Refrigerator not working again

You think it's retaining water ?

Reply to
.p.jm.
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Now we know who you do commercials FOR - Brobama !

Reply to
.p.jm.

But what side is the hump on ?

And is it 'Eye-gor' or 'Ee-gor' ?

Reply to
.p.jm.

True dat. Efficiency keeps increasing anyway, so replacing the refrigerator may pay for itself.

Reply to
ATP

"Stormin Mormon" fired this volley in news:i7beb4$ogp$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

They're pretty scarce. He might be better with an F-ing professional, instead.

We had a "refrigeration professional" out to the factory a three months ago to replace an A/C compressor under warrantee.

Long story short... I had to do (actually completely UN-do, clean the work, and RE-do) the brazing for him. He couldn't lick all the leaks.

To his defense, it was a BAD position in which to work, he was a short little sucker, the unit was tall, and it was a tiny, tight workspace inside the coil of that unit. But damn... I'm just a pyrotechnics guy, and _I_ was able to Sil-Flo that thing down tight in one try.

So much for "refrigeration professionals".

Yeah... I know there are some. I learned to braze from one. But this guy's was the sort of skills I see all the time over in alt.hvac. And they SCREAM about how they're the only ones competent to work on systems.

Hell... half of them can't figure out which way is "up" for liquid feed with R410a. (or why),(and it's printed on the bottle)

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

jeff_wisnia fired this volley in news:i7b7t5$trc$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

He better try the comic thing... he can't make it as a refrigeration professional no matter how hard he tries.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Ignoramus25344 fired this volley in news:3audneLutf28tQTRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

no... he's a "refrigeration professional", and doesn't want anyone to figure out the four or five pages of knowlege that constitutes his "professional advantage" over ordinary laymen.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

"Michael A. Terrell" fired this volley in news:bpudnViRq8dG_gTRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

I keep my "beer fridge" out in a roofed but not enclosed part of the barn. It rusts out completely in about four to five years. So, I replace it with another $50-$75 unit off the various lists and/or swap sheets. $20 a year isn't too much to pay for a working fridge.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Its a freakin Kenmore.... call Sears and have a guy come out and fix it, or you can quit screwing around and buy a new one.

Reply to
Steve

Lloyd, I mostly am after trying to understand what is happening, right now. I have a luxury of having plenty of time, due to having less food at home that fits onto one fridge.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus25344

If icing is the problem there is also a thermostat in series with the heating element. If that is bad the heater will not function. BTDT. Art

Reply to
Artemus

Does that refrigeration knowledge amount to so little? Any textbook you would recommend?

I cannot believe that, after fixing and retrofitting my Bridgeport Interact CNC mill, I cannot ever properly diagnose a bad Sears refrigerator. I started knowing nothing about CNC mills and now, thanks to all the great help I got, I have a working CNC machine.

Maybe I can fix the fridge too.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus25344

I haven't bought a fridge in the last 25 years. In fact, I just picked up a free apartment or dorm sized fridge over the weekend that looks brand new. I've never bought a new microwave oven, and the most I've ever paid was $2. I have four at the moment, and I'm deciding which ones I'll keep. I've only bought two new televisions in the last

40 years. Most everything else is picked up not working and repaired.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

His time isn't worth anything. He'd rather be the first person on the block with a fridge that cost him five grand than pay $200 for labor.

Reply to
AZ Nomad

Ignoramus25344 fired this volley in news:PpGdnRA_6MDU7QTRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

yep. I have repaired a number of them with the same symptom, but the symptom can be caused by more than one problem.

As someone else said, a _thoroughly_ frozen-up evaporator can cause the symptom, because the liquid refrigerant won't boil out of the coil fast enough to reduce the head pressure before the next cycle is requested. That's one.

A lot of compressors now come with PTC thermistors in place of the potential relays they used to employ to switch the start cap out of circuit. They tend to fail rather easily in a high-humidity environment.

