Kenmore Upright Freezer Will Not Get cool or cold

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
1

2000 Kenmore Upright Freezer. Worked fine. Parents moved to an assisted living apt in Jan 2012. Freezer was unplugged and sat for a year. Moved the freezer to my sons garage. The freezer will not get cool or cold.

  1. Compressor appears to run.
  2. Temperature Control Switch seems to work.
  3. Took of panel that covers the evaporator, fan and defrost heater.
  4. The very thin copper tubing that comes from the dryer gets cold and will build up frost at the point where the copper tube gets larger, just before it enters the Evaporator. The evaporator does not get cool nor cold.
  5. No other copper tubing gets cool or cold.

What the most likely cause of the problem … low on refrigerant? 134-A. Any parts I should test with my volt ohm meter? What is the most likely cause of the problem? What parts should I test?

thanks for your help

2

If the cap tube is only frozen in the evaporator area, use a hot cloth to unfreeze the line. If the evaporator now frosts over, you have moisture in the system. Dryer would have to be replaced and the leak fixed as it sucked in moist air from an evaporator leak. If no frost, your fridg has run out of refrigerant, or the cap line has a restriction.
It has been my experience that a R134A compressor will become inefficient due to operation into a brick wall (frozen capillary). Probably not worth fixing.