A-1 Appliance Parts Blog

In a few short weeks, it will be time to slide your turkey into the oven! Now is the time to prepare your oven for holiday meals and baking.

Since most ovens are self cleaning, what are we talking about? Many of our customers ask about how to clean that stubborn, brown splatter from your inner glass door. We decided to offer you a few methods. Before we do, if your oven light bulb has gone out, order a replacement today! Nothing is more frustrating than having to open your oven to check a cake and let the temperature drop.  Click below to find your replacement oven light bulb:

Check For Replacement Bulbs

Ready to start cleaning? Here’s one method recommended by many homeowners for light jobs:

1. Use a scraper or old credit card to remove stuck-on food that will scrape off easily.
2. Mix ½ cup baking soda with a few tablespoons of water to create a paste.
3. Spread the paste over the oven glass and let sit for about 20 minutes allowing the debris to break down and soften.
4. Use a soft cloth or sponge to start gently scrubbing the glass in circular motions. A non-abrasive scrubbing pad is helpful for extra stubborn spots.
5. Mix equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray the glass and use a soft cloth to wipe the glass. Repeat until the oven glass sparkles.
6. Do a final rinse with water and use a microfiber cloth.

If you have a really grimy oven glass, one of our customer recommends the following:

1. Purchase a scraper and some non-abrasive scrubbing pads made for cooktops. Here are links to both items:

Neon Mini Scraper

Non-Abrasive Pads (These are non-metal and anti-bacterial, too!)

• A product we offer for cooktop cleaning also works well on glass. It’s called Cerama Bryte® Cooktop Cleaner. There’s a kit including a scraper or it can be purchased separately. They also make a Burnt-On Grease Remover. Here are links to these products:

Cerama Bryte Cooktop Cleaner

Cerama Bryte Burnt-On Grease Remover

Cerama Bryte Cleaning Kit With Cleaner Scraper & Scratch-Free Pads

• Spread the cleaner over ¼ of the glass space. Allow it to penetrate for about 5 minutes.
• Using your scraper or blade, scrape gently at a 45 degree angle. Wipe away and move to the next segment of the oven glass.
• After the major debris has been removed, spread the cleanser in a thin film across the glass. Use a damp sponge in circular motions to remove any residue.
• Apply one more thin application of your Cerama Bryte®. Let it dry for a couple of minutes and then use a microfiber cloth or soft lint-free towel to remove the product.

There are a number of videos out there to guide you as well. We liked this one! While the cleaning product differs, the methods are helpful.

How to Clean Oven Glass Easily

As always, let us know if we can help you with any of your appliance parts or supplies. In the meantime, Happy Cooking 😊

When it’s hot outside, your refrigerator works hard. You can help it perform more efficiently (and last longer) by regularly cleaning areas that impact airflow. Like your HVAC unit, your refrigerator draws air through condenser coils. The coils release heat to help cool the interior of the refrigerator. Here’s what they need to stay in great condition:

1. Many refrigerators have a plastic, louvered cover on the front bottom of the unit. Open the refrigerator doors and you should be able to remove the front cover.

2. Move the refrigerator away from the wall. UNPLUG the refrigerator. If you have an ice maker or water dispenser, be careful to avoid pulling the water line free. The back of the unit may have significant dust accumulation. Using either a soft vacuum brush or a soft cloth, remove the dust from the back of your refrigerator. If the dust is extremely heavy or if you haven’t ever cleaned the coils, you will need to remove the coil cover. Typically, there are screws on the cover. We always recommend taking a photo before removing any screws for future reference. Again, make sure your unit is disconnected from the plug. Once the coils are exposed, gently vacuum them to remove built-up dust. This helps your compressor operate efficiently and may reduce energy usage.

3. Clean dust and debris from underneath the refrigerator. This also contributes to reduced airflow.

4. Mark your calendar for three months out to repeat these simple tasks. If you keep dust off of the cover of your condenser coils, you won’t need to remove the cover every time. If your condenser coils overheat, this will lead to compressor failure over time which is a costly repair.

5. When you move your refrigerator back into its space, make sure there is open space on either side so air can circulate under and around the unit.

We recommend this two-minute video to familiarize yourself with the entire process:
How To Clean Refrigerator Condenser Coils

For added efficiency, consider using organized storage containers so air can flow freely inside your refrigerator. Your refrigerator should maintain a temperature between 35 degrees Fahrenheit and 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezers should be set to 0 degrees or lower.

