60's Kelvinator Restoration in Oz (Newbie)

[ni_boy]

Hi Folks,
A newbie from Aussie here, intent on getting my old Kelvinator working again and looking for assistance. I'm based in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney and am having trouble locating technical help, most fridge mechanics don't respond once I give them the details of what I'm doing.

In any case, I have a beautiful old Kelvinator I bought which ran fine, if a little noisy. It's now gone past "a little" and sounds like a rabid beast rattling it's cage.

I've re-mounted the motor & replaced rubber grommets etc & isolated any other parts that were banging, and it's definitely the compressor making the noise.

It has been regassed (probably topped up) at some point with R134A which from research I've done is fine to replace R12 (CCL2FL2).

I assume I need to replace the compressor, and whilst I'm pretty handy, my preference is to get a fridge repair person/company to help (and do it properly).

In the first instance I'm looking for any recommendations for a good fridge repair company that might help me in Sydney. If I have no joy there then I guess I'll need to get my hands dirty :)

Out of interest, I have another similar fridge, a "Leonard" which I think is a rebranded Kelvinator. Same Vintage and running for the past 12 years without missing a beat. It's the main fridge in my off grid rental property. I've also hired a fridge whilst I go down the repair path on this one. I'm on-grid in this house but have solar and batteries and monitoring of power shows i'm using near three times the power consumption for this "new efficient" fridge. True, it's slightly larger, but mainly freezer, fridge space is about the same.

Anyway, any assistance, pointers etc appreciated.

Tks

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[seanf]

Going from R12 to R134a you would probably want to make sure the oil type had been changed, if not maybe look at getting the pipework flushed out before putting a new compressor on. And dont let anyone leave any of those silver line tap valves on the system, they like to leak.

[ni_boy]

Going from R12 to R134a you would probably want to make sure the oil type had been changed, if not maybe look at getting the pipework flushed out before putting a new compressor on. And dont let anyone leave any of those silver line tap valves on the system, they like to leak.

I had read something like that, thanks for the confirmation. It's one reason I want a company or someone with all the right kit to do the work. I expect getting all the kit I need to do this properly myself will cost me more than having someone do it. That said, this forum will help me make sure I'm asking the right questions and if I find someone, get the right work done.

Tks again.

ni_boy