Samsung RS2545SH sucks - Low side refrigerant leak

Hi all,

I have a Samsung RS2545SH, I think it's the costco one but there are several very similiar models, that appears to have a fairly severe low side refrigerant leak. The compressor went out and that was replaced under warranty but after about a month it quit cooling again. The service guy came back out, checked the evap coolers and cond unit for leaks but found none. After refilling it lasted about 1.5 days and temps started climbing again. Even though there is a year left on the warranty, he says Samsung won't do anything else, i.e. new fridge, because I am not the original owner.

I'm quite sure the leak is on the low side because I charged it to factory specs of 7.76 oz and observed pressures of 0-1 psi low / ~ 125 psi high. the next day I checked again and saw -10 psi low / 250 psi high. So the assumption is it's not so much leaking as it is sucking, hence my clever title, air into the system, therby causing the high discharge pressure but still progressively worse cooling.

So, question is does anyone know of any common leak points on these models that I can check. Also does anyone know where in the loop the system pressure falls below positive on a normal unit? Any link to a service manual would also help.

Thanks! Arch

Hi Arch, i'd be looking at system blockage. Seems to me that the gas charge added has backed up on the high side causing the 250psi.. mike.

I'd agree if I had added any refrigerant, but that's not the case. The numbers are as I said with only the inital chage of 7.76 oz per the factory. Short story below:

Full vacuum -> addded in 7.76oz factory charge -> running at (1psi/125psi) low/hi...freezer came to temp settings ~ -4....24 hours later....(-5psi/250psi) low/hi...freezer at 45

So, anyone know of any low side leak points?

What's the refrigerant in this one ?

so you re,gassed the system, without pressure tesing , so now you want to know where the leak is , why did,nt you pressure + leak test before
why not get a qualified tec to come in and do a proper job ,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sedgy

so you re,gassed the system, without pressure tesing , so now you want to know where the leak is , why did,nt you pressure + leak test before
why not get a qualified tec to come in and do a proper job ,

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Thats true, fridge will have to be shut down and ofn pressure tested. If there is a leak, it shouldn't be hard to find with that much lost over 24hrs.

If it's on R600a then the suction side runs at approx 7psi below atmospheric pressure and will "suck" in air if the suction side is opened whilst running,this is normal.
If it is on R600 check with manufacture before pressure testing as to the maximum pressure allowed.

Why not read the intial message? I already said the tech guy came in and checked both evap coils and cond unit and could not find the leak.

And if by pressure test you mean with Nitrogen or something I find that the electronic leak detectors don't really work that well detecting it...course they don't really seem to do much better on anything else so...

Spimps, thanks for the info, it's R134a. Never even heard of units running Isobutane, I doubt US regs allow it.

Been out of the loop for a few days but just as an update, the leak was in the welded seam just before the exit of the freezer coil where it is joined to the line leading to the accumulator. A pinhole leak had somehow formed in the weld itself. Possibly a bubble in the weld that eventually blew out? At any rate despite the tech (residential guy) and me (commercial guy) using 3 different electronic leak detectors and 2 "soap style" brush on detectors I never found it until I took the coil out and could inspect it from all angles out in the open.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ArchEngineer

Spimps, thanks for the info, it's R134a. Never even heard of units running Isobutane, I doubt US regs allow it.

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Looks like things are about to change
http://www.beyondhfcs.org/article.view.php?Id=186
if they haven't already in new stuff.