Wine Cooler

[metrologist]

Picked up a nice wine cooler on the corner. Plugged it in and there was a spark and flash from the back. Noticed the mains lead was frayed and probably just shorted together or against the chassis.

I cut the cord and rewired it into the connection points. It does not get cold so I'm wondering where to start looking? It has what looks like a compressor and other typical refrigerator stuff.

[bsalai]

The compressor should make some compressor white noises. If it doesn’t, and you don’t feel any vibration when you touch it, maybe it’s a simple wiring problem or an overload relay may have tripped.


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[Andy Watson]

It might be the type of cooler that uses a heater rather than a compressor - so there would be no vibration to shake-up the wine!

I've always known them as "gas fridges", because they can be gas powered, but they can also be electrically heated. They are silent. Also they can take a while to re-establish the cooling cycle if they've been moved or upset.

Look up Einstein–Szilard fridge.

[rhb]

I suggest starting by determining what the cooling method is.  Compressor based systems, which is probably what it is unless it's very small, have an overpressure switch to protect the compressor if it's running and the power is cutoff.  There should be a schematic somewhere.  There's also the thermostat.  The other failure item is start/run capacitors. So that's probably the first thing to check.  Also the cheapest to replace so long as you don't mind making a new mount.  The sizes never are the same.

If you've got a 110 V test lead (#14 line cord with insulated alligator clips) try that directly to the line feed to the motor. 

The only things that make it really dead are a bad compressor and a leak.  The leak is fixable, but requires a vacuum pump, oxy-acetylene torch, tank of nitrogen and refrigerant.

[Gregg]

Many of the hermetic compressors have internal overload disconnects that cannot be serviced.  If it is stuck open, it may not be worth fixing.  There are many schematics and articles on how to check windings of hermetic compressors on the internet.  A quick check with an ohm meter may be a good first step.
A bad thermostat is another possibility.

[IanB]

Hmm. If you pick something up that someone else threw out, you have to ask yourself why did they discard it? It is likely it may have been faulty, so it would always be a good idea to take it apart, check it out, and service it, before plugging it in 

[BradC]

My experience with yuppie grade wine fridges is not good.

Most I've seen use an aluminium tube from the compressor discharge, through the insulation and around the door seal face to keep the seal face from forming condensation. It then runs back to the condenser. In most I've had the displeasure of working with recently, the insulation seems to go acidic over a period of time (usually just after the warranty expires) and eats a hole in the Aluminium tube. The fridge runs pulling air in through the tube each time the compressor cycles off on its over-temperature klixon which drags loads of moisture through the synthetic oil, hydrolyzing it into acid.

At this point someone "repairs" it by bypassing the aluminium pipe. If they've done a half credible job they replace the drier and lop the end off the capillary as it'll plug up almost immediately. This will then run for another couple of years until the acid in the oil finally finishes off the compressor, usually causing it to mechanically lock up. So the windings meter out ok, but the compressor is toast.

On the other hand, if it's repaired "properly" with a good flush and replace the compressor oil, usually the inadequately specified evaporator fails where the copper capillary is bonded to the aluminium evap and it dies that way.

I'm sure there are quality units out there, but the ones I've been exposed to certainly had designed-in defects which appear to be built to ensure it fails a year or two out of warranty.

[metrologist]

I put my clamp meter onto the red wire that goes to the compressor and plugged it in. Saw 10 amps for about 10 seconds, then a relay on the compressor clicks it off. The recyclers will take care of it.

[NivagSwerdna]

I am quite interested in this thread.... in respect of my tortoise... !

A normal domestic fridge needs to take into account of the door being opened to take things in and out and the addition of hot things brought in the supermarket and the removal of previously chilled things... whereas a wine cooler just has to reach a steady state and mostly  will then remain untouched for a while.

Is the technology the same? How does the temperature ACTUALLY vary?

[hermit]

Probably locked rotor but there is still a chance the relay isn't dropping out the start winding.  Older units had a mechanical relay.  You could just turn it upside down to tell if the thing was stuck or not.  Sometimes just rapping on them during that 10 seconds was enough to make it drop the plunger.  A starter cord isn't all that hard.  Neutral, Run, Start.  You energize Neutral and Run and momentarily short Run/Start.  Less than a second if the compressor is good.

[CJay]

Pretty much every fridge repair I've ever done has been because the electromechanical thermostat has failed, they're  a dirt cheap part and *very* simple.

If it has that sort of very simple thermostat you can just bridge it out to test.

http://www.appliancespareswarehouse.co.uk/universal-refrigerator-thermostat-econ-fp124.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiArYDQBRDoARIsAMR8s_Sn-UIlqeDxYUDmqquXC1Bp5w3RYo3FYzeL4QULJkJam89t7rqRE-caAvDSEALw_wcB

[hermit]

If the compressor tries to start, the thermostat is not his problem.

[CJay]

If the compressor tries to start, the thermostat is not his problem.

Beg to differ but it can be, I've had just that failure on the beer fridge sat behind me right now, contacts were shot on the thermostat, the compressor would make a noise but not start, it is absolutely worth trying to bridge out the thermostat for a few seconds to see if the compressor will start.

[metrologist]

I think the compressor is seized. 10A seems like a bit of current.

[hermit]

40 years of appliance repair and I've never seen a thermostat that didn't break the line to the compressor.  You have a schematic on the back of that thing you can post?

Edit:  If the thermostat is open, it won't call for the compressor.  Thermostats can fail, open, closed or lose calibration.  His thermostat is calling for the compressor to come on, otherwise, it wouldn't be trying.

[CJay]

Fair enough, all I can post is my experience, yours contradicts mine, I've been kicking round repairs professionally and latterly as an amateur for about 5 years less than you.

As Metrologist says, 10A is a lot and I missed the post where he said that, I would agree the compressor motor is probably fritzed

[Gregg]

It is a very slim possibility that the compressor is hydro-locked on oil because it was on its side for a when moved or in the junk pile.  I know of one case where this happened during a household move and turning the small refrigerator on the other side for a couple of days allowed the oil to drain enough that it worked again.

[james_s]

I have fixed several refrigerators with that problem, it turned out to be a failed PTC starter on the side of the compressor. Cheap fridges don't use an electromechanical start relay, they have a PTC thermistor that heats up and cuts power to the start winding.

I also autopsied a water cooler recently that had a seized bearing in the compressor, first time I'd ever seen a hermetic compressor fail that way, they're usually very reliable. This one was cost engineered to a level I'd never encountered before, it only had one bearing, between the rotor and crankshaft, the other end of the motor shaft hung free.

[hermit]

I carried a manual start cord.  I was always pleasantly surprised when the compressor started with it because locked rotor was much more common in domestic units than a failed relay.  But, you have to test to know for sure and the cords aren't that hard to rig up if you just need to do a one off test.