kzimmer0817
Well-Known Member
Is there any such thing as replacing the compressor in a chest freezer? The 20 c.f. used chest freezer that my son got off Craigslist a few months ago for $100 died a couple weeks ago. We happened to have the refrigeration guts from a rusted kegerator from a bar. We positioned the long finned exchanger down into the freezer with a towel beneath it to catch the condensation. The compressor with its little fan and condensor coils had simply slid out of the original kegerator, and the lines had enough length to get the exchanger up over the edge of the freezer. It's functioning well at the moment.
19+ c.f. chest freezers are anywhere from $575-800 at Sears. In light of this, are these individual components not available to qualified HVAC or Refrigeration technicians such that a qualified technician can replace a compressor, recharge the system, and end up with a functioning freezer? Or are the economics such that it's much cheaper to simply scrap it and purchase a new one?
I've thought about putting a collar onto it and trying to adapt the kegerator guts I mentioned above. Another option is to purchase another chest freezer, collar them both, and duct the air between them so that one freezer can control them both. I would think that the working freezer would have to function as a genuine freezer in order to cost-effectively keep the non-functioning freezer at fermentation temps.
Thanks,
Keith
19+ c.f. chest freezers are anywhere from $575-800 at Sears. In light of this, are these individual components not available to qualified HVAC or Refrigeration technicians such that a qualified technician can replace a compressor, recharge the system, and end up with a functioning freezer? Or are the economics such that it's much cheaper to simply scrap it and purchase a new one?
I've thought about putting a collar onto it and trying to adapt the kegerator guts I mentioned above. Another option is to purchase another chest freezer, collar them both, and duct the air between them so that one freezer can control them both. I would think that the working freezer would have to function as a genuine freezer in order to cost-effectively keep the non-functioning freezer at fermentation temps.
Thanks,
Keith