1954 Hotpoint Fridge-Can a system leak be repaired?

[ken]

Posted this in the Shoppers section as its currently listed on CL for sale but thought this is really the correct place to post my repair question. My apologies if I shouldnt have posted two places.

This has been listed going back to at least last summer IIRC. Seeing it again today brings up a question for our refrigeration experts here. The ad states runs but needs recharging. Obviously that indicates it has lost freon due to a leak. If it were recharged it would leak out again unless the leak were found and repaired. Is this possible? The leak could be anywhere throughout the tubing. Back when this unit was new would a leak repair have been attempted by the factory/dealer or would it have just been replaced? I have a 58 GE with the same condition and wonder if it could be repaired or if I should just consider it a good parts donor?

 

[rp2813]

My experience with refrigerant leaks, even in A/C systems on cars, is that they're difficult to locate.  Could it be a fitting?  A pinhole?  Who knows? 

 

In addition, refrigerant is very expensive.  You'd not only have to find the leak(s) and make repairs, but cross your fingers that you hadn't missed any and that the repairs made would hold, or the money you spent on refrigerant would literally vanish into thin air.

 

Personally, I think any refrigerator that has had such issues, even if they have been repaired, is something to steer clear of.

 

However . . .

 

I know John L. says that GE replaced many of their compressors on later '50s Combination models due to premature failure and my '57 was likely among them, but I would presume those jobs were done by GE-certified personnel to assure like-new results.  Either that or the compressor on my fridge is an anomaly for having run continuously for over 50 years.

 

I don't think compressors on the '54s had these issues, so while that component may have many more years of performance potential, the leak makes it a moot point.

 

[danemodsandy]

Ralph:

The '58 Combination that I grew up with was one of the units that had a compressor replacement - sometime around '64. It was hella expensive, and not covered by warranty.

It ran another 20 or so years, so they must have known what they were doing. At that, the unit was not retired because of a cooling system failure; it was retired because Mom The Appliance Killer got very lackadaisical about maintenance such as defrosting the freezer (her slave labor grew up and left home), and killed the freezer drawer runners forcing the drawer open and shut.

 

[ken]

Maybe this answers why

my 58 GE crapped the bed. It had one of those failure prone compressors and was never replaced when it ultimately failed. It does still run very quiet like my 55 but doesnt get cold. [this post was last edited: 1/29/2014-15:19]

 

[ken]

58 GE

2

 

[ken]

58 GE

3

 

[supersuds]

When the compressor failed on our '57 Combination in the late Sixties, my dad, a mechanical engineer, replaced it himself, and we had no leak issues, for what it's worth. That isn't the same as a pinhole leak elsewhere in the system, for sure. Love seeing your Combo, ken!

 

[ken]

Im curious know as to how those failure prone GE compressors exhibited their problems when they did fail. Did they get loud/seize up? Or did they act like mine does and run as normal but stopped cooling?

What exactly was the weak spot with them?

 

[epixstar128]

Being a refrigration mechanic i can tell you a proper leak repair. Is just as good as new. With out the proper tools or knowledge dont attemp. To make a repair your self. a leak can be anywhere. People also don't realise that compressor s can get weak over time causing longer run times

 

[rp2813]

Replies #6 and 8 have captured with testimonials what I suggested in the SS version of this thread.

 

[58limited]

Basically, if a compressor is bad, it seems to me you can just replace it and be fine. A leak is harder to find.

 

My 1954 Frigidaire did not cool when I got it. I had it charged in 1999 and I have had no problems since then. On the other hand, my '52 GE, which had sat unplugged for at least two months before I bought it in 1997, worked fine until I moved and then it lost its charge. I recharged it in 1999. I have had to recharge my '52 GE combination a few times since then. It only loses its charge during an extended power outage, not during regular use (i.e.- not with regular on/off cycling). Most appliance people I talk to about this scratch their head and we all decided it has to be a small leak on the low pressure (suction) side.

 

Mike "Monitor Top" Arnold told me several years ago that often a pinhole leak will occur in the freezer tubing. Some models, such as my GE, have a small panel on the back of the fridge covering this area. When removed you can sometimes see an oily discolored spot of insulation that will pinpoint the leak and then you can use an industrial-grade adhesive to cover the tubing at that place to repair it.

 

 

 

[epixstar128]

I use a electronic leak detector but soap bubbles do the job too if its a pin hole leak fill it with soldier or even jb weld if your desperate. Its hard to get any hvac guy to even look at residential refrigerator due to just no money in it.

 

[washer111]

Fixing Leaks

I believe in the refrigeration field, the mechanics have a device that is not unlike a Geiger counter! With those in use, A/C repair becomes, shall we say, interesting

 

But Soap, Water and the Bubbles are great when dealing with leaks in a more open section of tubing. In tight nooks and crannies, like you find in refrigerators, I guess your Geiger counter *might* be more useful. 

 

After that, fixing the leak involves new tubing or finding some way to stop the leak without fire and sparks. They do sell "Leak Stop" fluids, you know. We've had it used in our car A/C, and that stopped the leak that was never found in over 5 years of continuous recharges, UV dies and replacement parts. 

 

[tolivac]

I thought the lube oil used in refrigeration lubricants can flouresce under a UV light-than you can use a UV light to help find the leak.

 

[epixstar128]

No that's a dye you have to add later to get leaks to glow for a slow leak you can add leak stop to it but. Alot of mechanics agree it is hard on compressors

 

[tolivac]

If the UV dye is hard on equipment-best to use the other methods!