Freezer issues

[Brew-ta-sauraus]

I have a 22 cu ft freezer that I have been using as a fermentation chamber for a couple years. It's an old sears kenmore coldspot freezer. Recently it stopped getting cold. The compressor comes on fine but it just does not get cold now. It's a really old freezer but it has worked great to lager in as well as for ales. It cost me $40 bucks originally. Should I try to have it fixed or scrap it? Compressor works good just won't get cold. Any suggestions on who might be able to fix it? Would like to keep it as another freezer of this size would be hard to find. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[G-Hog]

Sounds like you got your money worth and my guess is it's gonna cost you just just as much to fix it as it would to buy a new/used one.

 

[Junkster]

Yep - scrap it....

 

[Brew-ta-sauraus]

I was hoping to get some feed back from some Refrig repair folks. I w
ould be willing to spend $100 to fix it as I can't replace it for less than that. Wondering if the compressor is still working why it won't get cold. I checked out the lines and I see no holes that the freon could have leaked out.

 

[Junkster]

Feel the copper lines leaving the compressor. One (usually the smaller) should be pretty warm if not too hot to hold onto very long & the other (usually larger) should be cool if there's refrigerant in it and it's moving heat. If you can measure the compressor amps, check if it's near spec (probably on a tag somewhere). They generally draw more current if they're working under load than if not. If you haven't lost the charge, you may have a valve in the compressor stuck or possibly a blockage somewhere in the refrigerant circuit. You'll probably spend close to $100 to have a tech come out and look - especially if he has to add service taps to check the charge.