I need some advice from refrigeration experts on chest freezer repair

[krazydave]

I'm now purchasing my third chest freezer (new) as my previous two that I bought used are now exhibiting the same behavior after a couple years of use.

Basically, they run, but the longer they run, the less they actually chill. They do okay at keeping a temp generally, but they can't bring the temp of much liquid down anymore without running non-stop. In the current 100+ temps, they can't even keep up with the set temp of 67. I can see on both of them that the evaporator coils are forming ice , but only in a small 1'x2' area. The rest of the sides don't seem to be cold anymore and the outside isn't getting as warm as they once did.

The question for those in the area of refrigeration repair, is this something that sounds like just a low refrigerant charge, or is it possible that the compressor is failing? Or maybe something else, like the evaporator coil freezing up?
I know replacing a compressor costs just about as much as a new freezer, but how about a refrigerant charge?
Neither of these have service ports on the coils. One is using R12 and the other r134a. Both are in the 16cu ft. range.

Should I just get rid of them, or is at least one of them worth trying to fix?

 

[Maylar]

Sounds like they're low on charge. You'd need an HVAC guy to do it right, since there's probably leaks somewhere. But without service ports it's probably not worth it. The R12 especially, that's so expensive nowadays you could buy a new freezer for the cost of a recharge.

 

[krazydave]

That's kinda what I figured, especially on the r12 one.
I do have r134a gauges and a vacuum pump for my vehicles, so technically I probably *could* attach service ports and recharge it myself.
But I'd also be killing the ozone in the process as I don't have any way to properly evacuate the existing refrigerant.

 

[The10mmKid]

I'd think the compressors are worn out. The systems are so small with very few connections, leaking is rarely an issue.

The problem is we place 10's of pounds of liquid in a freezer designed to freeze a few pounds of fresh food at a time.

I will say this. The two wine coolers I use for FC's have performed flawlessly. They must be designed for adding a case of wine at a time and not skip a beat.

'da Kid