Why some repair workers may not work on your fridge

CHARLOTTE — Lenore Satterwaite described what happened inside her North Carolina home last year as an explosion.

“I just saw the refrigerator doors on the floor, holes in the wall,” Satterwaite said. “The whole wall was blocked in. The other side, too.”

Fire investigators weren’t able to confirm the cause of the explosion. But they did determine it came from inside the fridge. It was a modern model that contained a refrigerant called R600a. Most fridges have it. Many different manufacturers use it.

Mike Maninno has worked in the appliance repair industry for more than 45 years. So he’s seen the evolution of refrigeration.

In his early years, it was R12, a chlorofluorocarbon that was banned in the ‘90s for damaging the ozone. Then, R134a. But the EPA is phasing that out because of concerns it’s bad for global warming.

Now, the refrigerant of choice: R600a. It’s considered efficient and environmentally friendly. But it’s an isobutane, a flammable substance like you might find in a cigarette lighter.

“I’m not saying these things are going to start exploding all over the country, but the potential is there that, you know, something catastrophic could possibly happen,” Maninno said.

To be fair, fridge explosions aren’t common. The Consumer Product Safety Commission only has a handful of complaints about them over the past few years.

Still, Mannino refuses to work on them. “They can be potentially dangerous for the servicer, plus the homeowner,” he said.

And not just the homeowner. He worries about all the minifridges in college dorms. Plus, a new trend: social media is driving the popularity of makeup that needs refrigeration. So parents are putting mini-fridges with R600a in children’s bedrooms. “You know, usually refrigerators are right next to their bed,” he said.

It’s hard to avoid these appliances. But Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke always wants to leave you with advice:

• Make sure you have good ventilation around your fridge. Don’t jam it up against the wall.
• Be careful smoking, lighting candles, or using any other open flames around them.
• Think twice before trying any repair work on it yourself. And, if you do, be careful about tools that spark.

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