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Post by Travis on Nov 12, 2016 23:28:45 GMT
I finally got around to working on the 34 Westinghouse that I got last week. The control contacts were questionable, but it had been rewired. I plugged it in yesterday afternoon and the overload tripped pretty quickly. I thought it was stalled
I returned home late last night. I got my meter and measured the resistance to determine start, run and common. I checked to see if any of the leads had grounded out. They were all open! Wow, I thought I was making progress. I pulled out my annie and hooked it up. I plugged it in and pushed the winding continuity buttons. All was well. I flipped the fwd button and the unit made a groan, then I toggled the start. I think it tried to start before a large shower of sparks. I had a sparkler indoors. I knocked the annie off the fridge and my light show was over. There was a heavy burnt electrical smell in the air. Unfortunately, I also heard a hiss and then another smell of our favorite so2.
I have no idea how this activity caused my poor unit to commit suicide and then try to kill me. I rushed around the house as the creeping god-awful stench consumed room after room. I left the back door open last night with a fan running.
I am hoping at Gill might transplant a 37 Westy compressor that was R12 on this unit. This is the second Westinghouse unit that I have seen ground out. Now that it's more or less empty, I would like to see how the leads are insulated from the shell.
This is the one time I will state this. I wish it had been Methyl Formate in my house last night. Whew baby, that stunk!
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Post by ckfan on Nov 13, 2016 0:33:01 GMT
Travis already told me this over the phone. I felt so bad for him. I had to ask if he and his kitties were OK! Fortunately everyone is fine. I can only imagine how bad that must have been. I am now curious too how these westys are built. Even though mine is R12 I don't want it to die a similar death. I also don't want the unit that went to my friend Charley to release the SO2 demon from within. I guess it should be fine as long as you don't hook it up to an Annie LOL!
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Post by ckfan on Nov 13, 2016 0:34:08 GMT
Also, after reading your title...I bet you won't have any bugs in your house for a while!
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 13, 2016 2:09:57 GMT
I also heard about this already and am glad no one was hurt. Not sure how the terminals are sealed on these but if they are not glass then maybe the so2 killed the seals over time. What brand was the one we tried to start in Lou's garage that was arching at the terminal?
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Post by Travis on Nov 13, 2016 2:31:15 GMT
Gill,
That was also a 34 Westinghouse.
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 13, 2016 3:05:09 GMT
Gill, That was also a 34 Westinghouse. I thought I remembered it being a Westy.
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Post by Travis on Nov 13, 2016 3:44:38 GMT
Fireworks must be their mode of failure.
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Post by ckfan on Nov 13, 2016 4:44:10 GMT
I also heard about this already and am glad no one was hurt. Not sure how the terminals are sealed on these but if they are not glass then maybe the so2 killed the seals over time. What brand was the one we tried to start in Lou's garage that was arching at the terminal? I find it odd that two different fridges that are the same model, essentially, would both fail that way. Makes me worried about the SO2 35 westy that went to my friend Charley. I vividly remember when you fired up that westy in the garage. We got quite the show!
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 13, 2016 6:12:35 GMT
I also heard about this already and am glad no one was hurt. Not sure how the terminals are sealed on these but if they are not glass then maybe the so2 killed the seals over time. What brand was the one we tried to start in Lou's garage that was arching at the terminal? I find it odd that two different fridges that are the same model, essentially, would both fail that way. Makes me worried about the SO2 35 westy that went to my friend Charley. I vividly remember when you fired up that westy in the garage. We got quite the show! And it was evidently already out of volcano breath.
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Post by Travis on Nov 13, 2016 7:22:04 GMT
I think that one still has a charge
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 13, 2016 14:13:51 GMT
I think that one still has a charge I couldn't remember for sure, guess we got lucky on that one.
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Post by ckfan on Nov 13, 2016 15:10:43 GMT
Dear god. I don't think I would have touched another westy had it started leaking like it did for poor Travis! Now I'm just going to be very cautious around them!
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Post by elec573 on Nov 14, 2016 5:58:21 GMT
Thanks for information can you post pictures so we all know what you are talking about thanks!!!
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 25, 2016 0:40:46 GMT
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Post by ckfan on Nov 25, 2016 0:52:13 GMT
Wow, that does make it look pretty nasty. I don't recall my 37 westy which uses R12 looking bad but then again I didn't pay close attention to it when I RE wired it. I'm hopeful that the R12 units will fare better over time.
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