There was a time when an electric clothes dryer was a luxury… When no one really needed the fancy fabric ovens except for people who had more money than they had sense! Clothes lines were cheap and solar energy was falling out of the sky. Now, however, it seems we look at clothes dryers as a necessity.

Even though manufacturers have kept the cost of a dryer low (accounting for cost-of-living increases, inflation, and the devaluation of our currency as the government prints more money… ugh!). But while the appliance may be a bargain, when you need a part for it some of the manufacturers think it’s time to cash in!

At the time of this writing, for example, the most common Samsung dryer element DC97-14486A sells for over $200!! Just the inside part, DC47-00019A, without the housing and thermostats is $80. $200 for a dryer element. Really? There are alternatives though. A US company (Supco) is making replacement elements for Samsung at a fraction of the cost. You can take a look here: DC97-14486A and DC47-00019A. They even make a re-string kit (just the wire) because that’s all you really need usually: DC4700019AC

And Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer that they make replacement elements for. You can see them listed out here for Frigidaire / Electrolux, Whirlpool, LG, Samsung, etc. along side the original manufacturer’s versions.

LG’s most common element, 5301EL1001H, is over $200… The Supco version of this is less than half that price (5301EL1001). How can this be? I know the cost of production can’t be higher for these South Korean companies… Maybe the transportation cost affects them?

At any rate, if you have your model number you can see all the options available at A-1Appliance.com (just be sure to put the model # in the model # search field and not the part # search field). And click on the element once you see it to get to it’s specific page where there will be notes on it and associated parts linked.

Have you ever wondered how your refrigerator works? Some people think that a refrigerator generates cold air but this is actually backwards. Air is naturally cold- heat is the odd thing in the universe! The temperature in space without any heat from a star is very cold (-273.15°C or -459.67°F). So the refrigerator doesn’t need to generate cold air, all it has to do is remove the heat from the air already inside. This is done with a refrigerant which is a liquid with a very low boiling point. Even gasoline can be used to build a refrigerator (but that wouldn’t be the safest option).

The refrigerator works by removing heat from the interior of the fridge and expelling it to the outside through the condenser coil. This is usually underneath the refrigerator. The basic process is:

1. A refrigerant, a liquid chemical that is capable of absorbing and releasing heat, is compressed into a high-pressure gas by, you guessed it, the compressor. This raises the temperature of the gas- temperature and pressure are related. Kind of like when you have a deadline at work that you can’t quite make…
2. The hot gas is then passed through a set of coils on the back or bottom of the fridge, where it releases heat to the surrounding air, causing the gas to cool and condense into a liquid. On refrigerators with the condenser coil in the bottom of the refrigerator, a condenser fan motor is used to force air through the coil and the heat is absorbed by this air and pushed into the kitchen from the back of the refrigerator and possible a louvered grill in the front.
3. The liquid refrigerant then flows through an expansion valve, where it rapidly expands, causing it to evaporate into a low-pressure gas. If you picture a water hose spraying a fine mist, that is the idea.
4. As the refrigerant evaporates, it absorbs heat from the interior of the freezer, cooling the air inside. The evaporator coil in the freezer section spreads the cold air to the refrigerator section with a fan motor (the evaporator fan motor). This evaporator coil tends to frost over as the moisture that comes in when the door is opened freezes to the coil. It defrosts itself with a timed defrost system using a defrost heating element, a defrost thermostat, and a defrost timer or defrost board. (If the defrost system isn’t working the passage air travels from the freezer to the refrigerator will get blocked with ice and the refrigerator section will grow warm.)
5. The low-pressure gas is then drawn back into the compressor, where the cycle starts again. Once the target temperature is acheived, the refrigerator thermostat will stop the compressor until it is needed again later.

This continuous process of compressing and expanding the refrigerant allows the fridge to maintain a constant temperature inside, typically between 35-38°F (2-3°C), regardless of the temperature outside. Additionally, insulation in the walls of the fridge helps to retain the cool air and further stabilize the temperature.

If the condenser coil gets dirty (it just naturally does over time), it’s good to use a special condenser coil brush to get between the fins on the coil.

Basically, refrigerators use a cycle of compressing, condensing, and evaporating the refrigerant to remove heat from inside the freezer section. This also happens to be how an air conditioner works. I guess you could say we all live in refrigerators here in Alabama!