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Re: possiable re-gas needed
roly16 wrote:Bryan r600a is usually pretty good on long-distance diagnosis of this sort of problem; where is he when we need him?
Not in the UK. ๐
Doug, it’s not a gas a problem, regassing it won’t help any, it’s a waste of time and a red herring.
If there’s a blockage of airflow as Geoff is getting at then yes, it will cause a problem. Compressor short-cycling will cause the same sort of symptoms, without any ice build up.
A gas leak would have manifested itself inside 3 months, not 3 years. ๐
Geoff, the compressor can short-cycle (where it overheats and cuts out early) which can cause this problem, it’s actually pretty common TBH although more so on built-in and integrated. Getting to -18รลกC and maintaining a mean of -18รลกC are two different things, if it reaches -18 but averages at -14 it’s not right and food won’t be stored correctly at that temperature. Your 4* freezer just became a 2* one.
From the photos, whilst there’s ice on the pipe there’s no excessive build up on the evap itself.
Pot running hot, no restriction to airflow, no excessive ice, slowly losing temp … I’d be looking at the pot.
But once again, it’s not the loss of refrigerant gas that is the problem here, I’d bet on it.
K.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Compressor short-cycling; yes possibly, I didn’t think of that one. But if it is, why is there a build-up of ice on the suction line and beginning of the evaporator? If the defrosting cycle is correct that shouldn’t be there, whatever the compressor is doing. Could the defrost cycle be cutting off too soon, before the top section has had a chance to defrost?
Ken wrote: A gas leak would have manifested itself inside 3 months, not 3 years.
If it was there from new, yes, but badly brazed joints can open up or pipes crack at any time. I repaired a 3 or 4 year old Hotpoint fridge freezer recently with a pinhole in the delivery line about half an inch from the compressor stub, and have no idea how it occurred.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
you can get the ice as the compressor can’t pump hard enough to get the pressure up enough to circulate through the system correctly which leads to an ice build up. Used to happen a lot on the old Candy/Kelvinator machines and I’ve seen it a few times since, it’s often the cause of an ice ball where there is no insulation failure or air ingress.
Could be the defrost cycle but I expect that this is an electronic stat with thermistors so it is, in my experience, unlikely to go wonky like that, if they fail they tend to be goosed or not goosed again, in my experience.
I’ve never had a leak manifest itself that way without some sort of physical damage. Even when a hole has been painted over and, as Alex will tell you, that again was well common on the old Kelvinators.
K.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
it looks and sounds as though you have a partial blockage in the system to be honest, that would explain the partial icing especialy if its r134a.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Yes its 134a gas and i think your right about the blockage. now if i get the two pipes removed from the evaporator in/out (desoldered) then get the evaporator blown out cos i think that the blockage is there as thats where the build up starts then re solder and regas. the fridge freezer is worth the time and money as it only cost me ยฃ50 and im retired. They retail at over ยฃ700 new ๐ All i have to do now is to creep round my friend who dose aircon to help with the regas, just hope the blockage is not in the micro piping. “Im on Mission” if it was a washing machine it would be on its 3rd load by now im used to mending laundry appliances… and microwaves. Fridges etc. another world
Ps…is there any way to check the pressure/suction from the compressor while the pipes are off? is there a gauge or a way to see that the compressor is working at its best.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Whoa!! It’s time to get a refrigeration service engineer in now. Don’t go unbrazing any pipework.
If it is blocked it will be in the capillary, not the evaporator. He’ll test the system before doing anything else.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
also r134a has to be recovered, it cant just be released to atmosphere, only way to tell is with a proper set of guages on a linetap im afraid.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Ok
Cant even spend 5 days in Saratov.. without me ehh.
From the second set of photo’s the problem is in the air circulation of the freezer section,It’s not a refrigeration problem if the evaperator is showing frost all the way through the evaperator.The frost is building up due to lack of air being forced through it thus acting like a normal contact freezer.
Lets start again..
