Help with Hotpoint FFA81G

[Glenn Moore]

Hi
It sounds like the system has lost gas , although that would be difficult to check without some guages and piercing valves, and possibly some more gas.
The PCB board would normally fail and stop the compressor running , but having some cooling I would suspect the compressor is running continuously but cannot cool correctly due to the loss of gas and the PCB is OK.
What is the refrigerant type ? you can see on the unit label or on the side of the compressor, ie it could be R134A or R600A It may be a re gas but you need a local fridgy to do it for you

[Chunky]

Hi
It sounds like the system has lost gas , although that would be difficult to check without some guages and piercing valves, and possibly some more gas.
The PCB board would normally fail and stop the compressor running , but having some cooling I would suspect the compressor is running continuously but cannot cool correctly due to the loss of gas and the PCB is OK.
What is the refrigerant type ? you can see on the unit label or on the side of the compressor, ie it could be R134A or R600A It may be a re gas but you need a local fridgy to do it for you

Hi Glenn

Thanks for the reply. The refrigerant is R600A, according to the label in the freezer compartment.

I guess there is nothing that I can do then, I need to get someone in to look at it. My concern is that I'll spend so much on that, i might as well get a new one instead. What are the chances it'll be fixable at a relatively cheap cost?

Thanks

[Glenn Moore]

Hi Chunky. Any domestic repair is normally expensive but if it is short of gas then it should cost little more than a call out charge because the gas cost is minimal but the work is expensive as the gas is flammable and its elf and safty innit !!!. You can probably confirm if it is a loss of charge, if you turn the machine so you can see the back where the black serpentine coil is mounted, follow the black coil where it exits near the bottom. This tube is about 6 mm in diameter it then enters a piece of large bore tube about 22mm diam and about 100mm long, this is the drier. From the other end of this drier there is normally 2 tubes. 1 tube is a long coiled thin bore tube we call the capillary tube, the 2 nd tube is about 6mm and about 100mm long which is simply crimped flat and the end of the tube flattened. Touch this flattened end of the tube with your finger and if there is any oily residue then that is most likely where the gas has leaked from. I have repaired several for friends all with similar leaks you often see a dark mark on the metal work below this pipe on the frame where the gas and oil has dripped and dust sticks to it.. When we used the old type of gas (non flammable), this tube was brazed over after the unit was charged to make the system hermetically sealed. But since we have to use R600A (Isobutane Gas ) which is flammable this tube which is called the process stub is no longer brazed over due to it may be leaking and could ignite. So the manufacturers simply use a hydraulic crimp tool which crushes the pipe into itself to seal it and then the end is sqeezed to double seal it. It is then tested to make sure its gas tight. But over time copper tube changes with heat and age and tiny leaks can occur. After I repair and re charge these systems I always braze them over (very carefully).
One of the manufacturers of this type of unit that I used to advise on their systems design, I was discussing what they did to seal these process tubes ie crimp and flatten or crimp and braze, as my prference as always been the latter. This company do the same, but they do this process in an isolated shed for safety,. THey told me that they had one incident when brazing the process stub over, which they were lucky, when they brazed the stub the gas was leaking and a small flame the size of a small laser beam about 3 metres long ejected from the stub . It lasted about 10 seconds before the gas ran out. Luckily no one was injured, but this is why many engineers will not work on these systems in peoples houses due to insurance costs and H&S issues, and that is why you see so many cabinets especially the double door american cabinets less than a couple of years old, still in immaculate condition down the scrap yard as no one will gas them up, although if you know what your doing its easy. So it may be worth ringing around a few domestic fridge companies to see how much they would charge just for regassing. Best of luck Glenn