Hi all,

I am trying to repair a domestic Electrolux fridge-freezer. Its spec is 74g of R600a.

After a de-icing "incident" a small 2mm leak was created resulting in the loss of the refrigerant. This was not noticed for about 24 hours. After which the fridge compartment was at about room temp, and the freezer was about zero centigrade.

I fully accept that the economic thing to do is to replace the whole unit, however as a project and a learning experience I am trying (as an amateur) to repair it.

This is what I have done so far:

I have repaired the hole in the evaporator. I a quite certain this fix is good.

I installed a bullet piercing valve onto the low pressure side of the compressor.

Then I used a single stage vacuum pump for 2 hours.

Then I weighed in the specified 74g of R600a. (Initially breaking the vacuum with the gas, then later running the unit's compressor to draw in the R600a). No air was able to get in.

Running the fridge-freezer showed that it could barely maintain -6 deg C in the freezing compartment, and the fridge remained at room temperature (or slightly above).

Suspecting that I had not done it correctly (loose hose or something), I did the process again. This time pulling a vacuum for 4 hours.

Same result. I did notice that with good ventilation to the condenser the freezer could get down to -7 deg C. But in the kitchen cabinet it could only reach +0.2 deg C. This was probably the same as before.

I had some advice from a qualified engineer who said the system is probably contaminated with oil from the compressor.

So, I have now circulated argon gas through the system. (No nitrogen available, but I have read that argon is okay?). The argon circulated freely and did not discharge any oil or anything else. I left it bubbling into a jar of water, which showed no signs of residue from oil or anything. I assume the capillary will reduce the flow so a mere bubbling rate is normal.

Since the argon "flush" discharged nothing, I am now thinking the compressor is faulty. The only indication I have of this is that I think that its now the most likely cause. Could the compressor have become damaged because it was left running for 24h following the leak? Also, I recall that the high pressure output pipe was very hot when testing the unit after the re-charge. Too hot to touch. That can't be okay? Does this also indicate a faulty compressor?

Any suggestions what could be the problem with this fridge-freezer? And how an amateur with limited equipment could get it going again?