CALL TO ACTION! Weigh in: chest freezer troubleshooting

[Ike]

Found a 5cuft chest freezer on a FB yard sale page, I'm going to head over to check it out. I'd like it to be something bigger, but I figure I'll start out with this as a fermentation vessel with a collar and convert it to a keezer when I have a bigger freezer to use as a ferm chamber. It's only a $25 dollar investment, but I'd love to look it over really quickly and determine what might be wrong. Obviously, there are some issues that may take a bit of digging, but there may also be some indicators that it is totally shot.

SO, what do I need to look for? I've been cruising Googleland a bit and things mentioned include faulty thermostats, coolant needing recharged, bad fuse, blown compressor, and so on. How can I identify these problems (I know what happens when coolant is low in a car, same thing?) and what are some signs that I just need to walk away from the thing?

I have asked them (and they agreed, but have not yet complied) to send me a pic of the model number and serial number. I'll post that when I have it, and will use the utility I found here to figure out the manufacturer/year of manufacture from the serial number.

So, give me the dirt! How do I triage this sucker?

Ike

 

[b-boy]

It doesn't run at all? If it doesn't turn on ,it could just be a switch or connection somewhere. That might be worth investigating. If it cycles, but doesn't cool I'd walk away. If it's newer, I'd walk away. New appliance are designed to be throwaways.

Considering you can get a new 5cu ft model for a little over $100, I'd look elsewhere.

Just my opinion. good luck with it.

 

[Ike]

It doesn't run at all? If it doesn't turn on ,it could just be a switch or connection somewhere. That might be worth investigating. If it cycles, but doesn't cool I'd walk away. If it's newer, I'd walk away. New appliance are designed to be throwaways.

Good opinion, I tend to agree for the most part. She says "it doesn't do anything" online so I'm hoping for a bad fuse or thermostat switch.

That said, anyone else who wants to chime in, feel free!

Ike

 

[Zepth]

My ferm chamber didn't do anything when plugged in except have the internal light come on. I took some wires and disconnected a few things inside and connected compressor directly to wall outlet. It purred to life and within a couple minutes the internal rad was getting cold. "Good enough for me, I can build it up from there." It's fully built now and running like a champ.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Tell her you'll be happy to haul it off for her, if it "doesn't do anything".

As it sits, it's an unknown commodity, and obviously of no use to her, and she obviously doesn't want to pay someone to troubleshoot it...........

So, if she gets no buyers, she'll have to pay to have it hauled off.

That's my take on it.

 

[Ike]

UPDATE: she wrote back, saying that it was running again (magically) and was going to ask $50 if it started cooling down. She also sent the sticker, and it's 15 years old.

I know the newer stuff is harder to work on, but 15 years feels a bit long in the tooth to me. I'd hate to build a collar on that sucker just to have it really go south in six months. $50 isn't terrible for it if it were newer, but we're ALSO moving somewhere between somewhat soon and VERY soon, and it'd be one more thing to haul cross-country.

SO, I wrote her back and passed on it. I'll wait until we're settled into our new place and look for that 7-10 cubic-footer I've been dreaming about...

Thanks to all for the input though!

I
k
e

 

[day_trippr]

Good move. That sounds like a POS looking for a final resting place...

Cheers!

 

[b-boy]

Keep your eye out for scratch and dent models at HD or Lowes. They will usually sell them very cheap. I got my 5 cu ft. for $90. It had a small dent in the lid, but it was cosmetic.