Worth brazing a leaking evaporator plate?

Sea Change

Sea Change

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Managed to crack the pipe where it enters the plate. I was installing a not-new system taken from another boat so it has had a fair bit of handling. Pretty annoying though to hear that hiss as all the precious R134a escaped.

I presume I could take it to someone to fix it by brazing? And also that it wouldn't be rocket science to get it recharged via the self sealing couplings which are already fitted?

I'm in Antigua so buying a replacement unit is likely quite expensive.

Fortunately I have another fridge so I'm not sitting here eating a bunch of melting ice cream.
 
Sea Change said:
Managed to crack the pipe where it enters the plate. I was installing a not-new system taken from another boat so it has had a fair bit of handling. Pretty annoying though to hear that hiss as all the precious R134a escaped.

I presume I could take it to someone to fix it by brazing? And also that it wouldn't be rocket science to get it recharged via the self sealing couplings which are already fitted?

I'm in Antigua so buying a replacement unit is likely quite expensive.

Fortunately I have another fridge so I'm not sitting here eating a bunch of melting ice cream.
Click to expand...
Why not. They were brazed or silver soldered when they were made.

My petrol head mate Bob was Technical Director fo a major refrigeration manufacturer.

His warranty jobs were rectified on site if possible. Being able to Braze joints was part of the requirement for his Technicians.
 
It can be done but make sure whoever does it knows what they’re doing. If it’s not purged with something like nitrogen you’ll probably find it clogs and stops working quite quickly as the deposits make their way through the system.

Yes you should have a shraeder valve to fill so anyone with some gauges and a vacuum pump can fill it, the process is pretty simple but make sure you understand the temperature it’ll operate at will drive the fill pressure. You might still be able to get gas over there but last I looked it was certainly being restricted to FGas qualified people only as it is in EU and UK.
 
If it’s an aluminium evaporator then brazing will not work. We used to use epoxy to repair them. Most of the time it would work if the crack or leak is small. You can buy now Ali repair sticks and use a turbo torch also. As others have mentioned it should be vacuumed after and pressure tested before adding the refrigerant. Normally a filter should be changed if one fitted (drier).
 
Sea Change said:
Managed to crack the pipe where it enters the plate. I was installing a not-new system taken from another boat so it has had a fair bit of handling. Pretty annoying though to hear that hiss as all the precious R134a escaped.

I presume I could take it to someone to fix it by brazing? And also that it wouldn't be rocket science to get it recharged via the self sealing couplings which are already fitted?

I'm in Antigua so buying a replacement unit is likely quite expensive.

Fortunately I have another fridge so I'm not sitting here eating a bunch of melting ice cream.
Click to expand...
The plates are usually aluminium so best of luck trying to get that brazed! Working in Africa, a 3 months supply line, so making things work without spares was my forte. I have used Bakerlock, an epoxy used for glueing oil production strings threads. It was tolerant of oil, water mud etc. A good civilian equivalent is JB Weld. Clean and polish the area well. There isn’t much pressure in the evaporator when it is working.
 
rotrax said:
Why not. They were brazed or silver soldered when they were made.

My petrol head mate Bob was Technical Director fo a major refrigeration manufacturer.

His warranty jobs were rectified on site if possible. Being able to Braze joints was part of the requirement for his Technicians.
Click to expand...
No they weren’t, most of our boat fridges evaps are aluminium.
 
luke collins said:
If it’s an aluminium evaporator then brazing will not work. We used to use epoxy to repair them. Most of the time it would work if the crack or leak is small. You can buy now Ali repair sticks and use a turbo torch also. As others have mentioned it should be vacuumed after and pressure tested before adding the refrigerant. Normally a filter should be changed if one fitted (drier).
Click to expand...
PBO did an article a few years back, these Ali sticks iirc were based on zinc which quickly corroded. As you say epoxy is a quick dirty fix that usually lasts
 
Beneteau381 said:
The plates are usually aluminium so best of luck trying to get that brazed! Working in Africa, a 3 months supply line, so making things work without spares was my forte. I have used Bakerlock, an epoxy used for glueing oil production strings threads. It was tolerant of oil, water mud etc. A good civilian equivalent is JB Weld. Clean and polish the area well. There isn’t much pressure in the evaporator when it is working.
Click to expand...
PS the usual culprit for my repairs was the catering staff, they used to love defrosting with a sharp chefs knife!
 
Beneteau381 said:
No they weren’t, most of our boat fridges evaps are aluminium.
Click to expand...
Well, mine are brazed joints, they were on the last boat too. Ours are from US sources. Perhaps they are behind the times, or - shock horror - they use better kit!

As the OP asked if it could be brazed, one gave the benefit of the doubt and assumed the OP knew what he was looking at?

I quote from the OP :- I presume I could take it to someone to fix by brazing?

That gave me a clue.....................................
 
If the evaporator is made from aluminum take it to s coded aluminum welder who will be able to weld it closed.

I did the same with an engine heat exchanger that had corroded
 
PaulRainbow said:
That's very, very unusual in domestic refrigeration.
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Well, I assume they are steel as I have a touch of rust under the white enamel finish where a flake of paint has come off.

Just checked. They are Stainless Steel. If I have a touch of rust, obviously not the finest quality or spec S/S!

AFAIK, they are Adler-Barbour make.

Which makes brazing even more interesting!
 
rotrax said:
We have steel evaporator plates..............................
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Stop digging, read my post MOST is what I said. Most leisure yachts/boats that I have been in contact with have had aluminium evaporators. Most domestic fridges have aluminium evaps and even the commercial walk in fridges and freezers that I had contact with had copper/ alloy evaporators and the question I would ask is why would anyone make an evap out steel?
By the way, I used to mechanic for a serious sidecar racer in the 70s, have had and enjoyed the whole spectrum of motorbikes. I worked in the oilfield worldwide repairing stuff, teaching third world nationals how to and have a good idea on how to repair “stuff” . Much like you? I do know when to stop digging although becoming old does make one opinionated and argumentative? Imho of course😂
 
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