Repair a leak

Depending on refrigerator age it could possibly be 2 things if you have no ice buildup on evaporator coils in freezer. 1st-- the discharge tube on the compressor is the smaller of the tubes. It actually should be hot when working right. The other bigger tube is the suction line which is the return line from the freezer coils and should be slightly cool not cold enough to sweat. when working right. You may be low on freon which should never happen unless your tubing developed a small leak somewhere. Refrigerators don't need recharged like car units because everything is soldered shut not bolted together like cars. If he freon leaked out the leak would need to be found--repaired---and then recharged with the proper amount of freon. The other possibility with older refrigerators say 15 years or older is what is called a low capacity compressor. It runs, but the inside gets worn out and it doesn't pump the freon like it should. The end result is exactly what you describe but low freon does the same thing.

There are generally no service valves on refrigerators. Unlike car A/C refrigerators are designed NOT to leak so need no "recharge" If you are leaking freon you must have the leak fixed. A temporary service valve is attached after the repair is complete, charge is brought up to spec and then valve is removed and the tube it was connected to is soldered shut.

Video how to replace evaporator 1 door refrigerator.

yes . If you don't the heat from the torch will make the freon increase in pressure so the silver solder will never flow into the joint. The worst thing you can do is put an open flame on a freon leak. It produces fosgene gas which is deadly.

Hello
There could be some other reasons for the ice.
1 bad or cracked door seal,have a look at the door seals.
2 Defrost timer may need to be set longer.
3 T sat set to low or not working properly.

Unit may be low on freon also,causing a lower pressure which would cause a lower tempreture,this occurs with a small leak or a pin hole leak.Once enough freon leaks out it will warm up and no longer work.

You can have a leak check done by a service person.

Hi:
It should be repairable. You would need a Heating/ Air Conditioning repair shop to silver solder the hole closed, and possibly sweat on a valve to evacuate and refill the system. I would call around and ask if the shops do this sort of thing. I had a similar repair done on a window air conditioner, and it saved me money!

You punctured the aluminum evaporator . In the many years I've been in refrigeration , I have yet to find any way to patch a hole in the evaporator . I've used epoxy , solder , and all different advertised ways to try to patch aluminum . Nothing worked ( for long anyway ) . My suggestion would be to buy another refrig . You will be wasting time and money trying to " fix " this problem . To repair it yourself , you have to have a license to buy R12 , maybe you can buy R134A without a license , you have to look on the " modell , serial number tak to see which it uses and how much to use . Also , the system has to evacuated ( all air removed from the lines ) . Do you have a vacuum pump ? You have to buy a solder on connector ( or saddle valve which WILL leak eventually unless you get a solder on valve ) which will connect to the larger tubing on the compressor or use the access line already on the compressor but is pinched off . Do you have guages for the refrigerant type you need to use ? Once you have these things , reply back and myself or someone else will help you procede .

You will have to get freon from a supplier such as Aireco, or R.E. Michaels. In order to buy it, you have to be CFC certified. If you want to fix the hole, you will have to be very careful, and cut the fins away from the hole in the coil. Then you will have to get a torch (map gas, acetelyne, etc) and solder it closed. Do not use plumbers solder, use a high silver content such as a brazing rod. Then after you seal the hole, you can hook an air compressor up to it, and pump about 100 to 150psi in to leak check your repair. If all holds well, you should be able to charge it. You may be able to find some R22 on ebay. I sell it on there sometimes. There are a lot of suppliers. Hope that helps

you can take the oil pan off by just undoing the bolts just lift the car up then since it is just pin holes you can probly just spot weld them or maybe use a high streangth solder

First, you need to complain to the owner about the tech not informing you that the freon would leak out again. It's addtional costs that were not explained to you. If he's a good guy, he may credit you something if you decide to use him to complete the repair. Otherwise, take your money to someone else. And be sure to tell you friends about how you were treated. Vote with your wallet.
Now, He was not totally correct about finding the leak. In 99% of cases, when a leak is in a system, a detector is used to "Smell" the freon and give a signal that there is a leak So, in this case, freon needs to be in the system. Once the leak is found and verified, there can be no freon present in the section of the system that is being repaired. To keep it short, just a big safety no-no. If the leak is in the indoor coil (evap), chances are, they will not repair it. They will try to sell you a new coil. Since yours is only 4 years old, there is the possibility that there may be some sort of pro-rated warranty from the manufacturer. One never knows, ask about it.
Now, repairing an indoor coil is not a good idea. If it leaks once, it's going to leak again.....and again.....and again. Just replace it as they have to do basically everything it takes to remove it to repair it. You should replace it since it is already out. I do not know of any company that will patch leaking evaps. Just bad business. Customers not happy as other leaks soon show up.
Finally, removing all the freon may not be necessary. Ask him about "Pumping down the system into the condensing unit". This can isolate the entire indoor coil and piping so a repair can be done with minimal lose of freon. Remember, it also depends where the leak is at. It may not be possible to do this in every case.

Good luck and hope this clears up some things for you.