frezzer cold only

[bcullen]

Hi Hope i am in the right place. Just bought a second hand 470 ltr chest frezzer Electrolux tc145. looks clean and the motor has not been touched,. Turns on compressor is quiet with faint vibrations. gets hot quickly. front amber light flikers. Will not freeze What is the likely problem.?? Hope you can help as we are a long way from a fridge mschanic
Bryan
Ps could not find a manual!!

[chilliwilly]

Hi Hope i am in the right place. Just bought a second hand 470 ltr chest frezzer Electrolux tc145. looks clean and the motor has not been touched,. Turns on compressor is quiet with faint vibrations. gets hot quickly. front amber light flikers. Will not freeze What is the likely problem.?? Hope you can help as we are a long way from a fridge mschanic
Bryan
Ps could not find a manual!!

Maybe loose connection, faulty starting relay or capcitor causing high limit to trip due to main winding overheating.

[chillerman2006]

Hi bcullen

when switched on does the two pieces of tube coming from the compressor change temperature

as in one gets hotter and the other colder - would be handy if you had a temperature probe

and could monitor temp change or none

R's chillerman

[bcullen]

Thanks for reply:
Just turned on, yeah one pipe is getting warmer the other cooler. I do have a lazer thermo thingy so
how will this help?
Cheers

10min on one pipe warm not hot the other cool not cold

[chillerman2006]

Hi bcullen

infra red are not accurate but will assist in working out if your refrigerating or not

with one getting hotter and other colder it appears you are to some extent

if you can start the unit and take the temps on both pipes after a few minutes (3) and then again after 20 minutes

then post them

this will give us a vague idea what is going on

Reading back through your post, I am suspecting already you have a blockage

R's chillerman

[bcullen]

Hi Mr Chillerman
15.8 was the temp at startup of both pipes after 10min compressor was 55 one pipe=25 the other=35
after another 20min compressor was 65 one pipe= 35 the other =45 all seemed to increment at approx+10%
hope this helps
Bryan

[mikeref]

Really hate to burst the bubble but second hand fridges and freezers carry a very high risk of failure. Did you see the freezer working and freezing before you bought it? Warm compressor and quietly running with little or no cooling inside can only be one of two things, blockage though not likely, and evaporator, or inside cooling pipes have sprung a leak.

[bcullen]

The leak sounds terminal? what does the evaporator do? Would a fush and regas achieve anything
Bryan

[chillerman2006]

Hi bcullen

by your temps, it appears you either have cap tube blockage or have lost refrigerant

your lower temp pipe should have gone down in temp not up

but you have so little cooling, your compressor heat is being transfered to this pipe

the cap tube is the metering device that goes to the cooling coil (evaporator)

it can be fixed, either leak found and repaired or cap tube blown out with nitrogen or replaced

then regassed, but work will probaly exceed the cost of the freezer, unfortunatly

R's chillerman

[chemi-cool]

Try another appraoch, your fridge run on R-134a which many times blocks the little filter right after the condenser.
You need to replace the refrigerant and the filter\drier.

I have seen this problem many times and this action eliminates it for good. use a dubble volume drier.

[bcullen]

hi Thanks one and all it looks like refrigerant and the capillary/drier are the problem so i will find out how much a fridgy will charge me
Bryan

[mikeref]

Depends where you are in Australia. Did you see this freezer working before you bought it?.. Mike.