I think you did fine. The OP is picking up on something, but the rest of us aren't yet sure what it is.
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Christopher A. Young
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"nestork" wrote in message ...

Yes, Frank. Those coils are your CONDENSER coils. They perform the
same function as the black coils normally seen on the back of a
refrigerator. In that situation, those coils are cooled just be air
convection. Your fridge has these coils at the bottom of the fridge, so
they provide a "condenser fan" to provide the air flow to cool them.
After the compressor compresses the freon gas to a high pressure, that
gas then goes to the condensor coiles where it condenses into a liquid,
losing heat as it does. The warmth you feel coming off those condensor
coils is both heat from compressing the gaseous refrigerant, and heat
released as it condenses into a liquid.


All the air that is driven by the fan to cool the coils and compressor
is vented out the front of the fridge through openings at the bottom.
How the air gets from the lower back part of the fridge to the front, I
don't know. Some mechanical duct magic. And I don't know where the
intake is either. I'll try to get at the back and take a picture.


Don't worry about that. The factory would have made sure that cool air
can get into where those coils are so that your "condenser fan" can blow
that warmer air out at the bottom front of your fridge. It really
doesn't matter where the air is coming from, because that almost
certainly won't be the cause of a smell.


I hope I have managed to clarify the the vented air is the air pulled by
the fan over the coils and pushed over the compressor.

The refrigerant in a fridge's cooling system will carry an oil mist with
it. If you ever puncture any of the refrigeration lines in an old
fridge, you'll get a lot of refrigerant coming out, but you'll also see
some oil come out with it.

So, the only thing I can imagine is that if there is a refrigerant leak,
some oil will also come out with the refrigerant, and that may be what
you're smelling.

But, if that's the case, then the fridge will stop working as the
refrigerant escapes.

Maybe try and stuff some paper towels into areas you can't see to see if
the paper towels get oil on them. When you have a refrigerant leak, all
that appears to leak is oil because the refrigerant evaporates into a
vapour, leaving only the oil mist inside it behind.

The only other thing I can think of is that if it wasn't a new fridge,
it could be that there was dust on the condenser coil or condenser fan
blades, and that perhaps that dist contained allergens that you are
sensitive to, causing you to cough. If you have good access to the
condenser coil and condenser fan, you might want to try unplugging the
fridge and cleaning the coil and the fan blades.

Sorry I couldn't have been more help.




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nestork