[DSigala]

Frigidaire Freezer:
FFU14F77HWJ
My Freezer stopped working, display kept reading "no temp"
Then everything thawed out!
I removed the cover to the evaporator and found there no frost across and down the evaporator.
called a repair tech and he said compressor appears to be working and that I probably had a leak. we let it run for an hour and only a small amount of frost appeared on the evaporator. Then he told me it wasn't worth repairing. Great? I then decided to try and add Freon R134A .
Purchased some gauges, a Line tap, and Mastercool Can adaptor for my Freon, I installed the line tap on the low side, not enough room to install on the service line tube. I ran the freezer and saw it was indeed low on Freon,
I started adding Freon a little at a time, until the low side settled at 3 PSI
Then let it run for 5 hrs, now temp is down to 18 deg. However my low side line is frosted, I understand that meant overcharging, but my gauges only showed 1 PSI on the low side. Also my evaporator is about 3/4 covered with frost, I have enclosed pictures of low side with frost and line tap
and evaporator frosted, Note I had not vacuumed the system prior to adding Freon, I do have a vacuum pump, but didn't have a way to transfer the old Freon to a holding tank? in order to vacuum the system

 

[beenthere]

Does it have a fan? If so, is it running. May just be over charged now.

 

[DSigala]

Hi, Yes the fan is running, freezer is suppose to get down to -10, but its 18 degrees?
I don't get it being overcharged since when you check the low side pressure, its at 0 PSI. and this morning frost is still showing on the low side line, but only at the Line Tap, the rest of the line is frost free, I checked temp on evaporator its about 8 to 10 deg. top and bottom, as soon as I opened door the temp shot up to 40 degrees on the control panel.
Also one other question is, I used the AC Pro synthetic 134A, I bought at Walmart.
I read somewhere you cant use automotive 134A on refrigerators or freezers?
Note:I had not put the evaporator cover on, when testing the pressures

 

[wptski]

Did it contain any stop leak additive? That stuff is sure death to HVAC tools.

 

[DSigala]

Oh great, Yes it says on canm Seals AC Leaks in rubber, O rings gaskets and hoses,
AC/Pro did come with its own reusable gauge, Thou, that's not what I used
I used my 134A Manifold gages, Is there anything I can do , I only used them for this repair. I actually bought them from Amazon. More ice has accumulated on the low side again,

 

[beenthere]

Without the cover on, you can't get an accurate reading.

 

[wptski]

Oh great, Yes it says on canm Seals AC Leaks in rubber, O rings gaskets and hoses,
AC/Pro did come with its own reusable gauge, Thou, that's not what I used
I used my 134A Manifold gages, Is there anything I can do , I only used them for this repair. I actually bought them from Amazon. More ice has accumulated on the low side again,

A market has been created for leak sealant detectors because it will plug up a recovery machine but this is mostly for MVAC or automotive because of more DIY. Did you connect the A/C Pro directly or through your gauge set? Never heard of any damage to gauge set anyway just recovery machines.

 

[DSigala]

Hello, I connected the can of A/C pro to my manifold, so I could monitor the low side pressure while adding , I just called A/C Pro and he said there should be no problem using it with my manifold gauges, So I hope he is correct. anyway thanks for the heads up, by the way, still showing frost on the whole low side, temp display on control panel showed -10 degree's this morning, but then it shot back up to 18 deg
after removing my gauge from the low side quick disconnect? perhaps its still overcharged. Somewhat erratic on temp

 

[beenthere]

In the old days. We would just keep leaving out gas until the low side didn't freeze up anymore.

These days, we just recover the entire charge, and then recharge to factory list weight.

 

[DSigala]

I was going to install another line tap on the service line, Can I use a recovery system to take out some refrigerant, or just use the low side line tap,
Just checked temp, its down to 8 degrees on the control panel.
Also I will put the cover back on and recheck., thanks everyone for your input.,
Also was going to make a recovery machine out of another used compressor to recover the 134A.

 

[beenthere]

Before you do anything else. Put the over back on. The fan must be blowing over the evap coil for it to work right.

 

[DSigala]

OK beenthere
I will do that first thing in the morning! Thanks for your help!

 

[DSigala]

Well, I installed the evaporator cover, what a pain to get those side gaskets in place.
Now it is working like it should, Steady -10 Degrees! I hope it continues, but I at least know what the problem was, My Low side line has minimum frost at the line tap
So just want to say thanks everyone that helped me on this. Like to get a used recovery machine now, sure would have helped. but the cover sure made a difference
Thanks again everyone for your help
Dennis

 

[beenthere]

Your welcome.

 

[wptski]

I was going to install another line tap on the service line, Can I use a recovery system to take out some refrigerant, or just use the low side line tap,
Just checked temp, its down to 8 degrees on the control panel.
Also I will put the cover back on and recheck., thanks everyone for your input.,
Also was going to make a recovery machine out of another used compressor to recover the 134A.

What brand of line tap did you use? I've had the piercing pin which becomes the Schrader valve on a Supco stick as I removed the hose. The large head on the pin gets caught on the rolled over edge that keeps those parts trapped. This can be avoided if one has hoses that have an adjustable depressors like the Yellow Jacket brand has. You have to adjust it so it doesn't press the pin in too far.