Fridge no longer cooling

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Roro

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The Coolmatic fridge cooling unit on my HR 352 is the unit supplied with the boat when new in 1986. The motor works and the thermostat was new last season. But, no cooling takes place. :(

Since 1996, Coolmatic were acquired by Waeco and Waeco in turn were acquired by Dometic who are unable to help me with the Coolmatic unit (Possibly because my boat is in Cork).

So, has anyone had a similar fridge problem and how was it resolved?

Thank you.
 
Roro said:
The Coolmatic fridge cooling unit on my HR 352 is the unit supplied with the boat when new in 1986. The motor works and the thermostat was new last season. But, no cooling takes place. :(

Since 1996, Coolmatic were acquired by Waeco and Waeco in turn were acquired by Dometic who are unable to help me with the Coolmatic unit (Possibly because my boat is in Cork).

So, has anyone had a similar fridge problem and how was it resolved?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Re gas it
 
Probably needs re-gassing. I am not sure how easy that is with a unit as old as that. Probably uses CFCs and may not be feasible to change the type of refrigerant
 
Thank you Sailorman, I half expected this suggestion. It brings me no closer to a solution as I have contacted many shops! dealers and even Dometic to establish how to regas the unit, where to get the gas, who can do the job ... I still need help
 
A 1979 fridge will likely be operating on R12. R134a might work, but the oil needs to be changed as well as the refrigerant.

Chances of finding some R12 are virtually non existent, and even if you find some using it will be illegal. Regardless of age fridges are sealed systems, the gas doesn't just go away, it leaks out. If the leak isn't fixed it will leak out again, probably within a week or two. So you pay the man to fix it, it works great until the cheque clears !

An alternative to R12 is available that will be compatible with the original oil - Isceon MO49 or R413a, but not sure where you will get this in Ireland.

Re-gassing once the leak is found and sorted is simple if you have the right equipment, any local fridge man should be able to do this.

If you simply use the EBay kit don't be surprised if it doesn't work for too long, especially if you end up with air left in the system.

For a 1979 unit possibly time to cut your losses.
 
VicMallows said:
I wonder what happened to all the R12 carefully extracted from discarded fridges? .... exported to 3rd world countries I expect to keep their fridges going.:mad:
Click to expand...

Bit of a thread drift here, but this is where I make my living.

A firm in the New Forest called Refrigerant Reclaim acquired loads of it when phase out was first announced in the mid 90s. However, to stop the Fridge Industry / Supermarkets using illegally imported R12 & notably R502, the Government simply outlawed any use of any R12 in 1997. R22 goes the same way end of next year. That firm immediately went bust.

The stuff was so cheap to make (that's why it was called a Freon) there would be no point exporting the UKs trifling qty of recovered R12. The Chinese make the stuff by the shipload, so any overseas Countries wanting the stuff will go that way. Most here was simply vented. The recovered quantity was pitifully low, as the recovery prices can hardly be described as cheap.
 
Hello.
I think I read somewhere, that the R134a that comes in kits for use in re-charging vehicle air conditioning setups, might not be suitable for use in the compressors we commonly have on boats. Something about the vehicle refrigerant has oil included that isn't compatible with boat compressors. Sorry that I can't be more accurate or specific. I believe there is a chap who uses this forum who is an expert on such things called Vyv_Cox who might shine a light on it if he comes across this thread.
Good luck.
 
Indeed you need to clear out all the gas and oil, flushing the system through and evacuating it to get it clean. Then compatible oil and gas is introduced. You will need to check the system details, which should be on a label on the compressor, to find out what the original gas and charge was. There are replacements for R12 and they are chosen to be compatible with the seal materials in an R12 system. Some compressors from around this time have seals which will allow both R12 and R134a operation. This was certainly true of the Sanden engine driven compressors used in many Frigoboat systems. Incidentally, although there may be a leak in the system, there is no such thing as a perfect seal so at this age it may simply have leaked out very slowly over the years so a recharge should give you at least another decade of use. To check, you need to gas the system and ensure it holds pressure before putting the final charge in - some will hold a vacuum but not pressure!

Try looking for a mobile car aircon specialist who can come to the boat and do repairs and testing on site. It's worth discussing what tests he is able to do to ensure an effective repair before commisioning the work or you may end up with a system that works for only a short time, as suggested above.

Rob.
 
rob2 said:
Indeed you need to clear out all the gas and oil, flushing the system through and evacuating it to get it clean. Then compatible oil and gas is introduced. You will need to check the system details, which should be on a label on the compressor, to find out what the original gas and charge was. There are replacements for R12 and they are chosen to be compatible with the seal materials in an R12 system. Some compressors from around this time have seals which will allow both R12 and R134a operation. This was certainly true of the Sanden engine driven compressors used in many Frigoboat systems. Incidentally, although there may be a leak in the system, there is no such thing as a perfect seal so at this age it may simply have leaked out very slowly over the years so a recharge should give you at least another decade of use. To check, you need to gas the system and ensure it holds pressure before putting the final charge in - some will hold a vacuum but not pressure!

Try looking for a mobile car aircon specialist who can come to the boat and do repairs and testing on site. It's worth discussing what tests he is able to do to ensure an effective repair before commisioning the work or you may end up with a system that works for only a short time, as suggested above.

Rob.
Click to expand...
Sorry to rain on this parade, but fully hermetic compressors are not not porous over a decade, and R134a was first introduced in 1992, when a significant issue with oil compatibility was discovered. I know it is hard to accept, but there are no simple answers for old R12 systems, especially minute ones on boats.

To this day a major part of my business involves gas retrofit (R22 now) on very large refrigeration systems, and I was there when R12 / R502 went in the 1990s from the Supermarket fridge industry.

Waste your money if you wish, or face the fact it's time for a new fridge. Typical fridge engineer rates are around £400 / day. A new fridge say £600 may be £700. If your mate down the 'Feathers' can fix it for a few pints, or a trip out then great, but if you pay a professional the going rate do not be too surprised when you still find yourself shelling out another £6-700 for the new fridge eventually, and possibly in short order.
 
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