
dehumidifiers - would never come off with an air hose and would
require a bit of work with a water hose

[James Printy]

replying to , James Printy wrote:
Amen! The only way I can figure how to clean the coils underneath the frig is
tape a plastic garbage bag on the front of frig, take back off, and drag my
air hose from garage into kitchen and blow the dust out. Garbage bag traps
most of dust but not all and cleaning the blade on blower is a pain too. Like
to have the old ones with coil on back.

[TimR]

On Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 11:44:07 PM UTC-4, James Printy wrote:
Like
> to have the old ones with coil on back.
>
>
> --
> posted from
> http://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/why-did-back-coil-refrigerators-vanish-257822-.htm

I just bought one with coils on the back. It is a small hotel sized one (not the mini dorm size, but just slightly under 18 cu ft.) I was very careful moving it, those coils run the full height of the fridge and look very fragile.

[Micky]

On Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:44:02 +0000, James Printy
<caedfaa9ed1216d60e...@example.com> wrote:

>replying to , James Printy wrote:
>Amen! The only way I can figure how to clean the coils underneath the frig is
>tape a plastic garbage bag on the front of frig, take back off, and drag my
>air hose from garage into kitchen and blow the dust out. Garbage bag traps
>most of dust but not all and cleaning the blade on blower is a pain too. Like
>to have the old ones with coil on back.

They might sell a special brush for this, long and thin.

[dirt]

replying to TimR, dirt wrote:
Mine is the same. Its impossible to get to the inner coils. I tried bending
the special brush at a 45 degree angle to get to it. Does not do a decent job.
Please, does anyone have a better way?

--
for full context, visit http://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/why-did-back-coil-refrigerators-vanish-257822-.htm

[Taxed and Spent]

On 8/7/2016 9:14 AM, dirt wrote:
> replying to TimR, dirt wrote:
> Mine is the same. Its impossible to get to the inner coils. I tried bending
> the special brush at a 45 degree angle to get to it. Does not do a
> decent job.
> Please, does anyone have a better way?
>

The last time I had this problem, I had the gardener come in and blow it
out with his leaf blower. Seriously. I wheeled the fridge over to the
door so the stuff would blow outside.

[bob haller]

think compressor. can make a dirt. put fridge or whatever outside so the dust blows away.

i have fixed office machines for a lifetime. there was a nun in charge of a catholic school. they used super cheap paper in the copier. clean up was a mess. one day i moved the copier outside and blew the paper dust out with compressor.

it was a windy day, the dust blew away, but the nun was mad i had done this.. till i reminded her it saved her 75 bucks for a hours labor, with my vacuum and artists brush....

she said ok but dont do it again......

[Oren]

On Sun, 7 Aug 2016 11:37:51 -0700 (PDT), bob haller <hal...@aol.com>
wrote:

>i have fixed office machines for a lifetime.

You were born that way?

Mom sent you home in a taxi, being to ugly?

[Uncle Monster]

Me and my brother have 20lb CO2 tanks of the type used with soft drink dispensing machines. The liquid CO2 boiling into gas inside the tanks lasts a long time for uses like inflating tires, blowing dirt out HVAC equipment, checking pipes for leaks and blowing dirt out of computers plus other office equipment. A computer, even in the cleanest of offices, will fill up with dust elephants in no time. We'd take the computers from a business outside, to the loading dock if there was one, then blow the dirt out of them with CO2 at 100psi. The people there couldn't believe how muck dirt we got out of their machines. We couldn't turn off the big Cisco routers and switches to clean them so we used a combination of the CO2, tarp material cut to size for the purpose and a shop-vac. Any office equipment with a cooling fan would get full of dust. I like business computers because they usually have one latch to pull in order to remove a side cover which makes servicing them so much easier. Oh yea, me and my brother were tortured by nuns when we were little kids. We still have nightmares about giant penguins chasing us. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Dust Monster

[Taxed and Spent]

On 8/7/2016 1:48 PM, Uncle Monster wrote:
> On Sunday, August 7, 2016 at 1:37:55 PM UTC-5, bob haller wrote:
>> On Sunday, August 7, 2016 at 12:15:42 PM UTC-4, Taxed and Spent wrote:
>>> On 8/7/2016 9:14 AM, dirt wrote:
>>>> replying to TimR, dirt wrote:
>>>> Mine is the same. Its impossible to get to the inner coils. I tried bending
>>>> the special brush at a 45 degree angle to get to it. Does not do a
>>>> decent job.
>>>> Please, does anyone have a better way?
>>>>
>>>
>>> The last time I had this problem, I had the gardener come in and blow it
>>> out with his leaf blower. Seriously. I wheeled the fridge over to the
>>> door so the stuff would blow outside.
>>
>> think compressor. can make a dirt. put fridge or whatever outside so the dust blows away.
>>

I didn't have a compressor and was helping at a friends house. the
gardener happened to be there, so . . .

