How Do You Scrap A Refrigerator?

Posted on by Virginia Buechel

scrap a refrigeratorWhen you are looking for scrap items that can be taken apart, oftentimes, refrigerators are a common item that is easy to find. Whether someone is replacing their outdated one or their current one got busted. Many people just place their refrigerators on the curb in hopes that a scrapper or garbage man can pick it up on bulk garbage day. While they are very bulky and can be hard to transport, there are some good pieces of scrap to be had from refrigerators. There are some tricky things to keep in mind when looking to scrap a fridge.

Step By Step Guide To Scrapping A Refrigerator

  1. First when scrapping a refrigerator make sure you have the right equipment and transportation to move a refrigerator. Be careful when picking it up, always be sure to use your legs to lift to prevent throwing your back out. It may help if you have a helping hand too.
  2. When you have finally removed and transported your fridge to your house or wherever you’re looking to take it apart, there are a few things to keep in mind. The freon inside of your fridge should be removed by a licensed HVAC contractor. Scrap yards will not be able to accept a fridge that has not been drained of the fluids. You can call your local HVAC contractor and they will be able to remove the chemicals legally.
  3. Now that your fridge is drained you can begin dissembling it for the different scrap parts inside. First, you will want to remove the back of the fridge (if there is one) with a power drill. Once you do that you will be able to see the guts of the appliance. There should be a large sealed unit and some wires.
  4. Cut the power cord and any other wires that may be attached to the backside of the fridge. You can stick those in your copper wire pile.
  5. After you can remove the sealed unit with a power drill. It is probably bolted down but once you remove it you will see why. An average sealed unit can weigh around 30lbs. from a fridge. If you want to scrap a sealed unit for the copper inside it can be difficult to break open the steel casing, but we suggest scrapping it as a whole unit.
  6. You should have clipped the copper tubing around the sealed unit and the back of the fridge. Those pieces of copper pipe can be placed in your #2 or dirty copper pile. While they may have no solder or paint, the oil residue on the inside of the copper tubes will make it a #2 copper price at your local scrap yard.
  7. Once you have removed those items, you should be able to see that there is a fan on the backside of the fridge to keep it cool. Also, there may be one on the front side too. Once you remove those there should be an electric motor attached that you can remove for scrap too.
  8. You can also scrap the frame of the fridge for steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. The inside of the fridge is usually plastic on the side, but the shelving could be steel so be sure to remove those. Have your magnet handy to see what metals you have, steel the magnet will stick.
    1. Something else to think about, courtesy of iScrapper Corey, is that if the fridge has a freezer and icemaker, the coil inside can be considered a Cast Aluminum.
  9. Be sure to keep everything separate when heading to the scrap yard and your yard will be able to sort through your materials. If you decide to scrap the fridge as a whole unit, be sure to get the freon removed.

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