Did i just break my fridge? ARGGHH

[waskelton4]

ok.. so here is the deal..

I ran out this morning uber excited to sams club and bought a GE dorm/bar fridge to store my newly aquired keg and co2 tank. I bring it home.. put it in the office.. run some errands.. and come back

i took measurements before I went to the store and decided that the keg would fit in if i removed the freezer (mistake #1)

I take all the shelves out and start monkeying with the cooling plate and realize that that thing doesn't come out and it is in fact the part that cools the whole unit.. damn.

well.. i start taking screws out (mistake #2) and think that I might be able to gently bend it and place it on the back wall. I stop.. read some theads.. see that it's been done before.. and return to my fridge.

I feel the tubing connecting the plate to the wall that carries the coolant and decide that if i'm careful i can gently bend the plate down and be ready to go.

I bend it maybe 4 inches and "psssst" (mistake #3).... so i bend it back up.

i'm feeling like a major impatient dumb arse right now and i'm sure SWMBO is gonna be really thrilled to find this out (but that is another problem entirely )

my question is.. what next?

1. call and appliance repair shop and tell them what i've done and ask them if they can mod the thing for me?

2. put it back together and return it as broken? (I'd feel like holy crap for this one)

3. go to the hardware or small appliance repair shop and try and find parts to mod it myself? (i'm guessing that a coolant re-fill is in order)

anybody have any knowledge of this sort of thing beyond my "damn i just screwed up" knowledge??

i'm gonna go mow the yard.. i know i can do that pretty well..

thanks
ws

 

[david_42]

Barring #2, I think you might have a new fermentation cabinet. Low-end refrigerators are rarely built with the idea of ever making repairs. Wouldn't hurt to call a shop and ask, you might get lucky.

 

[NEPABREWER]

sh%$ bro that sux. Good Luck

 

[Levers101]

How big of a "psst" was it? It could be that there is some sort of valve that goes between the refrigerant reservoir and the rest of the system that only opens when the fridge is running. So if it was just a little "psst" you might be able to repair the line and it could be just fine. I've seen the line on a household heat pump unit cut and it vented refrigerant for a good amount of time, but it had a lot more in it too probably (unfortunately it was old ozone depleting refrigerant). From the mini fridges I've seen the coolant reservoir usually is about a quart or 2 big.

 

[Beer Snob]

Sorry about the fridge.... done that too....

You put a hole in the collant assembly. I had one of those and the ice was so thick that I had to chip it off with a screwdriver (dumb me decided I did not want to wait for it to defrost by itself).... same thing happened.

It's a paper wieght... or a new fermentation cabinet as David_42 said.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Yup- she's junk- and any repair shop worth it's salt is gonna tell you that it'd cost more to fix it than to buy a new one. That sux, man, sorry bout that i've been there too.

 

[TDRacing13]

I guess im gonna have to be the one to say it. Return it and get a bigger fridge.

 

[klcramer]

I would say package it up and return it to sams afterall there are worse things that have happened to wal-mart. Besides they will get credit for it and send it back to the manufacturer they will fix it and sell it to someone else. I konw I used to work for Wal-mart don't feel bad they rob the american public everyday.

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

Eh, in the interest of being a "good guy" I would suggest just eating the loss and using it for a cabinet. Yes, Wal-Mart are not good people, but at some point we've gotta be the better man in all this. So don't return it as busted... unless you can offer them a trade of homebrews to accept it back.

 

[Beer Snob]

Well I have to say I never thought of returning it..... seems like a f*cked up way to solve the problem... but hey if if works and they take it back... why not? I am not sure if I would return it........I could just see my SWMBO.... hands on hips...knodding her head.... "You did what!?"

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

Yeah, definitely, it's a sleaze-o move. Besides, if you don't want the empty cabinet, I'm sure someone will take it off your hands, and even make up some of the purchase cost.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

I would say package it up and return it to sams afterall there are worse things that have happened to wal-mart. Besides they will get credit for it and send it back to the manufacturer they will fix it and sell it to someone else. I konw I used to work for Wal-mart don't feel bad they rob the american public everyday.

I'm going to rant a bit here, but that kind of s*** just pisses me off. Maybe I'm too damned honest but I don't do that kind of crap. It makes me angry because all it does in the long run is drive prices up for everybody, and I have to pay for my own mistakes- I don't like paying for someone else's as well. You bought it, you tried to modify it and broke it in the process, so bite the bullet and learn from your mistakes like a man. You'll feel better for it. Don't listen to this guy, he doesn't even know it but it's guys like him, not Wal-Mart that's robbing the American public every day.

Ok I'm off my soapbox now, I'm going to have a homebrew. Cheers.

 

[klcramer]

sorry if my comment upset people maybe you are correct and it is people like me that are the problem hope that doesn't exile me from the group here

 

[Beer Snob]

sorry if my comment upset people maybe you are correct and it is people like me that are the problem hope that doesn't exile me from the group here

HA! You gotta do far better then that to be exiled Takes a lot of dedicated hard work for this to happen Actually sounds like only one person worked at this intensity level. Wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

Yeah, the miracle of homebrew means that there's always an antidote to a potential flame war. See a flame? Douse it in brew! (not high-octane stuff though... WHOOSH! No Eyebrows!)

But yeah, even if somebody is a bad company (lookin' at you, Wal Mart) you want to try to set an example with your own actions, and be grateful that you have the power to do so.

