[Shop-talk] Dehumidifier suddenly freezing up

[Mullen]

Jim Franklin wrote:
>
> but where does the freon *go*? Small leaks too 
> expensive to fix at manufacturing?

Actually, it shouldn't leak anywhere unless there is a major problem.  

A car's AC leaks Freon because it "soaks" thru the hoses and seals.  Things
like refrigerators and de-humidifiers shouldn't have any hoses or seals.
The compressors are sealed inside the system - electric motor is inside the
case of the compressor, on a car, a shaft sticks out of the compressor so a
pulley/belt can power the compressor - the Freon can leak out the seal.
Cars have to have hoses to allow for the movement of the motor relative to
the "chassis" - Fixed appliances don't need these hoses.  Consequently, home
appliances are usually sealed systems with metal tubing and nowhere for the
Freon to leak out of unless something corrodes a hole through the plumbing.


If you have lost the function of a home appliance, you probably have a major
corrosion problem that corroded through from the outside of the pipes, and
it is not going to be easy or cheap to repair.  By the way, home appliances
don't have fittings to fill with Freon.  They are filled at the factory, and
crimped and/or soldered shut.  No place for them to leak out, no place to
add more Freon.

At least that has been my experience with them.

As for getting "licensed" to buy R12 Freon, it's relatively easy (at least
it was).  I needed some Freon to fill up a car that had lost its charge.  I
took an on-line course and passed the test (easy to do) and became certified
(cost around $25).  Then I bought a large tank of R-12 on-line (they
actually didn't even ask for my certification info).  I got myself certified
because it was actually cheaper to repair it myself than to let a shop do
it.  I bought the scale, the vacuum pump, leak detector, etc. on line and a
large tank of R-12 for less than what the shop wanted.  It turned out that
the shop was wrong about where the leak was - they were going to charge me
$600 to replace the condenser and $125 to charge the system.  At which point
they would have found out that the pressure switch was actually the source
of the leak (the condenser was just fine), replaced that and charged me
another $125 to re-charge the system again.  I bought all the equipment I
needed for less than $500 and a tank of R-12 for around $250 (I have enough
left for many, many more cars).  Most of the equipment can also be used on
R-134 systems also (done that too).  I put in a small amount of Freon,
traced the leak with the leak detector, and replaced the pressure switch.  I
then pulled the vacuum (instead of checking that it held vacuum for a few
minutes, I left it pulling vacuum for hours, and sealed it up over night to
make sure there was absolutely no leaks), and filled up the system with the
proper amount of R-12.  It's been working just fine now for several years
without need for a top-off.

I don't have a recovery system, but you don't legally need that unless you
are doing other people's cars, and you have to remove the Freon from the car
- a system that has already leaked down has nothing to recover.  

Of course, check all the latest rules because they keep changing them...

Tim Mullen