Fridge Help

[tuppence]

My 1953 Kelvinator fridge, has been working fine for years, until last night. The motor is continually running, but the freezer has defrosted itself and even though, I have turned the setting up to coldest, the fridge is not cold. I will try and get it professionally fixed, but repair men have a bad reputation, and if I know what is wrong before hand, I can't get ripped off. Thanks

 

[LizzieMaine]

It sounds like you have a refrigerant leak -- there's no way to check for this without professional equipment, but that's the most likely problem in a situation like this. It's possible to recharge the refrigerant, but a technician will need to seal any leak first. The most common cause for a leak like that is a small hole in the capillary tube (the thin metal tube that goes from the thermostat to the back of the freezing compartment) or a small puncture in the coils in the walls of the freezing compartment (this can happen when one is defrosting the fridge and uses a screwdriver, knife, or other sharp implement to scrape the frost off).

Either problem ought to be fixable by someone with experience in dealing with older equipment. You should shut the motor off in the meantime to keep it from overheating.

 

[dhermann1]

From what I've read, resealing the system is pretty tricky. And getting that out of date refirgerant is also difficult. You can learn a lot by doing some extensive Googling. There are several sites out there with good expertise on the subject.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Any fridge built from the mid-thirties to the early 90s will use Freon as the refrigerant. It's no longer manufactured, but many repair shops still have ample stockpiles of it on hand since it was used for so long, and it shouldn't be hard to track down a shop with some available.

The trick is making sure the leak is sealed before replacing the refrigerant -- that's not a job for an amateur. A pro will have the proper equipment for doing it right. Don't let the repair guy try to talk you into junking -- a lot of them just won't want to be bothered to do the work, so your best bet is to find an older repairman who knows what he's doing.

Important warning -- never, *ever* try to chip the ice off the freezer compartment with a sharp instrument when defrosting. Melt it off with a hair dryer.

 

[tuppence]

Thank you so much, I have since heard back from a repair guy who did say "junk it". He did say it was a leak, so confirms your thoughts. We'll ring 'round other repairers, but I'm not sure there's much you can do about it in Australia.
I wonder why it leaked though, I haven't defrosted in ages.

 

[Shangas]

Isn't freon dangerous? Or am I thinking of some other substance? Surely they would put a more modern, safer refrigerant into the system instead?

And this being Australia, I wouldn't hold up many hopes. We're SO far from everywhere else in the world that good help is hard to find. It's why I do most of my own repairs on vintage things.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Freon R-12, which is the refrigerant used in all refrigerators and air conditioners from the mid-thirties to the mid-nineties, was banned from new manufacture in most countries due to ozone-layer considerations -- but it's still legal to use up existing stock, of which plenty is available. In the US you have to be a registered technician to handle it, or have to sign an affadavit that only a registered technician will install it so as to prevent any uncontrolled leakage. The product itself is easily found on eBay. Look for "R12 Freon" and you'll find tons of it, but most of the sellers will sell only to technicians certified to handle it safely.

The amount of Freon in a vintage refrigerator is extremely small -- about four ounces total. The major source of dangerous levels of Freon emissions is air conditioners, which can use up to several pounds of the stuff depending on the size of the unit, and there are millions of these types of air conditioners still in use, some of them big industrial units. So there'll be a need for replacement Freon for some time to come.

THere are some R-12 substitutes, but they also require some modification of the compressor to work properly -- seals have to be changed, and the oil in the compressor has to be replaced. For sealed-in-oil units, this can be quite difficult to do. That being the case, using R-12 is usually the better way to go.

 

[FountainPenGirl]

Hi, Actually R22 is mostly likely what would be in a refridgerator. R12 was mostly used in automotive air conditioning. It did appear in some home and commercial air conditioning and some freezers and refridgerators. Most likely older ones. Most home and commercial air conditioning/refridgeration used R22 for many years. Automotive switched to R134a some years ago now. Probably later '90's. I used to work in automotive air conditioning and got out of the business when they made the change because it required all new equipment and nothing is compatable.

 

[vitanola]

R-12 was the standard refrigerant in domestic applications from the mid-1930's until the late 1980's or early '90's.

I've been repairing antique refrigerators for a couple of decades, now.

HATE Sulfur Dioxide!

 

[Stanley Doble]

There was nothing wrong with Freon except that it can damage the ozone layer. This led to it being banned in some countries but not in others.

When old refrigerators and air conditioners are junked, the Freon must be sucked out and stored to prevent it being released into the atmosphere. This is the source for replacement Freon used in repairing old refrigerators.

Your fridge could have a tiny leak that let the Freon escape over a period of months or years. To repair it, you will need to pressurize the system and inspect it carefully for leaks. Soapy water is one way of detecting leaks. Once you find a leak it needs to be sealed. A hole in one of the pipes can be sealed with epoxy. Then the Freon is put back in and away you go for another 60 years.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The important thing, and the reason why this is best left to professionals, is that you have to be very careful not to add *too much* refrigerant. The compressor is designed to operate with a specific amount of refrigerant in the system, and using too much can actually destroy it. And as noted, check your country's laws on handling Freon before doing anything -- here in the US, if you're caught installing R12 without proper certification, it's a felony.

 

[vitanola]

The important thing, and the reason why this is best left to professionals, is that you have to be very careful not to add *too much* refrigerant. The compressor is designed to operate with a specific amount of refrigerant in the system, and using too much can actually destroy it. And as noted, check your country's laws on handling Freon before doing anything -- here in the US, if you're caught installing R12 without proper certification, it's a felony.

Most emphatically YES!

That said, Section 608 certification is pretty easily obtained. A simple multiple-choice test of about 200 questions, taken from a 328 page text. Study the book, pay your $25.00, take the test, pass it, and buy your equipment. I actually purchased my equipment first, out of storage, at scrap metal prices, and then decided to find out whether I could pass the test. It was suprised at how easy it was. Since then there has been no reason to beg and bribe repairmen to work on my (and my friends) ancient refrigerators.