Westinghouse fridge freezer- how bad can it be

[xavier60]

The model sticker on my WSE6200WA says R600a 68g, as are most refrigerators sold in Australia.
Unless one is very experienced, the charge needs to be weighed in after the leak is found and repaired and the system vacuumed down.

[james_s]

R-600 is butane, the same stuff they use in BBQ and cigarette lighters. I think it's still illegal to use as a refrigerant in North America but I haven't kept up to date. I wouldn't feel guilty about venting that to the atmosphere though, you could always just burn it.

[PaulAm]

Looks like the US EPA raised the charge limit for R600a to 150g the other year so there will be a rollout on isobutane based refrigerators in the US starting next year.

The US has no prohibition on venting R600a but check AU restrictions.  One way to get the correct charge is to get a can of R600a, weigh it which will give you the weight of the can + contents (which is the net weight being sold) and you can draw it down until you have the correct charge in it.  Then empty whatever is left into your system.  Vent it outdoors, if possible, or open a window.

It's pretty easy to get a wrong reading if you try to weigh the can while you're filling because how the hoses set can alter the reading.  Pros use a big cylinder that sits on a scale for that.  That gets iffy with a little hand held can.  Be sure to take into account the charge contained in the gauge hoses.

Be sure to purge the system with N2 before brazing.  If you have a Tig setup handy, you could also use Argon.  Nitrogen is used because it is dirt cheap.

[jdragoset]

Use caution when venting Butane, as it's heavier than air, will settle to a low spot (basement, bilge) and wait for an ignition source.

[james_s]

We're talking a few grams of the stuff, not a few pounds, but yes it goes without saying that if you vent anything it should be vented outdoors. In this case it is highly probable that the butane already vented, hence the fridge not working in the first place.

[amyk]

R600a is isobutane, which while just as flammable as regular butane, has significantly different pressure-temperature characteristics. Notably, the boiling point is lower; not important for fuel use, but definitely for refrigeration. Some cans of fuel are isobutane, some are regular butane, and some are a mixture.

[Zero999]

Please note: do not use a fuel gas, meant for soldering irons, cigarette lighters, cooking, heating etc. to fill the refrigerator. It may contain other gasses, i.e. an odourant and too much moisture. Only use the proper refrigerant.

[noidea]

The OP is in Australia, and they seem to be much more tightly regulated on refrigerant than the US.  It's not clear to me if you can buy R134A off the shelf down there.

Thats a negative, under the Ozone Depleting Substances and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas legislation the sale is controlled to those holding the appropriate refrigerant handling license and self repair is frowned upon very heavily.

[Gyro]

Please note: do not use a fuel gas, meant for soldering irons, cigarette lighters, cooking, heating etc. to fill the refrigerator. It may contain other gasses, i.e. an odourant and too much moisture. Only use the proper refrigerant.

Don't some systems include a refrigerant dryer capsule that may need to be replaced? Or is that just automotive systems?

[james_s]

Don't some systems include a refrigerant dryer capsule that may need to be replaced? Or is that just automotive systems?

Domestic AC/HP systems typically have a filter/dryer but refrigerators and such don't that I've seen. With factory assembled hermetic systems that are not usually serviced a filter/dryer is not needed. With field assembled/serviced systems there are a lot more opportunities for contaminates and moisture to get into the system.

[james_s]

Thats a negative, under the Ozone Depleting Substances and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas legislation the sale is controlled to those holding the appropriate refrigerant handling license and self repair is frowned upon very heavily.

How hard is it to get the license there? When I got my EPA license quite a few years ago it was just a matter of taking a test online and paying a few dollars fee and I was issued a license card that never expires. I can legally purchase any refrigerant I want and work on systems up to a certain size. There are IIRC 4 levels of certification you can get with each level allowing you to work on different types of equipment.

[Zero999]

Don't some systems include a refrigerant dryer capsule that may need to be replaced? Or is that just automotive systems?

Domestic AC/HP systems typically have a filter/dryer but refrigerators and such don't that I've seen. With factory assembled hermetic systems that are not usually serviced a filter/dryer is not needed. With field assembled/serviced systems there are a lot more opportunities for contaminates and moisture to get into the system.

It's not just water which can be a problem in fuel gas, but other impurities. Fuel gas is not made to the same purity standard, as refrigerant.

[james_s]

It's not just water which can be a problem in fuel gas, but other impurities. Fuel gas is not made to the same purity standard, as refrigerant.

That said, I ran plain old torch propane in the old R12 system in one of my cars for about 10 years and it worked just fine, despite the fact that propane is a very close match to R22 rather than R12. Automotive systems in particular are probably pretty forgiving, they're often serviced by people that may not be well trained, the rubber hoses may outgas and prevent pulling a really good vacuum prior to charging and they are notorious for leaking.

[PaulAm]

R134a refrigerators typically have a filter/drier.  It's usually a fattened tube around 2cm x 8cm in the output piping of the compressor, probably before the condenser, should be replaced when replacing the compressor.

Don't know if they use it in R600a systems, but I would suspect so.  Anyway, that's what they used to do.  Maybe somebody's figured out that it will last out the warranty period without one.  Kitchenaide used to give you a 10 year warranty on the compressor; i don't think they do that anymore.

OK, I managed to find a parts diagram and yes, it does have a filter/drier.  Somewhere around $22AU.

It's brazed in like everything else, so not exactly an easy to replace component.

[james_s]

Interesting, I had assumed those were just a debris screen, not like the filter/dryer units in automotive and domestic split systems that have a desiccant in them. I confess I have never cut one open to find out.

[NiHaoMike]

You can replace the filter drier with a somewhat bigger one. Have the outlet pointing down so that it acts as a liquid line receiver making it a lot easier to get the charge level just right. While you're at it, that's a good place to add a high side service connection (between the filter drier and condenser), don't forget to remove the valve core before brazing. The low side service connection is generally easiest to connect to the stub on the compressor, where the factory filling connection is.

To find the leak, the easiest is to pressurize the system with air duster (which generally contains R152a nowadays) and then use an electronic leak detector. If you manage to find and fix the leak, add HVAC UV dye so that future leaks would be easy to find.

You'll also have to pull a vacuum before refilling. Ideally, you'll use a low vacuum gauge to confirm a good vacuum, but you can get away with just leaving the pump running for a few hours or so.

The cost of the tools probably won't be worth it to fix one fridge, but those are basically the same as what you would use on a home HVAC system.