I just got a refrigerator from a estate sale. It's much newer than my old one and should be more energy efficient, as well as having a useful sized freezer.
It works fine, but there was a gray cardboard panel over the compressor on the rear of the fridge. It was halfway off the fridge when I bought it, and by the time I got it in my house, that panel had completely fallen off, and is pretty well shreaded and torn.
The panel had holes in it for air circulation of the small fan by the drip pan, and it also had insulation where the compressor motor sits.
Anyhow, it's too well ruined and some pieces are even missing, so it's beyond repair.
Like I said the fridge works fine without that panel. I'm wondering if there is any reason to be concerned about not having it? The only thing I thought could be a problem was if I had small pets (like an indoor cat), that could be hurt by the fan, or ruin the fan itself. But I dont have indoor pets. If I did have indoor pets, I could use the screws from the old panel, and put some hardware cloth over the opening, but since I dont have indoor pets, there dont seem to be a need.
Actually it almost looks like that panel was originally damaged by some sort of animal, (maybe mice), because there were two wires that were abraded by possibly chewing, and had bare spots of exposed copper. I taped those up with electrical tape.
That sure is a lousy design, using molded cardboard, which obviously will get damaged easily. I'm assuming the part with the insulation over the compressor was to prevent fire if that cardboard touched the hot compressor unit, even though I dont think the compressor should get that hot.
Thanks!