[Father Guido Sarducci]

On 8/7/2016 4:48 PM, Uncle Monster wrote:
> Oh yea, me and my brother were tortured by nuns when we were little kids. We still have nightmares about giant penguins chasing us. ^_^
>
> [8~{} Uncle Dust Monster

Choirboy #1: I have to go to confession today so I'm a bit worried.

You know our priest a long time. What would he give
for committing sodomy?

Choirboy #2: Usually two chocolate bars.


Q: How do you get a nun pregnant?
A: Dress her up as an altar boy.


Q: What do you call a nun after a sex change operation?
A: A tran-sistor.

[Uncle Monster]

You opened a new account just for that?! Christ! ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Irreverent Monster

[bob haller]

i graduated high school in 1975 and started repairing office machines and am still doing it today..i have repaired duplicators, thermofax machines, copiers. roll laminating machines plus a smattering of av equiptement. most of this for schools. its been challenging, fun at times, met lots of nice people. a few really dumb like the fill in secretary who dumped all the toner out of her copier twice to clean it. she couldnt understand why it wouldnt print........

[Uncle Monster]

When I was a kid, I remember going to the school office, hearing loud mechanical noises and smelling something that I thought a bit odd. Someone said it was the mimeograph machine. This was many years before kids said WTF, at least out loud. When was the last time you saw one of these beasts? ^_^

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1946-Heyer-automatic-conqueror-spirit-duplicator-model-750-1946-/162156667451?hash=item25c14a623b:g:UmMAAOSw0fhXiMuX

http://tinyurl.com/z28jt43

[8~{} Uncle Duplicate Monster

[bob haller]

every day ,,,,,,,,

new models are called risograph. they scan and produce the stencil that goes on the drum all automatically. they work well.

but require long runs to make the copies produced affordable.....

[Uncle Monster]

I've done some work with offset printing. I designed and built a cooling system that added humidity to the cooling air for an offset printer so it could use a newly developed ink that needed no water on the rollers. The owner of the ink company dropped dead of a heart attack while he watched a football game on TV. I hate football. 8-(

[8~{} Uncle Disappointed Monster

[Bob F]

My desktop PC has a foam filter I made in the unused 3 - 5 1/4" drive
bays with a 5" fan behind it, with the fan speed adjusted so the
internal pressure inside the PC is is positive relative to room
pressure. All the cooling air comes through the filter, and everything
inside the PC case stays way cleaner than without the filter. I just
pull out the filter once in a while and vac it off.

[Uncle Monster]

That's something I've had in some of my towers that I built. I purchased the cases based on the fact that they had factory filters. A lot of rack mount server cases are also manufactured with built in filters. I've even cut squares of the foam filter material made for HVAC systems and stuck them on the front of my computer case vent with toothpicks or paperclips. Dirt is the enemy. My 42lb Dell Precision workstations have huge heatsinks inside that don't build up dirt that quickly because of the surface area but are really easy to clean with a vacuum cleaner, paint brush and some canned air. I have a lot of Dell desktop computers and they're so easy to service because I can pull one latch and the side cover comes off. In the good old days when I was building systems it took a bucket of screws to put one together. I'm lazy theses days and want something easy to work on. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Dirty Monster

[Tekkie®]

bob haller posted for all of us...

She didn't have the kids clean the erasers by banging them against the
outside wall?

--
Tekkie

[Diesel]

Uncle Monster <uncl...@gmail.com>
news:abd9675d-f665-47c7...@googlegroups.com Mon, 08

Aug 2016 04:01:41 GMT in alt.home.repair, wrote:

> When I was a kid, I remember going to the school office, hearing
> loud mechanical noises and smelling something that I thought a bit
> odd. Someone said it was the mimeograph machine. This was many
> years before kids said WTF, at least out loud. When was the last
> time you saw one of these beasts? ^_^

Hehehe. Those were in some of the grade schools i've had the... ehm,
pleasure of attending some years ago.

> http://tinyurl.com/z28jt43

It's been a very long time.

