Old fridge - regassing/sealing

[neil1967]

We have a 28 year old frigomatic fridge on our yacht, which has stopped cooling. I suspect a refridgerant leak (compressor still runs). At that age it doesn't owe anyone anything; however a complete replacement will be expensive. On eBay you can buy fridge gas system sealant and recharging gas, albeit for newer systems - the frigomatic uses R12 gas. Has anyone had any success with these sealants, and can you mix the various gases? All I want to do is extend the life of the current fridge until I am ready to replace it in perhaps 18 months time.

Thanks

Neil

 

[superheat6k]

Halfords sell a R134a recharge kit.

If the leak is tiny due to the fridges age and minor probity of the pipework then simply trying one of these might make it work for a while.

For small systems R134a will likely works as well as R12 did and they have virtually the same operating thermodynamic characteristics. If you get another two years out of it then great. If just two months then time to give up perhaps.

 

[William_H]

I had an old car way back that I had an after market aircon fitted. It used to leak gas after a couple of years. It simply had gas addedto fix it. There was a sight gauge where you could see bubbles behind the window. No bubbles means not enough gas so no liquid. I think they reckoned it was leaking through the rubber hoses. 2 subsequent cars with factory fitted aircon have not had this problem.
So if your fridge has leaked gas over a long period and if there is still some gas in the system a recharge may work. However if it has developed a real leak as in hole in the evaporator from sharp objects when ridding frost or a failure of compressor bearing seals or similar then it will need to be evacuated before regassing. If you get a fridge mechanic to the boat he will check for residual pressure. If there is none then he will pressurize the system with air and test for leaks. Repair the leak, then evacuate completely and regas.
The evacuation takes a special vaccum pump so not so easy DIY.
I suspect you will need to get a fridge mechanic to the boat. The system may be quite serviceable with maintenance but cost of a mechanic's vsit may be a lot and he may say scrap it. It is all a gamble. good luck olewill

 

[brokethebox]

I worked for a guy once, and whenever the fridge or freezer needed regassing, he would go to his favourite kebab shop and ask them who their fridge man was. He swore it was always cheaper than anything marine...

J

 

[FulmarJeddo]

Halfords sell a R134a recharge kit.

If the leak is tiny due to the fridges age and minor probity of the pipework then simply trying one of these might make it work for a while.

For small systems R134a will likely works as well as R12 did and they have virtually the same operating thermodynamic characteristics. If you get another two years out of it then great. If just two months then time to give up perhaps.

I installed a Waeco system with a coolplate in the cool box and didn't get a good seal on the couplings and it lost pressure in a couple of months. I tightened up the couplings and re-gassed it with a Halfords kit and its worked fine for the past 4 years. You do need to get an adaptor for the valve as the standard fridge valve is smaller than a car air con valve. I got one from ebay. I can't remember the details, but found all the info on previous posts on here. There is some very good info on Vyv Cox's web site on re-gassing. http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com

 

[rob2]

Your system is pretty ancient and, as you say, being so past its sell-by date it doesn't owe you anything. I've been out of the business for long enough to firget all the actual details, but you need to be aware that R12 is not only no longer available, but it is illegal to supply it anymore. There are two problems in converting your existing kit to R134a. The seals originally used for R12 cannot withstand the oil used with R134a, so you may have to refurbish so as to introduce compatible seals. When the transition from R12 was in the offing, seals to suit the new oil were introduced by most manufacturers so you may be OK. You cannot mix R12 and R134a or their associated oils, so the system will need to be flushed and evacuated before you can introduce the new materials, which means you need a high vacuum pump to outgas the whole system before refilling. Have a word with a local aircon guy or maybe contact Penguin (I believe they used to sell these systems, so may be able to go into all the specifics for your system).

Rob.

 

[ratbag]

i have a similar problem, i've been let down 6 times by fridge engineers, i have looked at the halfords kit but i'm sure i remember reading that car 134a containing oil can cause a problem ?

 

[mawm]

Like ratbag I have also been let down by fridge "engineers" with things such as regassing with a different coolant (we use something different to you in NZ) without doing anything else, or servicing the compressor with new seals and oils but not changing the pipes so all the coolant diffused out in 9 months, etc. Last guy was an old fella who scratched his head and cursed the other guys and fixed it properly. And now lately had to have a bracket made for it when I re-engined. Would have been cheaper in the end to put in an electrically driven compressor, an extra battery, solar panel and new plate in the fridge.