Let the appliance run for 24 hours with the freezer rear panel loose but connected,if i remember the fan is housed in the rear cover,Make sure all the internal components are still connected also.
Then take a couple of photo’s of the WHOLE of the evaperator and let me know the temprature of the unit when the photo’s was taken.
It sounds like the evaperator fan is running for about 10 – 20 mins then cutting out which is common on the LG american range thus showing that the temprature is going down then the sudden rise in temprature.
Also on the front display panel when you switch on make sure that both fridge and freezer settings are mid way No.3. Then after the 24 hrs tell me what the display shows as this would display a fault code when read right.
Bryan
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Hi Bryan, sorry for late reply thought the thread had gone dead. we had a guy come over to look and he tested the gas content and said it was empty and running on vacume, he then re-gased the unit and we waited…it droped very fast in the fridge to 3c+ and -22c in the freezer after he had gone, it then worked well but now the freezer never keeps a steady reading it gose from -22c then -8c then -4c then back to -18c. it dose seem reluctant to now get to -22c. this morning i went into the kitchen and the fridge was silent like it had got to the correct temp but checking the thermostat that i have inside the freezer it read only -8c.
Did i mention a crack in the wall of the freezer inner wall that gets wider as it gets colder? i have today brought some sealant that is for this sort of repair that can handle temp as low as -50c so i was going to try this. the crack starts near the front left side about half way up and gose round and behind the back cover the crack is about 2mm when very cold but gets smaller as it gets less cold, I did notice a bit of condensation on the glass shelvs from time to time. So is it now a thermostat problem making the freezer temp go up and down or is it the crack in the inner wall?
I rang LG and told them this looked like a manafactures fault but she just told me because i was not the first owner and it was older than a year there was nothing that could be done. think i might contact Watch Dog and see what thay have to say as i think one or two have had the same fault as this one. sorry for going on so. ๐
Re: possiable re-gas needed
If the compressor is weak it will not pump the gas around properly but you will be able to hear what sounds like water running down the back so go have a listen.
If so your compressor has gone and will need replacing. Hope this helps.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
there is a faint sound of water running down the back but not all the time.
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Hi Doug
Yes being the second owner could be a problem if the warranty card or handbook states that the warranty actually states that the warranty is non transferable or for the original purchaser only.The crack I would have a good guess at being a stress fracture which is caused when the insulation foam isnt fully injected into the cavity and causes air pockets that contract and expand with the different tempratures..This is a manufacturing defect.
The cause of the problem will lie within one of 2 area’s :
The system has a restriction which will make the compressor run in a vacuum as if it is empty because all the refrigerant is now under high pressure at the blockage and none coming back into the compressor to circulate.The drier will HAVE to be changed and a full system recovery of refrigerant and i would recomend that the appliance is switched off and both doors left open for minimum of 48 hours before working on it (getting the cappillary and pipwork back to ambient temprature will loosen the wax or oil within the pipework causing the blockage,Or a hair drier will do ).Then engineer who does it has a long coffee break whilst the appliance is on vacuum,or if the next call is local do that one and go back.
2nd :
The evaperator fan does have a habit of failling on the LG side by sides and the motor may run for approx 5 – 20 mins then shut down,this is normally displayed as a fault on the front display as an error. both the fridge and freezer display bars should be showing as 3 lit on each side if set correctly and can be changed.if there is an error these display bars wont change when you attempt to change the tempratures.Dependent on the bars that are lit determines the fault code and area of fault.
Bryan
Re: possiable re-gas needed
Had a friend re-gas the system he said it was running on vacume and when checked there was no or very little gas in the system, it took a while to start to take the new gas but did after a while.
After he had re gased it at the correct ammount he said that the compressor sounded like it was now under load and sure enough the temperature got down to -22c but a few week on and its started to go no lower than -12c and spends most of the time around -6c . There is a build up of ice around the top of the condensor again.
Someone stated that if i could her what sounded like water running inside the freezer compartment it could be the compressor, well… yes the sound of water running is very clear to hear all the time.
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