krull
New Member
Posts: 3
|
Post by krull on Sept 23, 2023 20:40:06 GMT
Picked up this beauty yesterday. Now begins the thread searches and video watching. It starts and you can hear gurgling and sloshing. Then stops. Showing continuity across the plug but not enough resistance so I'm sure the heater is bad. I've tried finding a video that shows replacing it without removing the top. If anyone has a link please share. I can't get over the condition it arrived in. I'll add progress and info as I work on it. Thanks in advance for any tips or tricks. |
|
|
|
Post by turbokinetic on Sept 24, 2023 12:47:38 GMT
That's a nice looking example! Seems to have been well taken care of.
Could you show more of the top, and relay area? That will help identify any possible problems which may be visible.
The most likely cause of the running and then stopping after a few minutes is buildup of noncondensable gas pressure in the unit. If One other possible cause is if the start-relay has been tampered with, causing it to stay in start mode, thereby causing an overcurrent condition on the compressor.
The relay operation can be verified visually by opening the relay cover and starting the unit. The relay contacts should close once, and open after a second or less. If the contacts remain closed while the machine is running, the relay is not operating properly.
The heater should have about 1000Ω of resistance for a good original heater. Many of us recommend a higher wattage heater as a replacement which will have less resistance, sometimes in the 700Ω range. Bad heaters often show resistances in the 100's of kilo-ohms or in the megohms range. If your meter display is showing more than 1 KΩ; or any MΩ reading on the display, the heater is bad. You will only see the heater resistance with the compressor control switch in the OFF position. If the switch is in the ON position there will be a very low resistance, in the 4Ω range.
As for replacing the heater, it can be done with the top on the cabinet, but it is a high risk activity when dealing with old and brittle wiring. Often teh wiring will crumble underneath inside the insulation space when it is manipulated to replace the heater. The heater is accessed via a rubber plug in the neck area of the top plate, in the center on the back. The plug is likely painted over and will be hardened and crumble when removed.
Sincerely,
David
|
|
|
|
Post by cablehack on Sept 25, 2023 1:44:25 GMT
Nice CA-2. Yours has the more expensive porcelain cabinet. I would second David's advice regarding the heater replacement. The wiring is likely to be very brittle, and attempting to hook out the heater wires will cause the rubber insulation to crumble away and cause a short circuit, or the fridge itself to become live. Best to rewire the whole lot and you'll never have to worry about it again. This is what the heater wiring looked in my CA-2 www.flickr.com/photos/13469158@N05/7043636451/in/album-72157633054818403/ You can see it crumbling away where the friction tape is. I'd recommend the use of a plug in power meter for any CA owner, because not only will it show if the heater is working, without having to unplug the fridge and do a resistance test, but the compressor current draw will also tell if the refrigeration circuit is operating as it should. An increase in compressor current, for example, can indicate it's going to need an NCG purge. |
|
krull
New Member
Posts: 3
|
Post by krull on Sept 26, 2023 19:51:08 GMT
Resistance look to be .813 kohms. I am thinking you are going to be correct about wiring. Since starting work on it I believe something has broken inside main wire. I just finished a new one and tried it with the cover off. The contactor did stick until the unit turned off again. I am including the pictures requested. Also, thank you all so much. I've never posted like this in a forum and didn't know what to expect. Ya'll have been very nice and helpful. I'm looking forward to working on this project even more now. |
|
|
|
Post by cablehack on Sept 27, 2023 0:16:43 GMT
Resistance look to be .813 kohms. The heater would appear to be in working order. |
|
krull
New Member
Posts: 3
|
Post by krull on Sept 27, 2023 18:50:05 GMT
Here is a quick video of the relay engaging but never releasing. That is until a few seconds when the unit shuts down. I manually turned it off in the video instead of waiting for that to happen. So question is? Is it repairable/replaceable?
https://youtu.be/q4PUucYZH24
|
|
|
|
Post by cablehack on Sept 27, 2023 22:31:11 GMT
Thanks for the video. I would suggest plugging the fridge into a power meter. Then start it up and hold the relay contact open with an insulated object. If the power consumption is then normal (less than 200W), I would suspect the relay adjustment is out. Aside from the chattering relay, the compressor does like it has come up to the correct speed.
|
|
|
|
Post by turbokinetic on Sept 28, 2023 1:17:57 GMT
A can concur with Cablehack, that you need to manually push the relay in with a non-conductive object such as plastic writing utensil. If it will continue running, then likely the relay needs to have the contact positions adjusted. The compressor should not draw more than about 3 amps, and if the current is excessive it can cause this problem. If the current is excessive, non-condensable gas may have built up too much pressure in the compressor.
By the way, I have edited your original post to move the video to YouTube since our forum storage is limited and the video takes a lot of space.
Sincerely,
David
|
|
