Power Tronics Domestic Refrigeration & Rent-A-Fridge

Does your fridge lose gas ?              PART TWO

In the previous article we mentioned that no fridge should ever lose gas, but yet they do.
Being in the refrigeration and appliance repair trade for a number of years, I have come across a few amazing things. These are the type of things that make one realise that all electrical domestic  household appliances were initially designed and built to make the workload of the housewife a lot easier. When I say "housewife", this also surely includes "live-in" servants, stay-at-home dads and anyone else who may even vaguely fit the description of "doin-household-chores".

Let us, for the purpose of this article only concentrate on domestic refrigerators & freezers.
 
As many of you already know, my wife Janet van Eeden, is not only a very dedicated and devoted marriage partner, but she also runs our combined office. This  also makes her a perfect business partner. Wifie is not only the sole proprietor of her own business Rent A Fridge , but she also runs the entire office for my business, Power Tronics.

Anyway a customer phones, and Wifie takes the call. He begins to complain that his double-door (top & bottom) refrigerator is not chilling the milk enough, every so often the milk will turn sour and spoil for the umpteenth time, now his wife is ready to raise hell. He has already adjusted the thermostat fully clockwise for maximum cooling, to pacify her, but to no avail. Now he wishes to speak to me, because, as he apologised to wifie, "a lady would not be able to help him with his problem".
Wifie:   "There could possibly be a shortage of gas in the system Sir, the appliance will have to be brought in."
Customer:  "No, I am sure there is a problem with the thermostat, that's why I want to speak to Deon.
Deon:  "There could possibly be a shortage of gas in the system Sir, the appliance will have to be brought in."
"Well alright then", the customer says - He will bring the appliance in to our workshop for repairs, but he assures me that there is nothing wrong with the freezer section ....... only the fridge side is at fault.
This particular appliance only has one compressor for both fridge and freezer sections, and not two compressors as some model refrigerators have.
To cut a long story short, Wifie was right...... It was a shortage of refrigerant in the system, (but I already knew that when the call came in - just nice to hear the change of tone in the customer's voice .... it's almost like "I told you so."

We at Power Tronics and Rent A Fridge refer to all our appliances as our patients, because after being booked-in at reception, they go straight through to theatre, where they are hooked up to temperature probes for monitoring......
Well the patient arrived half an hour later, and was quickly "Booked" & "Hooked".
Two hours later, I could say with certainty that there was most definately a refrigerant leak.

Now for more serious stuff................ The whole idea behind this article is to help you, the reader, to help yourself. By this, I mean that, if you know what to look for in the behaviour of your refrigerator, then you can be well aware of any problems before they are upon you.

What are a few symptoms to look out for, to identify a refrigerant leak.
Assuming that the thermostat is usually set at a midway position or at 50%


1.)  A change in refrigerator cabinet temperature. - becomes warmer than usual.
      Perishables tend to spoil.
2.)  The need to have to adjust the thermostat colder, in order to maintain the same temperature as usual. (Even with the thermostat eventually set to the coldest position).
3.)  The fact that a rather large mound of ice has begun to build-up on one side of the evaporator plate (cold plate).
4.)  A change in refrigerator cabinet temperature. - becomes colder than usual.
      Perishables tend to over-freeze.
5.)  The need to have to adjust the thermostat warmer, in order to maintain the same temperature as usual. (even with the thermostat set to the warmest position).
6.)  The compressor runs and freezer works perfectly, but the milk in the refrigerator turns sour.
7.)  The compressor runs, but no cooling in either refrigerator or freezer takes place.
8.)  The compressor seems to run for very long periods before switching off.

The eight scenarios above are some of the most basic symptoms that tend to show when a shortage of refrigerant occurs.

Any one or more of these symptoms may be present at any one time, so try to keep a sharp lookout to identify some of the above culprits.

 Basic Components.

 In a standard double-door (top & bottom) or even side by side refrigerator, also known as combo-units, (as in combination fridge/freezer units), there are a few basic components, as follows:

1.)   The Compressor
2.)   The Thermostat
3.)   The Refrigerant or (Gas)
4.)   The Defrost Element
5.)   The Door Gaskets (Door Rubbers or Door Seals)

Because these basic components have been designed to work in close harmony with one another, it is very important that they all work at the best of their ability at all times.
Failure of any one of these components will impact on the cooling ability of your fridge and in so doing, create the impression that a gas leak exists.

1.)   If the pump effeciency of the compressor decreases from 100% to, let's say 50 % on account of internal dirt caused by moisture, then only 50% gas will be pumped and only 50% cooling will take place. ------- This will give the symptoms of a gas leak.

2.)   If the Thermostat becomes eratic in switching on and off at the correct temperatures, this will also show the same symptoms of a gas leak, because cabinet temperature will become too warm or too cold.

3.)   If there is a relative large loss of gas, well then obviously loss of gas symptoms show up.

4.)   The Defrost Element is responsible for preventing large ice build-up on the cold plate. Sometimes they burn out and can no longer do this. Not only do we now have ice build-up but also the time space between off and on periods becomes too long. This then looks lika a shortage of gas.

5.)   A faulty or broken door gasket which is unable to keep all the hard earned cold inside the refrigerator, simply loses it and causes the compressor to run virtually non-stop.  Also looks like a shortage of gas.

With all these weird symptoms and many others that exist on the everyday refrigerator, we prefer to book all appliances into our hospital together with an R80-00 strip & test/quotation fee. This puts your appliance in professional hands and takes the worry out of your life, giving you more time for Golf or some of those odd little jobs your wife wants done around the home.

 Boy! am I glad I've got a full-time Job. C U Next time. Deon & Janet.