Advice on Repairing Kenmore Chest Freezer

[apalke]

I found an old Kenmore chest freezer on the side of the road today. Seeing as how some of my neighbors are fairly affluent I gambled that someone may have been getting rid of a working freezer... turns out it didn't work when I plugged it in. However, I noticed that when I plugged it in a signal light came on inside the guts of the fridge.

So, as a last ditch effort to fix a fridge I got for free, I clipped the wires leading into the temperature control which controls the circuit leading to the compressor and tied them together to basically bypass the temperature control. When I plugged it in I heard the gentle hum of the compressor doing it's thing. Unfortunately, I let it run for 15-30 minutes and I haven't noticed any temperature drop inside the fridge. None of the copper lines inside the guts of the machine are cooling down considerably.

Is this thing toast? What could be causing the compressor to turn on but not to cool anything down? Maybe a coolant leak? Are there any other quick fixes I could attempt before calling it quits?

I can send pics or figure out the exact model if that would be helpful.

 

[RoughandReadyRanch]

Can't fix your problem but if you are in the central valley area near Sonora I would gladly take it off your hands to turn it into a smoker if you can't get it to work. I have a monster Brisket sitting in my freezer and too small of a smoker to do things right and I here chest freezers make a good smoker.

 

[apalke]

One more thing that might be of use: The compressor was getting pretty hot by the end of 30 minutes but none of the lines seemed to be getting cooler.

RoughandReadyRanch, I'm in Menlo Park. I can't guarantee I'll keep it too long if I don't get it working, but if you're out this way some time soon and I give up on it let me know.

 

[mikescooling]

Are you saying the copper pipes coming into and going out of, the compressor are not getting hot or cool and the compressor is running. Take a picture of the pot, and unit, and name plate. Some times the door has to be on for the compressor to cool. I don't know anything about home freezers; commercial chillers are more my thing, but you know, same difference.
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after thought, here we can't have Freon in anything for the trash. Look if someone blew the charge, a smash with a hammer or a line cut with dikes

 

[apalke]

Hey Mikescooling,

Thanks for the help. Here are the pictures of the unit:

The first is the name tag.

The second the guts of the machine.

The third is where I spliced together the wires... I know, it's an amateur job, if it gets working I'll make that connection safer.

The fourth is the compressor.

I forgot a picture of the whole unit... I can send it if it's helpful? The top door is attached and closing nicely.

The compressor was getting warm and making a gentle humming noise... some of the lines felt warm but it may have just been conduction from the compressor. I could maybe convince myself that some felt cold, but not very cold. I don't really hear any flow or anything like that when it's on. I didn't notice any knicks or cuts or crimped lines or anything.

Does the gentle hum of the compressor and the lack of cooling suggest there is no coolant?

 

[mikescooling]

Yup that's a pot. I'm sorry with a MFR date of 99, it would seem to be to old to sink any money into. If you used a saddle valve and a can of R134a from NAPA, it may (or not) only work for a little bit. It's old.