Engel fridge not cold

[Bacchus]

The faithful old Engel has not quite given up but it will no longer get cold enough to chill a beer properly let alone freeze as it once did , it is about 15 years old and I assume runs on the old gas so do not know if it is even able to be re gassed or converted hoping someone can put me on the right track.

Cheers

 

[user 4485]

Your local aircon bloke should be able to tell you?
Hope ya can get it fixed

 

[condor22]

Mine's 23 yrs old and still going strong, but I'd be interested to find out what you end up doing re the gas if that's what the problem is....

 

[grubstake]

The faithful old Engel has not quite given up but it will no longer get cold enough to chill a beer properly let alone freeze as it once did , it is about 15 years old and I assume runs on the old gas so do not know if it is even able to be re gassed or converted hoping someone can put me on the right track.

According to the BOC website, the labelled HFC 134a refrigerant is still available:
http://www.boc.com.au/shop/en/au-boc-industrial-store/r134a

 

[Nightjar]

Baccus,
It would pay you to ring Graeme @ Engel World, Midland, WA he would be able to advise you on where to go and what to do.
Very knowledgeable, honest & fair fella.
Took my old yellow (25+yo) Engel to him when it developed the symptoms you mention.
First up he told me the complete unit needs to be replaced ($600.00) I told him to go ahead.
When I went to pick it up the bill was $110.00? When I asked him to explain he said it was only a capacitor that had failed, not the unit.
Now you can't get more honest than that, could have slugged me the $600.00 and would have been none the wiser.
Graeme asked me did I run the Engel directly off a generator and took me out to the back of his workshop and showed me evidence of what can and does happen?
He explained that many Engels fail for this reason. Honda even slapped a law suit on him but withdrew it when he proved that even the new inverter type generators "hunt" (revs up & down when running out of fuel) which in turn alters voltage delivery which in turn causes electronics failure.
His parting words were, "Run your Engel on 240v at home off the grid but when you go bush ALWAYS run it only on 12V.
By all means run your genny to charge the battery but have the battery between the genny and the fridge.


Give him a call, he no doubt can explain it better. Ask for Uncle Graeme. (note** He's not my Uncle.)
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/wa/midland/engel-world-13228931-listing.html

Good luck,

 

[bushpig]

Thanks nightjar I will be running from the battery after reading this.

 

[Bacchus]

Thanks for all the comments , hey Nightjar great advice and you don't get honesty like that too often anymore and hope your word of mouth sends plenty of business his way , I have found a local Engel agent so will send to him for diagnosis and repair , thanks grubstake , did get that info eventually from an auto elec who said he would give it a gas top up for me but suggested the local Engel guy in case of other issues , thanks Matt , Condor and Bushpig will keep you posted re the outcome , they are such a bloody good fridge so have been convinced not to be a cheap skate on this occasion and go through the channels

Cheers again

 

[Bacchus]

Got a quote back on the Engel today , $685 complete compressor and cooling unit required apparently says there is a blockage somewhere in the system. The $85 is a quote fee so rings true with Nightjars original quote , read on another forum a guy had a blockage problem and turned the unit upside down and ran it for a couple of days and it cleared itself , worth a try or otherwise a fix after Christmas when cash isn't so tight , will keep informed if it works

Cheers

 

[condor22]

I thought mine had given up the ghost on the weekend, wasn't working, I trace it back to the fuse near the Aux battery. So all cool, every pun intended.....

That is the first fuse I've replaced in 23 years for this fridge....

 

[The Green Wanderer]

Hi Bacchus, yes you can still get the 134a refrigerant, its widely used in cheaper commercial fridges. From memory its the older R404a which is not available in australia anymore.
The upside down trick may work, what you need to do is flip the fridge ove for 24hra while its switched off. This causes all the refrigerant lubricating oil that usually sits in the compressor to run down through the cooling lines and may dislodge whatever bit of gunk has gotten caught.
Also its not a bad idea to get in there and give the condenser fins a good brushout with a soft paintbrush, half the time fridge temp issues are from lack of airflow caused by buildup on the condenser.

Hope this helps you some.
TGW

 

[Jaros]

The method of turning the fridge upside down is a very well tried and tested method of "fixing" fridges. Put it on tray of the truck upside down for a cuppla days, turn it on and charge a mottsa for the repair. I've only ever had a blown fuse cause me any hassle with my 45ltr unit.

Jaros

 

[Bacchus]

Thanks TGW and Jaros in the process at the moment hope it works.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

That's a great old trick I didn't think about for the Engel Jaros and Wanderer. My big old yeller one gets cold initially then gets hotter. Bouncing up the Tibooburra road may have loosened a blob of internal solder. I will definitely try that first!! Someone told me the condensor was probably the problem. Although I will try to fix most things myself, or opt for the cheap/ebay option, if that doesn't work, I will be definitely taking it to the Engel shop, hang the expense. Even a $600 bill will still be the cheapest and best option.

 

[Bacchus]

Fella on the camping forum was told needed new compressor did the upside down and fridge hasn't missed a beat in 2 years he reckons

Time will tell

Cheers

 

[Simmo]

With the Engles I think you can't just replace the compressor, you have to get the whole cooling unit. My 80ltr one was nearly $800.

 

[Bacchus]

Got the same advice Simmo , tech said if replaced will go for another 20 years plus some , worth the $$$ if this doesn't work.

Cheers and cold beers guys !

 

[Nightjar]

Bacchus,
Maybe I have missed it somewhere in your posts however I don't think you have mentioned whether your "old faithful" doesn't chill on both 240V & 12V????
Have you tried each power source and noted temperature?
Have dusted off the memory bank and recall when mine was diagnosed with a blown capacitor it chilled running from the 240V grid at home. When it was connected to 12V that was when it didn't cool.
Simmo is right, you can't just replace one part of the system.

 

[Bacchus]

G'day Nightjar

No mate you didn't miss anything , I did not mention it but yes the problem exists on both 240 and 12 volts cool but not cold.
The Engel tech test ran it for a couple of hours measuring the amps it was pulling and came up with the diagnosis , she is currently sitting on her lid and I will give her a crank up in a couple of days.

Cheers

 

[limpalot]

My brother bought ours in 1980, second hand 32 lt; my son took it to Darwin 2 months ago, had a solder problem he fixed. Ran ok and kept things cold and frozen, ran on 240 v at night, got to Alice on way back and bought 2- 24v ac computer fans at Jaycar,fitted them in the cabinet to blow through the fins. Works better and cools quicker , less power consumpsion. Check your leads, we had one gave us grief, replaced it and no problems.

 

[Guest]

G'day Nightjar

No mate you didn't miss anything , I did not mention it but yes the problem exists on both 240 and 12 volts cool but not cold.
The Engel tech test ran it for a couple of hours measuring the amps it was pulling and came up with the diagnosis , she is currently sitting on her lid and I will give her a crank up in a couple of days.

Cheers

You might need to stick it in the tray/boot upside down for a few drives over the spoon drains/corrugations to get the desired results Bacchus.