Kegerator dead - beverage air

Hi
My Beverage Air 3 door kegerator has a problem. The compressor no longer kicks on, I hear the evaporator fan dip in speed as it tries to start the compressor, but it does not happen. It's probably a late 90's unit, uses r12 refrigerant. I called an appliance repair person I know and he said he can't get parts for commercial units because they won't sell them to him. He did think it could just be the capacitor/relay but said it could be the compressor.
I'm afraid of the cost of a Beverage Air professional doing this repair, and if it's going to be worth it. Any help appreciated... I just spent a bundle on fittings, thermometers, ball valves, etc to improve my "brewery" so I'm a bit low on funds.
Thanks in advance
-Ben
I'm in Dallas, TX BTW

Is it one of those giant ss ones? If so, it might be worth the price of the repair and the peace of mind. You could at least get a quote. Those things are nice pieces of equipment.

It is a giant and has a stainless top, the box is galvanized inside and black on the outside. It's seen better days but it does live on the back porch so it's fine.

look for a vending supply service that stocks machines at job sites or factories (ours here is canteen services). they usually have their own repair tech that may be able to do the job for you for parts and beer. mine does, course it helps that he's a homebrewer also

See if one of the BevAir guys will do it after hours. Offering some homebrew might help.

I had a refrigeration guy come by this morning, he said the relay and cap all check out and that the compressor was toast. Looks like it has already been replaced by someone in the past, it's a 93 model box and an 11 yr old compressor. This box is falling apart, the doors, hinges, thresholds etc. are beat up rusting etc. So..... He tells me that for an outside (covered back porch) setup, these commercial units fail easily, because (i may not describe this properly) that the pressure gets too low and the system will suck the lubricant from the compressor if the outside temps are too low. He said it's harder on these in the winter than in the summer for that reason. He said they are built to be in mild climates (indoors) and that bars etc that use them outdoors have to have them serviced frequently.
So I asked him about what would work well, and I mentioned the converted freezer option. He said that residential freezers are built to work in garages, which tend to be cold and hot. So now I'm thinking about a keezer.
Also I'm considering an outside keezer with a short trunk line into my kitchen wall. I could build sort of a shed for it if I had to.
Ideas, suggestions, etc are very welcome. The biggest disadvantage to the keezer is being top loading, it will be hard to get 1/2 barrels in there. I plan on doing more homebrew 5g batches than commercial beers now anyways.
Is what my refrig guy said correct?
Or I can look on craigslist and find another bevair or true in decent shape for less than what the new compressor install would have cost.