Lines Icing over under the Cabinet 27A/Dual 27

[prestonrichmond]

So I think I may already know the answer to this, but i will ask, and post pictures anyway. The is a Vendorlator Dual 27 or 27A as what the tag says, but upon reading here, I guess some were miss labeled, anyways. The refrigeration lines are freezing over the compressor, before entering the cabinet. And the Compressor never shuts off, unless I move the thermostat to the off position. So i know the thermostat is working. And it will only cool to about 38, sometimes 37, but we want it down in the 34 range.

The First and Second pic is a view from the front.

The Third Pic is from the rear

The Fourth Pic is from the Cabinet showing it gets frosty inside.

[collecture]

Others are much moreknowledgable with regards to refrigeration, but...
I can see the condenser fan is running, but is the evap fan running?
Also, just because a T-stat shuts down the unit does not mean it is "working".
Lastly, is the seal good or do you think outside air is getting in?

[prestonrichmond]

The Evap fan is running, and is pushing air, though that being said, it feels like its not pushing enough. I can put my hand at the top of the cooler and feel a light breeze. But if you look at the 4th pic, in the upper left, right after the roller you can see a corner of the fan, and to me it looks like its a little high. But im not sure if that amount would effect airflow. It does spin very fast, and is loud when you open the door. I cant say if this is an original fan or not. But Im going to go with No because they did a crappy wiring job, and the replacement motor on the funtronics website looks a little smaller then the one that in there. But the last time this machine was touched was either back in the 70's early 80's, and I beleve it was done by a service tech. But again, Im not sure.

I believe the door seals are good, there not cracked, and still rubbery.

[johnieG]

It's not pushing air up at the evaporator probably because it's iced-up too, ( blocking the air flow trough it), so if it's running continuously, then it may have a shorted/stuck thermostat possibly combined with a  leaking door seal.

[prestonrichmond]

Tried taking another pic of the cabinet. The coils actually zig-zag through 3 shelves that have holes in them, so I believe air is moving through those...How much? I don't know. It looks like by design its supposed to pull air from the right side, and then blow it back through the left. The shelves got a little dented, but don't know how, not sure if putting cokes down there would help it circulate any better.

As far as any leaks there's none that I can see from the outside, but there could be a leak on the bottom side because i cant really get under there to look, or feel.

And if the thermostat was stuck, wouldn't it cool lower then 40. Wouldn't I have frozen bottles, because the thermostat wouldn't kick off, if it were stuck.

My initial thought that it was overcharged, because I had read some posts on here that if it were freezing under the cabinet it meant that it was overcharged. But the system has never been opened, and doesn't even have a tap in it. So didn't know how it was overcharged if it had never been opened. But it continually running could case that much icing too, right?

Thanks for the help so far guys.

[johnieG]

"The refrigeration lines are freezing over the compressor, before entering the cabinet. And the Compressor never shuts off, unless I move the thermostat to the off position"

From what you've described, & from the pictures provided, I think the thermostat (which looks like a new replacement?) is your culprit,  especially if it's a contact type & the sensing capillary is left hanging in the free-air, it would never reach it's cut-out point to shut off the compressor,

To test it, get yourself a glass completely filled with crushed Ice, (NOTE the machine does not need to be plugged in for this test, you will be using your ears to listen for the thermostat clicking on & off) now fill it with cold water to the top. set the thermostat to its warmest setting just past the point were it turns "on" ( usually #1 on the dial ) & carefully stick the sensing capillary end into the ice water, if it's an air-temp type
(non-contact) it should click "Off"  , then pull the cap' tube out & hold it in your fingers to warm it, now it should be heard to click back "On" .  if it does nothing, then it's either the wrong type, or it's defective.

The evaporator design on this machine is poor at best, as the bare-tubing provides minimal heat to air heat transfer ( it lacks fins to aid in the heat transfer) with poor heat transfer, my thinking is that the tubing gets down to temp just fine, but it can't absorb enough heat from the surrounding air, so you have freon-droplets ( a fine mist really) migrating down the evaporators suction line & down to the outer cabinet. leaving you with cold pipes & warm soda.

as you've noted this condition is usually caused by an over-charged system, but since your unit doesn't have any apparent taps installed or service valves apparent on it, I'm assuming is still factory sealed. so this is not the case here.

if you suspect that the thermostat may be a "contact" type ( which operates at a lower temperature range) set it to it's warmest temperature as above, & put the sensing end of it into a glass filled with crushed ice (without water this time) & pour some table-salt onto the ice, this will lower the ice below freezing & then it should trigger the thermostat to turn off.

[prestonrichmond]

Thank-you very much Johnie. I don't have any pics of the thermostat. And I'm not near the machine till early next week. Its housed in that circular thing that is cooled by the freon, thats in the upper left of the last pic, right below the thermostat its self. It could be newer, but I don't know, it does look like its an official one, and is in a spiral resting on top of the circular, with not much air circulation either. Don't know if its a contact, or non-contact type though. But thanks on the suggestion of the cold ice, I will defiantly try that next week, and report back.

[johnieG]

Yep, it's hanging loose in the picture...

[prestonrichmond]

Just did the Cold Ice and water trick, and it clicked off about 30 or so seconds after putting it in the water, took it out, warmed it up with my hand, and clicked back on, so I beleve the thermostat is working.

In the pic you posted above, I believe thats where the fan "should" of gone, but vendorlator had different ideas according to the manual everything is in the right place.

And the thermostat is actually screwed in on the bottom screw of the door latch, but I ment the capillary tube is just hanging in the middle.

I have taken more pics, but there still on my phone, and Il edit this with more pics with the drum out, so you can see better inside.

Thanks so much for the help so far Johnie, you have been a wealth of information.

P.S. I do have the manual/parts book from fun-tronics, scanned in pdf format if you want a look.


EDIT: Heres a pic showing an angle down. Sorry for the mess, a bottle wasn't capped properly and leaked all over.

Some observations I noticed. But probably not important, just want to throw them out there. The bottom rack cooling tubes were cold, but were not as frosted as the middle rack, or the top(Which was really frosted). So I don't believe I have an air leak on the bottom seal. So I unplugged it for about an hr or two, and once plugging it in, it cools from the bottom up, so, the bottom rack got cold and frosty first, and the middle racks second, and then the spiral last.