Quest Bottle Cooler Problem

[awr]

Hi,
I bought a second hand bottle cooler (Quest QM2) which was working OK but needed a really good clean. The condenser coil was clogged and the insides of the cabinet was really dirty. I took the fan off the back of the condenser coil so I could blast water through it taking care not to get water over the compressor's electrics. I took the insides of the cabinet apart also to flush it out with a hose.

All went back together OK and I plugged the unit back in - no problem. The evaporator and condenser fans came on and presumably the compressor (Necchi ETR 5) did as well as over the next ten minutes the cabinet started to get cold.

All of a sudden the workshop's Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker tripped and I can only assume it was the cooler that cause it. I thought that maybe some water had got in somewhere despite being careful. I rigged up a blower to dry the 'workings' and a couple of hours later tried turning the cooler on.

It started OK and continued to 'work' without tripping. Great I thought until I realised that it wasn't cooling. I've tried the thermostat in different positions but the cooler doesn't cool.

The compressor gets warm/hot (I can still hold my hand on it) but the condenser stays cold and the pipe to the evaporator coil stay warm.

The condenser fan comes on and goes off periodically and turning the thermostat up or down seems to make something start / stop (sorry didn't check to see exactly what starts and stops).

Is there anything that I've missed or is it time to call a refrigeration engineer in?
If an engineer's required, can anyone suggest an engineer in the Cowfold area of Sussex?

Cheers

[Brian_UK]

If the compressor is warm/hot but the pipes aren't then the compressor is stuck for some reason.

It could be that the compressor start relay is faulty or the capacitor(s).

[awr]

There's a possibility that water got into a capacitor which is mounted on the base adjacent to the compressor.

Is there any wiring diagrams or information available for the Necchi ETR5 R134a compressor - if so where will I find it.

Also can you suggest where I can get spares.

Thanks for your help

Adrian

[awr]

Hi,
I took a bit of time looking at it this morning and attached a meter to the compressor feed. When I turned the cooler on the condenser fan started along with the compressor.
After 10 seconds the compressor stopped but the fan kept going. There was still a demand from the thermostat but the motor protector device prevented the feed getting to the compressor. After 60 seconds the compressor started and ran for about another 60 seconds when the thermostat cut. It was about another 2 minutes before the thermostat cut back in when the whole sequence above repeated.
It seems as though the thermostat isn't working so I linked out the thermostat with a wire to provide a constant feed to the compressor (via the protection device). The compressor ran continuously and within ten minute the empty cabinet has down to around 4degC. The inlet temperature to the condenser coil was around 40degC.
So it looks like the compressor is working OK but that the thermostat is faulty.
Please can anyone tell me where I can get a spare thermostat but if the thermostat for this particular cooler is obsolete is there an alternative I can use?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Adrian