Not long ago I entered a post on the importance of cleaning the cooling coils underneath a refrigerator every six months. Last Friday when my neighbors compressor on his refrigerator went bad it seems six months may be too long of a time between cleanings. My neighbor has two long-hair dogs and over the summer the dogs shed their hair more than usual and a lot of it got sucked into the refrigerator cooling coils and after months of building up and blocking air flow the compressor had no way to cool itself and it went bad. There was no warning or symptoms it just quit cooling the inside of the refrigerator. The compressor was very hot to the touch and kept clicking and that was it, it wouldn't run at all.
Judging from how much hair was packed in the coils it would be a good idea to clean the cooling coils every 3 months if you have a lot of pets that shed hair near the refrigerator and that could go for either a cat or dog. Cat hair can collect on the coils as well as dog hair the only difference is that the cat hair is thinner and may not clog the coils completely but it should be removed on a regular interval so it is not forgotten about.
Replacing the compressor on the refrigerator has been an expensive lesson for my neighbor and he plans on cleaning the coils every four months in the future, probably not a bad idea.
