Compressor worries

[sliderchris]

Please help!

One of my Ideal 55 sliders is driving me crazy. After painting it (but not disconnecting the refrigerant lines),
I am having trouble with it not operating correctly. I installed a new thermostat (purchased from one of this sites sponsors)
but it wouldn't shut off even when the temp inside reached 24 deg and the thermostat was set to #1(frost on front and back of the liner). I adjusted the cut in/cut out screws but had no luck. I then tried another new thermostat but had the same result.

I'm using the contact style thermostat and making sure the probe goes fully into the protective tube.

I have a refrigerator thermometer sitting on the inside shelf showing inside air temp.

A local appliance repair technician told me it probably is the compressor going out. It does rattle a little on start-up,
but how bad can it be if it can cool from 55 deg to 25 deg in 35-40 min?
Could it be that the part of the evaporator (where the thermostat probe is contacting) is not getting anywhere as cold as
the evaporator ahead of it and consequently is not operating the thermostat? If so, why can't I use a "warmer" thermostat?
Has anyone out there had the same problem or is it just me?

Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris.

[Pat Pixley]

It could be a undercharged system, or possibly a restriction in the tubing due to an ice crystal in the line.
You may want to contact Eric over at Global Compressor Or Steve Jebb over at soda jerk works

[johnieG]

or you could have inadvertently mis-wired the compressor, so that it's always on.  It's always running, so it's getting power from somewhere.

If you disconnect the wires from the back of the T-stat, will it still run? if it does, then you have a wiring problem, if it doesn't run with the T-stat wires disconnected, then you have a bad or mis-matched T-stat for your application, say a low temperature unit for a freezer application.

[MoonDawg]

          I have had that problem but only on an Ideal 35. The pipe that houses the capillary tube became un-soldered from the inner liner and was not making contact, therefore not sensing actual temperature.
         Rather than remove the liner I drilled a small hole through the bottom of the liner and through the floor of the cooler and ran the straight cap tube inside and attatched it to the wall where the slider rack is bolted. You first may want to extend your wire and put the entire t/s inside to experiment before doing any drilling.

          (your coin mech was mailed to you Friday)

[sliderchris]

Thanks for your responses everyone.

I'm pretty sure I have the wiring correct. It is identical to one of my other machines (all original).
If I turn the thermostat to the "off" position it will shut off the system. Also, the tube for the thermostat
tube appears to be firmly attached to the liner.

I will be talking to another A/C guy later today so we'll see what he has to say.

I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again,
Chris.

[90grad]

I may be blowing smoke, but I've had similar issues with new stats.  I placed the probes in the exact place as the old stat and then have had to move it 1,000 times to get the machine to cycle properly.  I was talking to Steve Ebner about it regarding my Cavalier 51 and he said it can be tricky and I had to keep moving the probe around until it worked.  I also recall Dave (davethebirdman) having the same issue with a new stat for a Vendo 39.  I've also experienced this with my Westinghouse Master water bath.  Could it be these new Mexican-made stats just aren't made the same as the original stuff?

[Funtronics]

You don't have a problen with your compressor. As the guys stated in the other posts. It all comes down to getting your thermostat probe in the right spot. I have ran int this problem many times and it can drive you to drinking.  I use a non contact thermostat and make a new hole next to the old tube and run the probe up thru the hole and into the inside of the cooler , then put very little of that spray foam around the hole. This usually solves the problem. I have even had new thermostats that were bad. Now that will really drive you nuts. The new ones are not made as good as the old ones. The new ones are made in Mexico and are not always perfect. Good Luck.

[SIGNGUY]

Like Rod Said, it's not your compressor.. if the compressor didn't work, it wouldn't get cold or cold enough.. that doesn't seem to be your problem, it's telling it when it's cold enough to shut off, and that would be the thermostats job..

I've had many people contact me with the same question and they think the compressor can control temperarture, like run a little cold , then colder ... and they think if there stuff freezes, the compressor is bad,, no just the thermostate.  The compressor will run non stop if plugged in directly... it's only the thermostat that tells it when to turn off and back on again..

Good luck!

[sliderchris]

Hi all,
I spoke yesterday with the A/C guy and he seems to think my machine is undercharged.
Why it is that way would be a story for another day.He is going to work on it over the
next few days.His thoughts are that the freon has all boiled off in the first section of the
evaporator and only "warm" vapor is coming by the thermostat which, of course, would never
be cool enough to trigger the thermostat.
I'll know more early next week I hope.
Chris.

[loman4ec]

I am no refrigeration expert but I think thats a bunch of crap.

[scalebowler]

Isnt the evaporator supposed to turn the liquid into a gas?

[johnieG]

It sounds like a rather basic explanation at best, but in priciple , This is a capillary tube system with the evaporator coils running around & attached to the inside walls of the tank/liner, at the point were the capillary tube delivers the high pressure liquid freon, it does "flash" into a low-pressure liquid which also begins to evaporate to a vapor state, but it is still a mixture of "boiling" liquid freon & gas at that point, now as it is pulled along through the rest of the eveaporators tubing, more & more of the liquid mist/freon comes into contact with the copper walls & absorbs heat from it and the liner, which in turn takes heat out of the inside air of the tank, thus cooling the contents within.

Yes, if it is undercharged, it will not have enough freon left in the system to cool the entire evaporators length, you need to put a test thermometer into the unit in contact (taped) to the wall close to the point the thermostats sensing tube is in relation to the liner & monitor the actual temperature, if it's too warm, it will never trigger the thermostats cut-out point/temp & you may have an undercharged system, if it IS cold enough, then your thermostat may have the wrong type/tempurature range, or
an out of box defective t-stat, or it's not positioned correctly to detect the liners actual temp.

[sliderchris]

At last!
My Ideal 55 slider is working properly!
The refrigeration guy who looked at it found the compressor to be working fine and
the freon charge correct. He swapped thermostats with one he had which didn't help.
He figured it had to be the probe not in the right spot to sense the evaporator temp.
After I returned home,I removed the right vertical breaker strip from behind the loading door
and reached in and felt that the protective tube was still firmly attached to the back of the liner.
I then took the thermostat from my Squirt slider(that runs flawlessly at 35-38 deg. year round)
and swapped it over.That fixed it!
After about 72 hours, I have a steady inside temp of about 32-34 deg.I could turn the thermostat to a warmer
setting but that would be unnecesary as I have found the problem. The compressor cycles on and off as it should.
I have written down the part # of the thermostat (it's one I pulled out of a junk refrigerator some time ago)
and will try to find one identical to it. As someone posted earlier, these kind of irritating problems can drive
a person to drink, which ironically, is the very reason the soda machine needs to work correctly.
Here's to a cold one.
Chris.   

[sliderchris]

Hi all,
I just couldn't leave well enough alone.
It was bugging me why that one thermostat worked and all the others didn't.
So I pulled of that breaker strip again and looked in behind the liner with a mirror
and flashlight. As I stated earlier, the t-stat sensing tube was firmly attached
but I noticed the last section of the evaporator that runs next to the tube had become
detached.This would mean the tube would'nt sense the actual evaperator temp. because
of the air gap separating them (I think!).
I then took one of my t-stats (that I thought were faulty) and physically wrapped the
probe around the evaperator next to the tube. I haven't tried it yet (will mess with it over the weekend)
but will let you know what happens. I'm thinking the same thing has happened in my Squirt machine and
the t-stat must have a higher cut-out  temp that allows both machines to work.
Chris.