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Beier 318L 12/24v DC Chest Fridge/Freezer - Not Cooling
OTG:
Hey y'all, hope everybody's doing well!
It's been a long while since I last dropped by (almost 2 years since I fixed my blown caps issue) - but I thought I'd ping the anotherpower brains trust again for my latest woes - before I begrudgingly called a refrigeration guy.
One of my two DC Chest Fridge/Freezer's has stopped cooling (luckily it's the one I use for a fridge - the other ones got a couple of steers in it!).
The thing still runs normal (seemingly), but inside it's nowhere near as cold as it should be - running the whole day, it'll drop about 1 to 2°C (so it's floating around 7-9°C presently - instead of 4°C).
- It's running, so the thermostats not an issue,
- I've tested/swapped controllers and they're all working fine,
- I gave the Condenser a blow out with the compressor and the fans running fine (it's a relatively new ball-baring fan) - that's made no difference,
- I checked all accessible brazed/soldered points for refrigerant leaks, but nothing (I haven't noticed any smells either),
- And finally, I did all the usual DMM tests on the Compressor (Open/Shorted Windings), and they all came back fine too...
The only odd things I've noticed are:
1. As pictured, there is one, very cold/frosted point inside the unit, around the top/middle section on the right side... obviously the evaporator coil is in behind there doing something. What this symptom might be telling me I don't know (maybe a blockage of some sort)? I've had the unit off overnight the past couple of nights, so if the evap coil was frozen, it should have defrosted by now.
2. The in/out pipes on the compressor are nowhere near as cold/hot as they should be, and
3. The compressor itself is not as hot as it should be, and it's vibrating noticeably less than the other working unit (it's definitely running - but almost feels like it's being held back/constricted somehow from running at full-pelt).
If you guys can give me any pointers as to what this all might mean, that would be greatly appreciated.
bj:
No expert, but from the various troubles over the years, sounds like low on refrigerant. Amps check on the
compressor will show a lot less than claimed draw.
Good luck
BJ
Wolvenar:
BJ is spot on, these are all the signs of low refrigerant.
There are other much less possible problems, but low refrigerant is the most common, and best fitting for the symptoms.
If this is a newer refrigerant there may be a fix /patch up to get it by a bit longer.
Does it have the type listed on it?
If it's older it is likely the typical R22.
Edit: it appears from the link in earlier posts about this cooler that it is R-134
Now, this is not as strait forward as it may seem if you want to do it right, so let me know what you want to do.
noneyabussiness:
Replace the refrigerant with LPG, less problematic...
OTG:
Thanks guys,
Yes the refrigerant is a 115g charge of R134a. And the unit pulls around 4A@24V when running.
Thanks for the tip BJ - I'll Amp check the compressor.
And Wolvenar - I'd be interested to hear of any fix/patch you might know. I'm very keen to keep the unit in service!
Noneya - How is LGP less problematic? If it's a leak, surely the type of gas wouldn't matter any?
If it is loosing refrigerant, and the leak can't be found from accessible pipework, that must mean it's coming from inaccessible pipework (i.e. the evap coil running through the back of the units insulation), that effectively makes it an irreparable issue... right?
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