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3 years ago, tech spent two hours to find freon leak. It was not easily repairable, but he attached "tap valve", added freon, and it has been cooling since.
Today noticed it had been leaking liquid on the floor for some time. Pulled it away from wall and the low side copper line from the compressor was iced up all the way to the cabinet. The periodic melting of the ice appears to be the "leak". Manually activated the defrost cycle and it melted the ice off the line. Went ahead and ordered new defrost timer and thermostat just in case.
Capillary line is wrapped around the low side line and follows it under the unit. Interior temp is +10 degrees on top shelf. All food still frozen.
My guess is that the freon has leaked to a dangerously low level. If I am right, where could I obtain a fitting that would allow me to charge the system with my freon hose and the correct amount of R134a? The tap valve that the tech installed looks like it has a screw-in orifice that is a little smaller than an eraser end of a pencil. Valve then has knob to open and allow freon into system.
Any advice is appreciated.
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Measure the freezer temperature and post.
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your system is over charged.
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Originally Posted by: richappy  Measure the freezer temperature and post. As originally posted - freezer temp on top shelf is around +10 degrees.
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Originally Posted by: AIMANNY your system is over charged. How could it be "over" charged if the system has been functioning properly for nearly 3 years since it was last charged? No freon has been added over that time period.
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Your compressor has become more inneficient over that period of time, the refrigerant pressure is lower than before.
To get proper temperature, you will need to replace the compressor, freezer probably not worth the expense.
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Ice on the low side is a symptom of an overcharge.
Do not know how many times over the last 3 years you pulled the unit out and checked this could be it has been a problem for a long time. Also if you are having a high humidity year (I know that we are as it rains every couple days this year) can make the problem/symptom worse.
May also be that your metering valve is not working correctly.
The compressor puts out too much liquid freon, it is not all turned into a gas in the evaporator coils so you get cooling after the evap coils.
Since compressors do not like trying to compress a liquid it will lessen the compressors life.
So if you are confident that there is not a possibility of an overcharge I would start looking for a replacement unit. |
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Thank's Denman. So it's possible the capillary line is partially restricted??
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Might be but cannot say for sure.
In any case as you said if it is not an overcharged probably makes more sense to replace the unit.
The fridge may run OK for quite a while with this fault but from what I have read the compressor's life will be shortened so I guess it is up to the user whether to risk it. Not a bad bet if they do not keep a lot of food in it but loosing hundreds of dollars of frozen food seems very risky to me but then I am not a betting man.
Hopefully someone else with more knowledge than me will jump in with some help. |
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Originally Posted by: denman Might be but cannot say for sure.
In any case as you said if it is not an overcharged probably makes more sense to replace the unit.
The fridge may run OK for quite a while with this fault but from what I have read the compressor's life will be shortened so I guess it is up to the user whether to risk it. Not a bad bet if they do not keep a lot of food in it but loosing hundreds of dollars of frozen food seems very risky to me but then I am not a betting man.
Hopefully someone else with more knowledge than me will jump in with some help. Memory may not be serving me right, but weren't some of those Frigidaires famous for the cap line separating from the suction line?
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