trouville
regular
Reged: 10/06/2004
Posts: 2847
Loc: crusing with an Arpège
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I have a very small fridge about 2 cubic feet i suppose,its a portable unit.Its stopped cooling and clanks as if theres nothing left to compress.
I took the top off & it has a brass pipe with a brass screw cap.I havent taken the cap off but i suppose there will be a valve there?
As it has a recharge or charge pipe (i hope thats what it is) would it be possible to ask a garage or clima center to recharge it??Everywhere there are adverts offering car climatisation re charges.There arnt many or any for fridges unless i call & have someone come along in his van to the boat,that might be expensive
Since i found its not cooling needless to say i havent seen one van in any port that deals with cooling!!Before there was always one about,just now im not aboard my boat,ive headed north to recharge with local beverage.
The brass cap looks to be the same size as a car tyer valve could it be possible to use a pump to suck in cooling liquid then pump it into the system??
What sort of pressure are cooling systems recharged to??
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liveaboard
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yoda
regular
Reged: 12/12/2001
Posts: 794
Loc: Devon
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Sounds like you should be able to get a garage to do it but they will need to know how much gas the system holds and you are then assuming that all the oil has stayed in the system.
yoda
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Norman_E
regular
Reged: 15/03/2005
Posts: 5392
Loc: East Sussex (near Kent border)
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Find a caravan dealer. If its a portable fridge the caravan dealers can either service it themselves, or will know someone who can. If the gas has escaped they will need to find and seal the leak, otherwise it will just escape again. I once had a caravan fridge leak, and it gave off an ammonia like smell. The fridge was replaced under warranty and I was told that because it had leaked due to a fault in one of the pipes it could not have been repaired.
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Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget,
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trouville
regular
Reged: 10/06/2004
Posts: 2847
Loc: crusing with an Arpège
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Oil???
I had no idea there was any oil in the system??The fan turns as always under that is the compressor about the size of the bottom half of a bottle of fizzy wine
Should i oil the bearings??Often bearings are damaged by oil in not so old units??
Im not by the fridge just now but from what i remember it seemed to be a sealed unit with the recharge pipe comeing up and a couple of pipes to a radiator all sealed?
Dont remember any other filler caps??
I bought it second hand i think its about 5 years old?I was told less but.I think fridge gas just "escapes" in time not due to a leak just due to normal tolerances ???
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liveaboard
Edited by trouville (14/05/2008 18:44)
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No_Regrets
regular
Reged: 09/07/2007
Posts: 1390
Loc: Welwyn Garden City, Herts UK.
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They leak when not used, like Car A/C unites.
Try and use once a month...
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The scourge of Windsor, and notorious founder member of the 'Upper Thames Birchwood Massive' now outlawed by the EA and River pressure groups, currently planning a nice comfy retirement in the aft cabin of a Broom.
Now can anybody recommend any non-marking slippers?
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Relax
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Reged: 18/04/2007
Posts: 161
Loc: ked out again!
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They have special oil which disolves in the gas to lubricate the compressor - if the gas escapes the oil can too. I have found that when the car units break it is often due to no oil having been rplaced.
An a/c engineer (or garage) can check the pressure and add gas if it is low. One of these engineers told me (no idea if its true) that they often leak from lack of use due to the compressor seals sticking to the shafts - you are supposed to use regularly - even in winter 
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All men dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds,
wake in the day to find that it was vanity.
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men,
for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.
- T.E. Lawrence -
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CLYDE_WANDERER
regular
Reged: 15/06/2006
Posts: 1344
Loc: Glasgow
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Try some tool hire companies, as they normally hire out and repair Dehumidifiers.
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PBooth
regular
Reged: 26/05/2004
Posts: 193
Loc: Lancaster, UK
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refrigeration and aircon units are charged by weight of refrigrant, not pressure, which changes according to operating conditions, so you need to know the charge weight and type of gas. I have seen a small Waeco unit that took 19 grammes of R123a, which is a commonly used gas in automotive a/c systems. If your fridge has lost its gas, you will need to find why, car a/c looses its gas through the rubber hoses in the system, but fridges dont have rubber hoses, so leaks must be from somewhere else.
hope this helps
Peter
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skipper_stu
regular
Reged: 24/02/2003
Posts: 2534
Loc: North Wales
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trou
all fridges have alittle bit of oil in the system, it actually migrates with the gas around the system, usually there is enough in the system even if you have a gas leak, take no notice of the amateurs. the compressor is a little piston thingie, usually 25 cc or there abouts and needs the oil to lube it. if it is a system with freon 134 in you can buy small cans of gas and a refill connection off ebay and do it yourself.
stu
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http://www.beneteau-owners-association.org.uk/toast/toast.asp
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No_Regrets
regular
Reged: 09/07/2007
Posts: 1390
Loc: Welwyn Garden City, Herts UK.
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You can lose gas via seals too.
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The scourge of Windsor, and notorious founder member of the 'Upper Thames Birchwood Massive' now outlawed by the EA and River pressure groups, currently planning a nice comfy retirement in the aft cabin of a Broom.
Now can anybody recommend any non-marking slippers?