Is that hippy? I hope not. I hate hippies.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

sorry if my comment upset people maybe you are correct and it is people like me that are the problem hope that doesn't exile me from the group here

Don't worry you're not going anywhere. If anybody gets exiled it'd be me for letting my emotions get the better of me........again. I let it happen all too often.
It's all good, man.

 

[waskelton4]

Yeah..
I'm not taking it back..
never really had the intentions to...

I'm not a huge fan of the big superstores either but only because they tend to put the mom and pop shops out of business and it is harder to find places that you can form a relationship with.

The good news is that SWMBO isn't really all that upset either..

however.. the first thing she asked me was.. "Have you ever read Of Mice and Men?"

For those of you who haven't.. there is a character in the book named Lenny who is mildly retarded.

Lenny is hanging out with his pal George and finds a mouse that he thinks is really cool and picks it up and "pets" it and basically gets so excited about it that he squishes it to death..

So now instead of being mad.. my wife thinks i'm retarded.. great

The solution for now is to let it sit in the office and figure out what to do with it. and for the record.. it was a very very short "psst". probably less than half a second. it could still work but i bet that once the compressor starts running it'll start leaking.. maybe i could at least put it back together and put a bunch of sealant of some sort around the joint and at least have a dedicated fridge for bottled brew and wine.

I think i'm going to lay off finding a fridge for a little while and lick my wounds.

Anyone know of any good cooling line sealant? j.b. Weld? silicone? duct tape?

ws

 

[Cap'n Jewbeard]

haha, without knowing anything about coolant lines at all, I'd have to recommend duct tape. Just because, you know, if it winds up not working, you can still make a neat wallet out of it.

 

[johnoswald]

Yeah..
I'm not taking it back..ws

Applause

Anyone know of any good cooling line sealant? j.b. Weld? silicone? duct tape?

solder and a torch, it is really easy if you've got the tools and patience

 

[kornkob]

I would say package it up and return it to sams afterall there are worse things that have happened to wal-mart. Besides they will get credit for it and send it back to the manufacturer they will fix it and sell it to someone else. I konw I used to work for Wal-mart don't feel bad they rob the american public everyday.

That's just not ethical.

Never mind the fact that WalMart isn't going to eat the cost-- they'll strong arm the company that sold it to them into eating the cost.

 

[Zoid]

If you can see the hole/crack, I would take a two step approach if possible. Some people have had luck fixing small holes with JB Weld. Just make sure the metal is clean, and rough it up with medium emery cloth if it is smooth and shiny.

After the JB Weld cures, cover it with a piece of rubber fuel line, and put a stainless clamp over it.

 

[TDRacing13]

Unless you have a way of recovering the refrigerant dont use any form of heat to fix it. Best bet is JB Weld, wipe with rubbing alchohol to make sure the area is clean and maybe scuff it up a little too to help the JB Weld stick.

 

[Beer Snob]

I want to stress that that sound you heard was not good. You more then likely breathed it in, which is even more not good. Be safe. There are probably good reasons why you need a lisence to work with this stuff. Check out this link for some guildlines before messing around too much more with this thing as there could be more refrigerant/collant in there.


http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/links/refrig.htm

 

[waskelton4]

Thanks for all the replies.. applause and concern..

I guess it should emphasize that it was a "pssst" sound... not a "psssssssssssssst" sound

super short.

also.. all of the advice on cleaning the crack and such probably won't work. the fridge is brand new out of the box and I haven't yet plugged it in. the leak happened (i'm pretty sure) where the very very short tube comes out of the back of the fridge into the cooling plate. there is only one tube which leads me to believe that there are actually two tubes in there. yuck..

i'm gonna try and call a few small appliance repair shops tomorrow and see if they'll help me out.

thanks again all..

ws

 

[Levers101]

As I suspected from the beginning... I'd say your fridge isn't completely busted at all. Since it was just a small "psst" its likely that most of your coolant is still hanging out somewhere in the unit safe and sound. You now just need a good way to "jerry rig"/"southwest Texas engineer" it so you have an unbroken line. If you go the JB Weld route be careful not to plug the line. If it is copper line I'd suggest you think about either getting a suitable solder fitting and soldering it, or finding some sort of compression fitting to fix it with. I think you'd be more likely to find a compression fitting that small as opposed to a solder fitting. Alot of the equipment in the lab I work in has 1/4" and smaller diameter copper tubing connected by compression fittings, so they are out there.

As for the leak being toxic... don't worry about it. Most refrigerants are relatively harmless. The older ones were very non-reactive (R-12 & R-22 and other chlorofluorocarbons) and they had the problem of being so non-reactive that they would eventually waft into the stratosphere where they would react catalytically with ozone creating the ozone hole. The newer refrigerants are mostly HFC's (hydrofluorocarbons) and don't contribute to the ozone hole (though they do contribute a very small amount of global warming potential). The stuff in the "air" dusters you can get at Best Buy ect for dusting computers is of the same class of chemicals, and unless you're a moron (ie huffing the stuff or lighting it on fire) its completely safe. Simply, the reason for needing a license to work with refrigerants is because there are still quite a few pre-1989 fridges, air conditioning units, freezers, ect out there and release of the old refrigerants is bad in terms of the ozone hole.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

Also, I've had the same problem with a fridge when I was in college and renting. I called several repair shops and they kept telling me that they wouldn't plug it. I finally broke down and confessed to my landlord that I poked a hole in it while defrosting it with a knife. He had a guy come get it and patch it. It worked for at least another year and a half while I lived there.

I guess my point is, even if you get several "nos" I bet there's a guy out there who will patch it. You just have to find him. It won't be one of the "big boys."