Re-gassing freezer

[Tim Lamb]

Any thoughts?

Chest type probably 10 years old. Currently only getting down to

-15C

[Animal]

Butane. There are how-to youtube vids

[Tim Lamb]

Hmm. I had thought of engaging a specialist:-(

More a question of does re-gassing significantly extend life?

There are two problems... I can't find an identically sized replacement (exact fit in utility area) and the catering dept. has issues remembering what is in there and thinks an expensive *frost free* upright will solve her senility issues.

[Brian Gaff]

The point is also, is the insulation still OK, it can get waterlogged during defrosts, making it almost completely useless. Brian

[Tim Lamb]

In message <tij9m4$3drj4$ [e-mail], Brian Gaff [e-mail] writes

Pass. At a glance, ours is a seamless metal interior with no defrosting drain.

[SteveW]

I don't know, but as freezers are normally totally sealed systems (the compressor motor, unlike on car A/C, is within the pressurised compressor can), there are no seals to leak and the filling points are soldered closed, nothing should be leaking out. If a regas improves it, it must have lost gas somewhere and will continue to do so.

[alan_m]

Also the thermometer may be faulty :) Or, any thermal probe covered in frost insulating it.

[Brian]

Are you sure it has lost gas?

I’d look for a bad door seal, possibly a bad thermostat.

If it has lost gas, you need to fix the leak before regassing.

I’ve never seen a domestic fridge or freezer with a ‘port’ to regas it, so you’d need to add one. Then get the right gas. It MAY have the type on the plate, if you are lucky it could be the kind used in car a/c - available in cans but how much you need is anyone’s guess.

Probably not practical / economic.

[Jack Harry Teesdale]

If you do try regassing be careful some old freezers had phosgene gas in them, always wear suitable protective equipment including gas mask!

Best to get someone in!

[Tim Lamb]

No

Ok. Pump not continuous but more than I consider normal.

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[ajh]

It's not like a vehicle air con unit that loses gas through seals or a leak, a domestic unit will be hermetically sealed and a leak will eventually lose the lot. I would suspect a worn compressor or heat leak.

[Fredxx]

In that case I might suggest this is a thermostat problem? If low on gas I would expect continuous running, and/or the motor has thermal protection?

[Fredxx]

Are you not thinking of Ammonia? I don't think Phosgene has ever been used as a refrigerant?

[Jack Harry Teesdale]

Au contraire

Phosgene is a highly toxic gas to which some workers may be occupationally exposed. This case report demonstrates the possibility of refrigeration workers suffering phosgene poisoning after heating certain chlorinated fluorocarbons ('freons').

[Tim Lamb]

Ok. I think the decision is to replace. Sadly I have been unable to find an identically dimensioned replacement.

I see most offered are now suitable for garage use

[SteveW]

Many years ago, my parents had a chest freezer that was running far more than expected. It eventually became almost continuous. They decided to scrap it and when they came to move it, they found that the bottom insulation had failed/become damp and the entire base was a solid block of ice, frozen to the garage floor. It was clearly not a compressor or control fault, just a path to continuously gain heat.

[Fredxx]

Are you confirming that phosgene is not a refrigerant, but that phosgene can be made by heating freons?

I think we can pretty much discount the dangers involving the decommissioning of a freezer, even one using old freons:

[Tim Lamb]

:-) Our unit has had a pampered indoor life. The floor is solid except where the pump lives.

I would have expected a relatively modern freezer to use some variant of closed cell foam.

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[John Walliker]

We have a John Lewis small chest freezer in the garden shed. I think it was made by Beko. It is perfectly happy at low ambient temperatures.

John

[Andrew]

Do you have a plug-in watt-o-meter so you can measure how much leccy it is using ?. If it has lost gas or the insulation has become water logged then the motor will be on a lot more than usual.