Help! Fridgie Advice Needed

[ArnieW]

Fellow brewers,

for a number of years I've had good service from my glycol chiller. Recently it spent a few weeks turned off while I was away, and when turned back on the compressor ran constantly and the temperature of the glycol stayed at ambient.

I spoke to a fridgie on the phone (just a local company, not someone I know) and he suggested about $750 for a regas and $1500 if it needed a new compressor h34r:

I'd love to get this beastie working again, but those prices are a bit off-putting. Any heads up about where I might go or how I might pinpoint the problem?

cheers, Arnie

PS. Alternatively, anyone got one that is surplus to requirements?

 

[newguy]

It's been my experience that fridges or freezers will give you trouble free service for many years if left plugged in. Every one of my old fridges or freezers that I've unplugged for any length of time have all given up the ghost. They all behaved just as yours: compressor runs, but the unit no longer cools. The freon has probably leaked out.

$750 for a re-gas sounds way too high. Even if he had to change the orifices to change over to the new environmentally friendlier coolants, I still can't see it costing that much. Shop around.

 

[ArnieW]

Hmmm [bump] ...

Anyone know any beer sympathetic fridge techs in Melbourne?

Or again, anyone with an ice bank or glycol unit they wish to part with?\

cheers, Arnie