Problem with freeze system on carpigiani machine

[Ben Taylor]

Hello, can someone help please?
We live in France and have recently bought an English Ford Transit ice cream van with a carpigiani machine in it (about 20 years old) and today we did our first event. Everything was working fine until the weather started to warm up, and we'd sold a few 99's, but suddenly the freeze stopped working. Not being particularly mechanically-minded, we looked at the system through the passenger door, and all belts were working fine, but there was a burning smell and it got quite hot in the compartment. Nothing was visible in the refrigeration gas glass viewing window (so the compressor was obviously not switching on), but the button to switch it on was on. We decided to leave the event and returned home (40 mins) to try it again to find that it now worked.
So, my question is "why did it work this morning, and then stop, only to be fine again later?" Did something overheat? Is there a reset switch? How do we know it wont happen again?
Any help would be greatfully received, because we cant have this happening when summer really arrives!
Georgia

[al]

Ben

is the condenser clean, the radiator at the rear of the machine? for thsi vintage it may well be a belt that drives the condenser fan motor to give air flow, if this is slipping or broken then the machine will do as you described.

best bet if you're going to be relying on the machine is contact a local guy(ask here would be easiest), to check and service it.

al

[Ben Taylor]

Hello Al,
Thanks for responding so quickly.
Ah em, where exactly is the condenser and what does it look like? Considering the state of the van when we bought it, I dont think the previous owner knew what 'cleaning' was! And when you refer to the radiator at the rear of the machine, are we talking the rear when you're standing at the front of the van, or the rear when you're serving?! We've taken the back panel off the carpigiani machine so we can see whats happening, and there is a fan and grill (facing towards the back of the vehicle) that appears to be working fine - everything was ok this morning, and since, this afternoon. We popped down the bar earlier to catch our heating engineer/electrician, and he said it could be the relay - this was after I'd told him we experienced a burning smell, but couldn't quite identify it - he said it could be the bakelite surround that was overheating, but once it had cooled down again would work. This would explain it's intermittancy. Any thoughts?

[Brian_UK]

Hi Ben, welcome to the forum.

The 'condenser' is the part that gets rid of the heat taken from your ice-cream.

It could look something like the engine radiator, tubing with flat fins fixed to it; maybe what you are calling the 'grill'.

The fan is used the blow air across the condenser coil.
The condenser needs to be as clean as possible for the system to work properly.

Various methods to keep it clean ---

Soft hand brush for the surface dust
or
a compressed air line to blow the dust and debris out
and/or
spray wash it with clean water.

It all helps.

[Ben Taylor]

Hello Brian,
Many thanks for responding to my questions about the condenser. It was so dirty, I hadn't even recognised it as being a 'radiator' when I looked through the passenger door, cos it was a solid block of black! I cleaned it with a soft brush, warm soapy water and then compressed air, and then I was able to see through it (although not fully - it doesn't help that it's 5 inches thick, and the accumulated dust and grease was not easy to shift throughout its depth). I'm sure it will help though.
I think we may have identified the original fault though. The van is a Whitby Morrison conversion (for your info) and there are 2 sets of switches to operate the machine - one at the front next to the drivers seat, and one on the machine. The latter is a surface mounted standard electrical socket one would find in the home, and i must admit, when Ben's driving the van and I'm standing in the back, my bum does knock against it occasionally, which might explain a bad connection which caused the freezer to stop working last friday, as we were using that switch. As a precaution, we've taped the machine- based switch up and shall only use the front one. We think it was possibly a case of a dodgy connection overheating and causing that unidentified burning smell.
Anyway, we did a market on saturday morning, and a tour round the local commune in the afternoon without any freezing problems, and in the traditional French way, ended up drinking red wine next to the river at a friends house, and all problems were forgotten....
Thanks so much for those who have helped, and I may call upon your help again in the future. If anyonbe's got any more tips on how to keep our breadwinner up and running, it's always appreciated.
Thanks, Georgia Taylor

[chemi-cool]

Hello Georgia,
Glad to see that your problem is over.
Now you should find the time to learn how to maintain your machine for optimum results.


when Ben's driving the van and I'm standing in the back, my bum does knock against it occasionally,
...And please ask Ben to mind the bumps......

See if you can get from the manufacturer a maintenance manual

http://www.whitbymorrison.com/

[Ben Taylor]

Merci Monsieur Cool. We'll contact Whitby Morrison tomorrow and order a maintenance manual! Regards, Georgia