HELP...Bosch fridge/freezer problem...

[Andy D]

Hi,

I’m not a refrigeration engineer but wanted to post a question to your engineers forum:

I have a Bosch fridge/freezer which was bought new in 1985 and has worked perfectly well until recently.
However, the fridge has stopped cooling down now & the freezer is definitely not at -18C any longer.
The compressor seems to be running all the time.
Does this need re-gassing?

(I called Bosch & they said it will cost around £100 to send out an engineer just to do an estimate for the repairs!)
Somebody else told me that this model would have had the older (better quality) refrigerant in it and now they just use something like lighter fuel).

Thanking you in anticipation,


Andrew, (Bradford)

[taz24]

Hi,

I’m not a refrigeration engineer but wanted to post a question to your engineers forum:

I have a Bosch fridge/freezer which was bought new in 1985 and has worked perfectly well until recently.
However, the fridge has stopped cooling down now & the freezer is definitely not at -18C any longer.
The compressor seems to be running all the time.
Does this need re-gassing?

(I called Bosch & they said it will cost around £100 to send out an engineer just to do an estimate for the repairs!)
Somebody else told me that this model would have had the older (better quality) refrigerant in it and now they just use something like lighter fuel).

Thanking you in anticipation,


Andrew, (Bradford)

Hello Andrew.

Unfortunatly it is almost impossible to diagnose the fault without fitting test equipment to the system.

In answer to your question, yes it could be short of gas (SOG) but the compressor could also be tired and not pumping the same which will give the same symptoms and the only why to tell would be to cut into the system and test.

You also need to ask yourself if the gas has leaked out where did it leak from. No engineer would just recharge the system without first finding and repairing the leak.
Also the fridge is 20 odd years old and may be on a now banned refrigerant with all the complications that may entail.
If the compressor is faulty that would be at least £100 to replace.

What is the thing worth to you. You could pick up a new one for £200, £300 or £400, is it worth £100 to put right a 24 year old fridge.

The insulation could have broken down and it may be inefiecient because of that.

No simple answer I'm afriad but nothing lasts for ever and a fridge that is 24 years old has had a good run.

All the best taz.

Ps if you realy want it repaired look in your local paper for people who repair kitchen appliances.
They will give you an honest oppinion for a fraction of the £100 already quoted.

[philfridge]

Scrap it scrooge

[Andy D]

Hi,[/COLOR]

I’m not a refrigeration engineer but wanted to post a question to your engineers forum:

I have a Bosch fridge/freezer which was bought new in 1985 and has worked perfectly well until recently.
However, the fridge has stopped cooling down now & the freezer is definitely not at -18C any longer.
The compressor seems to be running all the time.
Does this need re-gassing?

(I called Bosch & they said it will cost around £100 to send out an engineer just to do an estimate for the repairs!)
Somebody else told me that this model would have had the older (better quality) refrigerant in it and now they just use something like lighter fuel).

Thanking you in anticipation,


Andrew, (Bradford)

Thanks for your help Taz.
The Bosch has served me well since 1985 & was very economical to run. I guess it had good insulation & a decent type of gas installed. The only thing that needed replacing in 24 years was a light bulb & a new thermostat in 2001.
Amazing product!

Andrew

[Andy D]

Scrap it scrooge

#
Thanks for the help Phil. But it was a great fridge/freezer & only cost me a light bulb - at £0.85 - plus a new thermostat in 2001 - which cost around £7.
Not bad for 24 years service!

I guess it would have been worth repairing as it's still in excellent condition (no dents, scratches or marks anywhere).
Trouble is, it could be the compressor or a leak somewhere, which I guess would be almost impossible to repair without taking the back off & this would cost a fortune, I suppose?

Cheers,

Andrew

[Andy D]

Hello Andrew.

Unfortunatly it is almost impossible to diagnose the fault without fitting test equipment to the system.

In answer to your question, yes it could be short of gas (SOG) but the compressor could also be tired and not pumping the same which will give the same symptoms and the only why to tell would be to cut into the system and test.

You also need to ask yourself if the gas has leaked out where did it leak from. No engineer would just recharge the system without first finding and repairing the leak.
Also the fridge is 20 odd years old and may be on a now banned refrigerant with all the complications that may entail.
If the compressor is faulty that would be at least £100 to replace.

What is the thing worth to you. You could pick up a new one for £200, £300 or £400, is it worth £100 to put right a 24 year old fridge.

The insulation could have broken down and it may be inefiecient because of that.

No simple answer I'm afriad but nothing lasts for ever and a fridge that is 24 years old has had a good run.

All the best taz.

Ps if you realy want it repaired look in your local paper for people who repair kitchen appliances.
They will give you an honest oppinion for a fraction of the £100 already quoted.

Taz,

The compressor seems to be running fine - although it's getting hot due to running for so long, because the thermostat isn't switching it off as it never reaches 4C inside the fridge any longer.

Andrew

[taz24]

Taz,

The compressor seems to be running fine - although it's getting hot due to running for so long, because the thermostat isn't switching it off as it never reaches 4C inside the fridge any longer.

Andrew

Hi Andrew.

The comp may seem to be running ok but it may have failed internaly.
They are just pumps and pumps wear, if a valve, piston, seal or somthing like that is worn or faulty the comp will find it harder and harder to maintain the same pressures as it is designed.
With Refrigeration we control pressure to control the temp, they are linked you see.

If the system is SOG it can display the same symptoms as a tired comp and the comp is hot not because it is running longer but because the gas that flows back to it is designed to cool it, so if it is SOG then the cooling effect is lost and if the comp is tired the same happens

taz.

[Andy D]

Thanks Taz,

I'm starting to understand the fault more now, thanks to your explanation.

Either way, it's not going to be a cheap fault to fix is it? Bosch quoted over £100 to call out & diagnose the fault & said a compressor would be around £150 extra, so I guess if that's the problem (plus it would then also need re-gassing) the total bill would work out as much as buying a new fridge/freezer!
I liked the Bosch because it's not a huge monster (it's around 1.5m high) so I could put a Radio/CD player on top - which you can't do with all the current models that are around 1.8 to 2m high as the CD player would not fit below the ceiling then.

Thanks very much for your help & suggestions. Much appreciated.

[lowcool]

gday andy
another reason for the comp being so hot is lack of suction temperature to cool the windings.
bit concerned about your ceiling height,dowagers back for instance

[Andy D]

G'day,
OK, so the compressor might be ok you think? It could just be the loss of gas that's causing all this?
I can see that lack of suction due to lack of gas would cause the compressor to run continuosly - and that's why it's heating up, I guess?