Nor-Lake Freezers - Page 3 - Recent Questions, Troubleshooting & Support

Are you frosting up at the condensor or did you mean the evaporator? If its the condensor then make sure the coils are clean. Still then you will need a tech to look at the seale system. If its the evaporator and the heater is ok then it could be the timer or the terminator on the compressor. Most of the time its the timer.

I've worked on freezers for over 20 years and have never heard of a compressor going bad because the door was left open. think about a second opinion.
Also, has the cooling coil inside the box developed and frost or ice build up? If so, it needs to be completely defrosted. If you defrost it manually, use a hose hooked up to hot water. Kill all power and hose all build up off. Remove the sheet metal housing ends and be sure there is no ice inside there too. I would go in this direction first.
IN order to kill a compressor under this condition, something really strange must have happened as anything is possible in a refrigeration system. Good luck and hope this helps.

Normally, freezers have electric heaters that are energized during the defrost cycle. Once out of the defrost cycle, the refrigeration system comes on but the fans do not. This allows the evap to cool off and to prevent circulating warm air from the heaters. This is controlled by a fan delay switch. It is a small, round device that can have 2, 3, or 4 wires going to it, depending on the manufacturer. It is usually clipped on to the end of the evap coil on one of the "U" bends, near the top, inside one of the ends of the evap. Usually where all the electrial components are located. It come in several variations, but it's main function is to prevent the fans from energizing too early. Usually does not bring fans on till evap hits 20 or so degrees. Check this out and get back to me.

The coil in the conditioned space is called the evaporator.
If the water droplets are forming on the ceiling around the evap, it is due, most likely, to the defrost cycle being too long.
Defrost cycle: compressor stops, evap fans stop, electric heaters in the evap come on to clear any ice/ frost on evap fins/ coil.
The ice/ frost melts and some of it turns into vapor. As it hits the cold ceiling surface, it condensates into water droplets. Defrost cycle could be too long. Usually 4 time aday and no longer than 30 minutes should be enough unless there is high humidity.
There could be another cause.
Normally, after a defrost cycle terminates, the evap fans do not come on, due to a delay control. This prevents circulating warm are due to the heaters. The compressor comes on and cools the evap down to, usually 20 degrees or so, and then the fans come on. What could be happening is, the fans are coming on too early and blowing the water driplet off the evap and onto the back wall of the unit.
A third item, is to be sure that the condensate drain is "P" trapped. The prevents warm, outside air from being drawn in and causing exess frost build up, thus excess water and vapor.

Good luck and hope this helps

Your door seal is not sealing properly . Check and use a hairdryer to soften the seal and the magnetic portion should seal itself against the cabinet .

It may just be low on freon (coolant) or you may have a bad compressor, or some back switches to the compressor.

As long as the temp. stays around 5+ or 5- of 0 degrees everything should be okay.

Compressor 12/3 with 20 amp dual pole breaker. 220 VAC

Freezer 12/3 with 20 amp single pole breaker 120 VAC

The defrost system has failed and is not de-icing the coil or, the door is not sealing tight or too much time open allowing excess humidity to enter the chamber, thereby overcoming the capabilities of the defrost system. The system has a defrost timer someplace, check to see if it is running. If not, you can probably advance it into a defrost cycle with a screwdriver. (turn the shaft slowly until a click is heard and the system stops) Allow 20 or 30 minutes for the coils to defrost, and restart with the screwdriver if it has not took off on it's own. If the timer is found not running, replace it.

Yes,It will work just as it should.


Please rate this a fixya

Hi, If you had ice, there is a drain plugged in the freezer. If you had a frost build up, there is a problem with the automatic defrost.

I can help in either case. Please let me know if you need more assistance.
Thakns
Vic

yes. it will just take more time to cool to room temperature.

The factory presets your temperatures to the MID / MID setting of 0ºF for the freezer.

The defrost timer is normally located in the area of the temperature controls. There is a clutch head knob on the timer which can be rotated clockwise very slowly until a click is heard. Wait 30 minutes and defrost should take place in that time period. If defrost does occur and the system does not restart cooling, rotate the knob more and you will hear a second click and the compressor should start .
If the system restarts in the cooling mode in 18-22 minutes the defrost timer is good and the problem is more than likely in the defrost heater circuit.

The door frame heater is probably damaged and grounded. Unfortunately, it is still energized causing less than the entire heater being utilized which will cause an extremely hot condition. I would look at replacing it. It is a pain to do but with some patience, it can be done.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Depends on the product you want to keep in the freezer. Usually you want to try and stay between 0 and +10 degrees for most items. Ice Cream must be -10 degrees minimum. Any warmer and it won't keep. Hope this helps.

Good Luck

check out the defrost timer it sound like its in defrost. if that is not whats wrong then you can checkout the refrigerant by looking at the sight glass on the liquid line. It dhould not have any boubbles in it and if there is then your low on charge, n if threr isn't then you whille probebly be better off calling a service company out to repair the unit.

YES GOOD ADVISE . ALWAYS START WITH THE BASICS. IS EVAPORATOR COIL CLEAN AND CLEAR? ALL EVAP FANS RUNNING? DRAIN PAN CLEAR? IS STAT CALLING FOR COOL? IS OUTDOOR COND COIL CLEAN? IS OUTRDOOR FAN RUNNING WITH NO PLAY IN BUSHING? DO RUN AND START CAPS TEST GOOD? DOES CONTACTOR LOOK GOOD? THEN TRY TO CATCH UNIT WHEN TEMP IS ABOVE DESIRED SETTING. FIRST TEST STAT. IS IT OPEN OR CLOSED? IF BOX IS HOT AND ITS OPEN THEN PROBLEM IS STAT. IF STAT IS CLOSED AND OUTDOOR FAN IS NOT RUNNING THEN COMPRESSOR PROBABLY OVERHEATING WHEN FAN QUITS. CHECK FOR VOLTS TO FAN GOT VOLTS? FAN IS BAD. NO VOLTS? TRACK BACK TO SOURCE OF POWER ( CONTACTOR) AN R22 BOX AT 52 PRESS IS NOT TO BAD ON START UP ON A HOT BOX BUT COULD BE HIGH ON 502 408 OR R12 STUFF TYPE OF REF IS DEFINITELY IMPORTANT. GOOD LUCK

Check the evaporator coil for frost buildup on the back. Check for frost on the suction line, the biggest line returning to the compressor. If frost is evident at these places you have a defrost system problem. These systems have a defrost timer that defrosts the coil at preset times. Check the timer for proper operation by marking the position of the dial and check back to see if it changes. If it does not change position the timer motor is most likely bad. If the dial is not rotating automatically you can manually turn the dial in the direction of the arrow and put it through a defrost cycle.

If your products are already in the frozen state the answer is yes, you can make an immediate transfer. Normally a couple of hours run to allow the temperatures to stabilize is sufficient. The cool down run time also insures the the unit is functioning properly. If you plug it in and transfer the products right away make frequent checks to insure proper operation.