aaron
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by aaron on Mar 8, 2019 20:29:14 GMT
I'm hoping someone can direct me to some parts. I have a CA type unit that was working when we bought it. Unfortunately, in the move, the power cord was pulled and broke the housing where it attaches to the unit. We are looking to find a replacement housing and cord. We were in the process of a major restoration project on our house and let the unit sit for a couple of years and now we cannot even find the broken cord. I know there is a male plug on the compressor and a broken housing on the main unit. I believe the cord ran to both of these at once but I'm not really sure. The door gasket also needs replacing. I know I can replace the gasket with a universal compression gasket but was wondering if anyone knew where I can find replacement push button gaskets, even old stock if it would still work. If I'm forced to use universal compression gaskets does anyone have a recommendation of type and size? Thanks in advance for any help, advice, and direction anyone can give me. Top with male plug imgur.com/IFLiChhBroken housing imgur.com/jM2cK4ESerial number imgur.com/uiW1pq1Partial gasket imgur.com/CGYr0kk |
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Post by joneske on Mar 9, 2019 0:23:39 GMT
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Post by turbokinetic on Mar 9, 2019 2:08:39 GMT
Hi Aaron. Welcome to the forum!
As far as the door gaskets, there is a nice one available on McMaster-Carr, which can be used to replace the original. There is also a nice double-bead gasket available from Lowe's which can be used. Both of them are adhesive backed foam rubber.
The Lowe's part numbers are:
Door gasket: 161712 "Auto Marine Weatherstripping"
Top gasket: 184654 "Expanding Seal"
The McMaster Carr gaskets are available here: monitortop.freeforums.net/post/205
The connection at the compressor motor is actually the start relay. It looks to be in fairly good condition with just a slightly bent pin or two.
The "ripped out" connection lower down on the cabinet is where the cabinet light power supply feeds into the cabinet. There is (supposedly) a supplier for replacement connectors for this application. I say "supposedly" because I have been unable to get him to answer any e-mails concerning my need for the same connector; however I hope you have better success. monitortop.freeforums.net/post/18058
Now, got to ask.... you have a CA type fridge. Have you done any noncondensable gas purging on it? That is what usually kills off CA's over time if it has never been done.
Hope this helps!
Sincerely,
David
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Post by ckfan on Mar 9, 2019 2:15:02 GMT
What turbo said ^
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Post by coldspaces on Mar 9, 2019 4:10:42 GMT
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Post by elec573 on Mar 11, 2019 5:39:12 GMT
Hello and welcome to the forum!
There’s also a heater in the ca units that you should check.
It goes bad after a while and needs replaced. Don’t know how handy you are with an ohm meeter or if you even know what one is . But we can walk you through it.
And we have people here to help!
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aaron
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by aaron on Mar 11, 2019 23:13:34 GMT
Can't thank everyone enough for your quick replies, especially turbo.
If the broken part is just the light, can I plug any 2-prong power cord into the top and get the thing running or will I need something extra? I don't need the light working.
No, I haven't done any work on this unit except move it into the house, stepping on the power cord, ripping out the connection and cursing myself. We bought it from a local garage sale and they had it plugged in and cool (lots of condensation which the gaskets will fix.)
I've done plenty of electrical work in the past, mainly wiring antique lights but I'm sure I can do anything necessary with a tutorial.
Ideally, I just want to get it running and use it as a drink fridge in my home office. I know the coolant is nasty stuff, will leaks be obvious? Is there any basic maintenance (such as non-condensible gas purging) I should do to this before I turn it on again considering it was disconnected for a few years? I welcome all input and instructions.
Thanks again
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Post by turbokinetic on Mar 12, 2019 1:03:33 GMT
Can't thank everyone enough for your quick replies, especially turbo. If the broken part is just the light, can I plug any 2-prong power cord into the top and get the thing running or will I need something extra? I don't need the light working. No, I haven't done any work on this unit except move it into the house, stepping on the power cord, ripping out the connection and cursing myself. We bought it from a local garage sale and they had it plugged in and cool (lots of condensation which the gaskets will fix.) I've done plenty of electrical work in the past, mainly wiring antique lights but I'm sure I can do anything necessary with a tutorial. Ideally, I just want to get it running and use it as a drink fridge in my home office. I know the coolant is nasty stuff, will leaks be obvious? Is there any basic maintenance (such as non-condensible gas purging) I should do to this before I turn it on again considering it was disconnected for a few years? I welcome all input and instructions. Thanks again
Hi Aaron, you can install a plain-Jane power cord directly to the start relay and the fridge will cool just fine.
The CA machines such as yours have a crankcase heater in the base of the compressor. It is very important that the heater is working. The oil in the compressor base needs to be hotter than the condenser coil. This is to ensure the refrigerant will not condense in the oil and cause the compressor to suffer from a lack of lubrication. The heater needs to be in operation over night before turning on the compressor. To make this happen, simply turn the switch on the front of the fridge to "off" and plug the cord in overnight.
Most of the heaters have failed by now. It's important to test and be sure yours is still working. With the fridge control in "off" position, there should be about 1000Ω (1KΩ) of resistance seen at the plug. If you see more than this resistance, then the heater is failed and should be replaced before any start attempts are made.
The refrigerant in the CA is methyl formate. It's not really all that bad. It runs in a vacuum most of the time and if there are leaks, it will have a solvent-like smell. It is not anything like sulphur dioxide.
There are several good tutorials on NCG purging. Check them out in the CA machines section.
Here is one video showing doing it correctly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hkBczJdBaw
Here is one more where I purge one that had SEVERE NCG's: youtu.be/gTLokfkRyfU
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