--
MID: <nb7u27$crn$1...@boaterdave.dont-email.me>
Hmmm. I most certainly don't understand how I can access a copy of a
zip file but then not be able to unzip it so I can watch it. That
seems VERY clever!
http://al.howardknight.net/msgid.cgi?ID=145716711400

[OkieEngineer]

replying to , OkieEngineer wrote:
You nailed it! Under-side coils are impossible to get very clean. And, as
they clog-up with dust, the condenser temps go up, which means the compressor
pressures go way up, shortening the compressor life. The old-style rear
condenser units are WAY more reliable. I've seen them run 40+ years.
It might be true that the fan-cooled coils are more efficient, but that
efficiency will be gone within a month in most households where the coils will
quickly get covered with dust.

[bob haller]

heck when i started working in 1975, i repaired office machines, including ditto machines that made those blue copies, the alcohol smelled good.

mimeograph machines black copies. kinda messy. mimiograph machines are still in use today, they are called risograph. basically a automated mimieo machine.

sold and repaired coated paper copiers, both wet toner and dry poweder machines, overhead projectors, thermofax machines. some system 80 teaching machines that used a record and card guilde..

currently i repair and sell laminating machines that put plastic on paper

[dhsm_64]

replying to Don Young, dhsm_64 wrote:
Actually I have an old Kenmore non defrost with coils on the back and they are
not that deep so you can clean them and still get them close enough to the
wall! They do not get dirty as the ones under which are impossible to clean
from that front guard. You actually have to open the back panel and clean that
way but still they are dirty and greasy. The only true way to clean them is to
have someone tilt them back on a hand truck and you vacuum and wash them that
way .First one side and then the other. There can be frost free with coils on
the back and they are absolutely more quiet as there is no need for a fan to
cause the air flow needed for evaporation. IN a WORD they SUCK!

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/why-did-back-coil-refrigerators-vanish-257822-.htm

[Colonel Edmund J. Burke]

On 9/14/2017 10:44 AM, dhsm_64 pooped:

> Actually I have an old Kenmore non defrost with coils on the back and they are
> not that deep so you can clean them and still get them close enough to the
> wall! They do not get dirty as the ones under which are impossible to clean
> from that front guard. You actually have to open the back panel and clean that
> way but still they are dirty and greasy. The only true way to clean them is to
> have someone tilt them back on a hand truck and you vacuum and wash them that
> way .First one side and then the other. There can be frost free with coils on
> the back and they are absolutely more quiet as there is no need for a fan to
> cause the air flow needed for evaporation. IN a WORD they SUCK!
>

Ha! What a load of crap!

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Thu 14 Sep 2017 10:44:02a, dhsm_64 told us...

> replying to Don Young, dhsm_64 wrote:
> Actually I have an old Kenmore non defrost with coils on the back
> and they are not that deep so you can clean them and still get
> them close enough to the wall! They do not get dirty as the ones
> under which are impossible to clean from that front guard. You
> actually have to open the back panel and clean that way but still
> they are dirty and greasy. The only true way to clean them is to
> have someone tilt them back on a hand truck and you vacuum and
> wash them that way .First one side and then the other. There can
> be frost free with coils on the back and they are absolutely more
> quiet as there is no need for a fan to cause the air flow needed
> for evaporation. IN a WORD they SUCK!
>

we have what I consider a rather odd refrgerator. It's Summit, and has
no bottom grid in the front, nor any coils on the back, nor any
perceivable fan in the bottom where the compresor is located. It's
also perfectly silent. It is frost-free and the freezer compartment
maintains from -5 ot 0 degrees F, while the rerigerator compartment
maintains 36-40 degrees F. This is a secondary refrigerator, but
performs as well as our Maytag. Our Maytag does have a removable grid
in the front as well as easy to clean coils. There are no exposed
coils on the back, but it does have a fan. We had a serviceman replace
the ice maker about a month ago and in the process removed the back
lower panel. There is a fan but there was no dirt or dust inside.

--

~~ If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it. ~~

~~ A mind is a terrible thing to lose. ~~

**********************************************************

Wayne Boatwright

[Oren]

On Thu, 14 Sep 2017 19:56:15 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
<waynebo...@xgmail.com> wrote:

>We had a serviceman replace
>the ice maker about a month ago and in the process removed the back
>lower panel. There is a fan but there was no dirt or dust inside.

Did you find the source of the leaking? I may have missed the post.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Fri 15 Sep 2017 07:47:49a, Oren told us...

Yes, it was a solenoid valve that went berserk. It would periodically
stick while filing the ice maker. I think I did post this after the
repair.

[Greg Seaman]

replying to , Greg Seaman wrote:
I agree, it's such a pain.to clean all the time
believe the coils in the back were much better .I forgot to unplug the unit
and I broke the fan blade with the vacuum and within two years whole thing
died. Only lasted not quite 5 years. What happened to the fridges that lasted
10, 15, and even 20 years?