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skipper_stu
regular
Reged: 24/02/2003
Posts: 2534
Loc: North Wales
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the oil does not dissolve in the gas! if you get a catastrophic leak then some oil will escape, the seal on automative systems is a ceramic seal similar to the one on car water pumps, if you dont use it during the winter some leakage occurs past the ceramic face and steel face, most car manufacturers recommend that you run the system once a week to make sure that hte seal is kept sealing
see here for more definitive info http://www.carcare.org/climate_control/refrigerants_oil.shtml
stu
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http://www.beneteau-owners-association.org.uk/toast/toast.asp
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trouville
regular
Reged: 10/06/2004
Posts: 2847
Loc: crusing with an Arpège
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That sounds a good idea!Never thought of ebay for recharging the fridge!
I do use it in winter all year.Not when im away as now,but otherwise i just leave it running with yogurt cheese fish diy mayonnaise cucumber the only difference is i turn the thermostat up that is to keep it at about 8 degrees winter summer 5 degrees
Dose it realy matter if its freon Propane or CFC?? On such a small fridge wouldent any refrigerant do?
Thats interesting i do run it as good as every week except now for example i hadent thought of lubricating the seals by use!
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liveaboard
Edited by trouville (14/05/2008 21:15)
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pampas
regular
Reged: 17/07/2003
Posts: 619
Loc: Falmouth
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If its a sealed unit and the motor is inside the clyindrical domed unit(usually painted black) there are no seals between the compressor and motor to worry about. and any oil can only leak out where the gas has leaked out. The fan I suspect is something like a computer fan and a spray of aerosol OIL (Not the dreaded WD40) would do no harm. As already mentioned, you need to know the specs. for the machine in order to put the correct oil and gas weight into the compressor.
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trouville
regular
Reged: 10/06/2004
Posts: 2847
Loc: crusing with an Arpège
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this is quite different!
Its a compressor which seems to have a central shaft passing through the compressor unit and the fan is attached to the shaft,so theres certainly a seal at the top and bottem
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liveaboard
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reeac
regular
Reged: 06/06/2003
Posts: 300
Loc: Orford, Suffolk, UK
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Quote:
They leak when not used, like Car A/C unites.
Try and use once a month...
I think that electrically powered fridges are different from car A/C units as the former are fully sealed with electrical connections to transmit the power in whereas car A/C units feature a belt/ pulley/ shaft/seal. Shaft seals certainly leak if the unit is left idle but run them at least once a week and they'll go on for years. My current car's air con has been trouble-free for 10 years so far.
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skipper_stu
regular
Reged: 24/02/2003
Posts: 2534
Loc: North Wales
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ermm, that is what i was talking about!! a ceramic seal is what is used on pulley driven compressors!! on the round sealed type of compressor that s used on domestic mains compressors there is no seal, and if there is a leak it it is usually from the evaporator where some dildo has "defosted" it with a sharp knife!!
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http://www.beneteau-owners-association.org.uk/toast/toast.asp
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William_H
regular
Reged: 28/07/2003
Posts: 3731
Loc: West Australia
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Have a good look around the whole of the plumbing for the fridge. Look for a stain of oil. As already said if the gas leaks out it often leaves an oil stain. If the gas has gone it usually requires the system be evacuated to high vacuum before adding the correct amount of gas and possibly some oil. If it is portable take it to a fridge repair man.
good luck olewill
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john_morris_uk
regular
Reged: 03/07/2002
Posts: 3717
Loc: Plymouth UK
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If you get garage/mobile fridge repair unit to attend, then the machine that they evacuate the system with will also usually remove the oil and measure how much was in the there. They will also be able to have a good guess as to how much to put back in. The machines that I have seen used are on wheels - rather like a sacktruck, but with all the bits in a box the size of a very large suitcase. Not small enought to bring on board easily, but something you could wheel down a pontoon. They usually fasten onto two valves like the one you describe, either side of the compressor - ie in the low pressure and high pressure side, and will give you an indication of compressor pressures etc.
It sounds as though you have a shaft driven compressor, which is much more similar to the standard car/automotive system so ignore the comments about 'black box sealed systems.
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“When you discover that you are riding a dead horse,
the best strategy is to dismount.”
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deisel
regular
Reged: 30/01/2008
Posts: 94
Loc: rye, sussex
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Nowadays You Can Recharge Yourself!. As A Mechanic We Buy A Large Aerosol From Motor Factors It Has The Valve & Pressure Gauge Attached, All You Do Is Connect & Squirt!, It Costs About 40 Quid, It Works On Cars!!!!
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trouville
regular
Reged: 10/06/2004
Posts: 2847
Loc: crusing with an Arpège
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The garages & fridge people do seem all to use a "sacktruck" with a unit that has gauges.Ive never ever thought of refilling a fridge.More of looking for one i could afford.
The oil question ill ask.I dident think there had to be a vacuum first but it seems reasonable!
I still have an old compressor fridge i bought S/H in 1993 that was powered buy the engine the thermostat gave up and it froze the large holding plate which swelled up & pushed its screws off the fridge!Wonder if that would still work?
As it happens im going to a garage late this afternoon with my girl friend to collect her car ill ask how they recharge a cars system
I like the comment about defrosting a fridge with a knife!I had a stab at an ice box that had to be defrosted,it was my girlfriends fridge & she was less than pleased with me!!
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liveaboard
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Talbot
regular
Reged: 23/08/2003
Posts: 12506
Loc: Stavanger, Norway
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If you can find a domestic fridge repair company, that will be the cheapest solution. I once had a car air con repaired by domestic fridge company - half the price of the car company, and they regassed as part of that service - worked better than when car was new!!!!
If it is a caravan gas/12v/240v then it has a special gas containing ammonia which most fridge people cannot service.
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"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors - and miss."
Robert A Heinlein
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