Although they're not terribly expensive, I replace all of them with potential relays; sometimes scavanged from other similar-sized compressors, sometimes new.

Then, of course, it's possible the new start cap is failing.

The compressor could be on the way out. If the bearings are getting sticky or tight, the compressor will be harder to start than it should be. This eventually manifests itself as a "locked rotor", and nothing you can do (effectively) will fix that, except replacing the compressor.

Foreign material in the closed system can cause it, too. You didn't say anything about ever opening it, but flakes of insulation from the compressor windings and corrosion flaking off the inside of improperly cleaned or improperly brazed lines can all do it. These, too, are generally fatal problems, and cannot be fixed merely by replacing the compressor and re-charging.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Happy to see I'm not the only cheap SOB out there. At least half my appliances and home entertainment devices were either trash-picked, or came from garage sales or CraigsList. I really, really hate paying retail.

Reply to
aemeijers

Reply to
DD_BobK

Ignoramus25344 fired this volley in news:PpGdnRI_6MAS7ATRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Well, HIS does. The body of knowlege a competent tech has is quite large, and encompasses a wide variety of disciplines. You have many of them already. But the skills specific to refrigeration repair are not many, and your learning them wouldn't be a stretch, at all.

Now, I said, "technician". There's a whopping difference between a competent tech and a real refrigeration expert. He's the guy who can compute actual superheats based upon the refrigerant's characteristics, the compressor specs, the load, etc. He can do and knows a lot more than that.

If you're working on massive chillers for domed stadiums, you need that sort of knowlege. Those guys are real engineers.

The techs could do everything they do from a ten page cheat-sheet. And no... I'm not kidding. Like most repair trades, except for the handling and diagnosing of actual refrigeration problems, they solve most of their problems by parts-swapping. Most of their refrigeration-based problems are handled by rote, not by a clear understanding of how the system actually does what it does, or why the pressures must be what they must be, or what actually causes them to go "off".

I worked strictly as a grunt for an HVAC guy for a summer, many years ago. With only that training, which consisted mostly of peering over the shoulder of my boss, I got to where I can (and do) repair all of my own R-22 and R-134a appliances. I cannot work on systems using azeotropes, because I can't buy them, and don't intend to get licensed; so I can't fix any R410a problems that require refrigerant. I also cannot buy R-22, but I don't need it (dried and filtered propane works fine, if you don't have R22), and R134a is still available without an EPA certificate and a licensed "master" operator supervising you.

Unlike the "pros", I don't deliberately vent systems to the air. I built a small reclamation unit. It saves me the guilt of doing what I see professionals do almost every time I hire one. It also captures some refrigerant, which, if it's not been exposed to a compressor burn-out (and thus containing acid), can be filtered, dried, and returned to service. (and yes, safely. The "pros" would have you believe that _any_ reclaimed refrigerant will instantly destroy anything you put it in)

Everything I've needed to know to stay "current" on what I can legally do is available on-line.

I don't repair anyone's equipment but my own. I will, however, diagnose friends' systems for them, so they don't get bilked by the repair tech when he finally shows up.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

I always add a little Supco88 to a system when replacing a compressor in addition to a product like Acid Away an acid neutralizer. Of course a refrigerator for home use doesn't need as much as a commercial unit but it only needs a little to help it. A small dryer with an access valve is not a bad idea either when a refrigerator compressor is replaced and the odd fridge that has a starting problem can benefit from an all in one hard start relay and capacitor package. I know a lot of guys who do a great job on HVAC equipment who have trouble working on itty bitty refrigeration units. I prefer the big stuff myself like 60 to 4k tons, it's easier to work on. 8-)

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

AZ Nomad fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@ip70-176-155-130.ph.ph.cox.net:

That's all I see the "pros" do. They swap crap until it works, and if it's an actual _refrigeration_ problem, they either add refrigerant, or scratch their asses waiting for advice from "someone at the office."

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

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