[Greg Seaman]

replying to Frustrated, Greg Seaman wrote:
I Use a blower or compressed air to blow the lentout from under unit and
vacuum up after.

[Mark]

Back in the day, engineers sent us to the moon. And they also designed and built refrigerators that were easy to use and lasted for 30 years. Then some business executives in the c-suites decided that customers should return to buy another refrigerator every 5-7 years instead. So to fix the problem they moved a perfectly designed heat exchange system to the dirtiest and least accessible place possible, micro-sized it and added a cheap plastic fan.

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/why-did-back-coil-refrigerators-vanish-257822-.htm

[Sid 03]

DerbyDad03 had it right. its because the new homes have cabinets built all around the fridge and has no way to vent the heat.

[micky]

In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 1 Sep 2021 19:02:26 -0700 (PDT), Sid 03

<sidw...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 8:31:20 PM UTC-5, Mark wrote:
>> Back in the day, engineers sent us to the moon. And they also designed and built refrigerators that were easy to use and lasted for 30 years. Then some business executives in the c-suites decided that customers should return to buy another refrigerator every 5-7 years instead.

My Kenmore/Whirlpool fridge has its coils underneath, and no coils in
the back, and it's lasted 42 years and going ztrong.

>> So to fix the problem they moved a perfectly designed heat exchange system to the dirtiest and least accessible place possible, micro-sized it and added a cheap plastic fan.

Didnt' coils in the back get very dusty too? Dust tends to float in the
air until it sticks to something. It's not like mud that goes to the
floor. So what other dirt is there for any kind of fridge except dust?

AFAIK no one recharges fridges so how often do the coils need to be
accessible? Oh, for cleaning. At least when coils are underneath you
can vaccuum from the front without moving the fridge. And they sell long
thin brushes too. When the coils are in the back, you don't even know
when they are dusty.

My fan is easily accessible once the fridge is moved away from the wall.
I think I replaced it once, and onne time a mouse was stuck in the fan
for 2 weeks. So both times I asssume the lack of a fan made the
compressor work a trifle harder but that was 10 years ago so it clearly
didn't hurt it.

I don't know for sure which is better and I certainly don't know how
much but it's surely not the simple case you put forth.

>> --
>> For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/why-did-back-coil-refrigerators-vanish-257822-.htm
>DerbyDad03 had it right. its because the new homes have cabinets built all around the fridge and has no way to vent the heat.

They still need an air intake from the back at the floor. Why is that
less of problem than venting heat?



FWIW I knew I would answer the first post but wanted to see what the
second post said first. I think it's better to answer both in the same
post.

[gfre...@aol.com]

On Thu, 2 Sep 2021 01:31:14 +0000, Mark
<05adf9d3c80bf311...@example.com> wrote:

>Back in the day, engineers sent us to the moon. And they also designed and built refrigerators that were easy to use and lasted for 30 years. Then some business executives in the c-suites decided that customers should return to buy another refrigerator every 5-7 years instead. So to fix the problem they moved a perfectly designed heat exchange system to the dirtiest and least accessible place possible, micro-sized it and added a cheap plastic fan.

I suppose it was because people slammed them tight against the wall,
between 2 cabinets and they couldn't breathe.

[gfre...@aol.com]

On Wed, 01 Sep 2021 23:30:46 -0400, micky <NONONO...@fmguy.com>
wrote:

>In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 1 Sep 2021 19:02:26 -0700 (PDT), Sid 03
><sidw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 8:31:20 PM UTC-5, Mark wrote:
>>> Back in the day, engineers sent us to the moon. And they also designed and built refrigerators that were easy to use and lasted for 30 years. Then some business executives in the c-suites decided that customers should return to buy another refrigerator every 5-7 years instead.
>
>My Kenmore/Whirlpool fridge has its coils underneath, and no coils in
>the back, and it's lasted 42 years and going ztrong.
>

I have a fridge outside and in 33 years I gave been through 3 and I
started on #4 this spring.
These ran an average of about a decade in the house before they went
outside.
They were all still running when I swapped them out. The can rusted
out on all of them. All 3 went through at least one notable hurricane.

[DQNOK]

The old style (coils in back) fridge I grew up with 50+ years ago is still working. Conversely, all the fridges I've owned over the last 35 years have lasted no more than about 7 years. The bottom coils get dirty (they're pretty much impossible to clean thoroughly) then they get hot, and the compressor head pressure goes up, then the compressor incurs damage from pumping against such high head pressure. Bottom coils are just to make refrigerators go bad more quickly. Planned obsolescence.