Freezer Stuffed?

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sean_0

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Picked up a second hand freezer from gumtree on Friday night. Spent the whole weekend building collar, refinishing the top with blackboard paint. I plugged it in last night at 6p.m., and this morning a bowl of water in it was still sitting at room temp. The compressor was going all night, nothing wrong with that. I'm guessing the coolant has leaked, and it's stuffed. Any reason to think it might not be?

I'm gutted about this, it fits 4 cornies, could do 6 with a higher collar. Have a couple of brews ready to go in the keg and this was supposed to be my new keezer. It's one of these
 
Dude, I have absolutely no helpful words of advice regarding the freezer, but that really sucks. It's pretty demoralising when you put in a load of effort and there's no return :(
 
Dude, I have absolutely no helpful words of advice regarding the freezer, but that really sucks. It's pretty demoralising when you put in a load of effort and there's no return :(

Thanks mate. I guess moral of the story is: test it out before you put any work into it. It didn't cost a lot to buy it, but I wasted a lot of time and effort on it which really bugs me.
 
ok so there are a few possibilities

1. its a dud. that blows.
2. thermostat on freezer is stuffed. are you using an external temp comntroller? if so, then that counts this out.
3. how old is it? if its under 10yrs I would sreiously doubt there is an issue unless there has been a leak (which barring damage, there shouldnt be). Is there a funny smell in the freezer? coolant smells funky. if it has been leaking then its cactus. you cant really regas it.

yeah you should have tested it. I would ring the person you bought it off and tell them to fess up. explain that you have no recourse in getting your $ back so they may as well tell you the truth about whether it was working or not so it saves you hassel etc. you never know what they might say. if they fess up and say 'yeah it was cactus' then you move on.

now its not a complete waste of time/effort, because if you buy another freezer the same size, you might find that the dimensions are the same and you can reuse the collar. I down sized my chesty when it died and ripped off the old collar, cut it down and refurbed the seals etc and put onto the new freezer. no reason why you coudlnt do the same. and if nothing else, you['ve had practice at making a collar and can make a better one if you have to.
 
2. thermostat on freezer is stuffed. are you using an external temp controller? if so, then that counts this out.

Not yet, I was just testing it out. But if the compressor is running then surely that means that the thermostat is ok?

3. how old is it? if its under 10yrs I would sreiously doubt there is an issue unless there has been a leak (which barring damage, there shouldnt be). Is there a funny smell in the freezer? coolant smells funky. if it has been leaking then its cactus. you cant really regas it.

It's only 3 years old. No real dents or dings on it, everything looks good.

....and if nothing else, you['ve had practice at making a collar and can make a better one if you have to.
I suppose that's true! Hard to see the bright side at the moment though. The thought of bottling 40L of beer is making me shiver. However that's always soon forgotten once I'm drinking it :rolleyes:
 
Are you using a STC-1000 or similar? Prolly obvious, but is the temp controller working fine? Does the freezer run if just plugged in without the temp controller? You mention that the compressor was running all night, so I assume that this isn't the issue...

Also, regarding the thermostat... I don't think that you can rule out a thermostat issue if using a temp controller. The fridge/freezer's thermostat will still operate to cut out the compressor if it thinks that the temperature is cold enough, it's just that the external temp controller kicks in before this ever happens. If the thermostat is cactus, it might be registering that the freezer is cold enough well before it actually is. Again, the fact that the compressor is running probably means that this isn't the issue.
 
Are you using a STC-1000 or similar? Prolly obvious, but is the temp controller working fine? Does the freezer run if just plugged in without the temp controller? You mention that the compressor was running all night, so I assume that this isn't the issue...

Also, regarding the thermostat... I don't think that you can rule out a thermostat issue if using a temp controller. The fridge/freezer's thermostat will still operate to cut out the compressor if it thinks that the temperature is cold enough, it's just that the external temp controller kicks in before this ever happens. If the thermostat is cactus, it might be registering that the freezer is cold enough well before it actually is. Again, the fact that the compressor is running probably means that this isn't the issue.

No, not using an external controller at the moment, but pretty sure compressor was running constantly. It was pretty hot and I could hear it going all evening and this morning too. I moved the freezer out the back this morning before I went to work in case the compressor blows, guessing it will overheat at some stage if it stays on all the time.
 
Need to test second hand freezers and fridges BEFORE doing work on them ;)

Anyway, at least you can probaby find a similar sized freezer and re-use the collar
 
Need to test second hand freezers and fridges BEFORE doing work on them ;)

Yup, lesson learned. In my defence I was trying to get a headstart. Wanted to let the freezer settle for a while after transporting it.
 
I've never bought a second hand fridge or freezer that wasn't running when I collected it. If it were not I think I'll be a little suspicious.
If it's running 24/7 and not getting cold at all it's unfortunately stuffed.

Batz
 
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