Servicing Your Fridge Freezer

[articulate]

I'm in need of some beta for servicing my Engel fridge. It's having a harder time keeping cool. What routine maintenance should I be performing? Adding refrigerant? Something else?

Who knows of some how-to resources for maintenance and service on an Engel (or similar) fridge?

Cheers,
Mark

 

[WoldD90]

I would call Engel and have them diagnose it over the phone and recommend a service center.

 

[cruiserlarry]

The 134a freon lines in the Engel and ARB freezer-fridges are filled, pinched, and capped at the factory. They do not have service ports for servicing the freon, or specs on the refrigerant quantity they contain, so I'd guess servicing them is difficult at best.

Let us know what Engel says...I've talked to ARB and they do not have any service interval or procedure available:Wow1:

 

[flyingwil]

Mark,
For Engel, servicing is pretty easy task. There's replacement parts for everything. I ended up replacing my whole cooling unit in my 45. bunch of screws and some snaps.... thats it.

Give me a call if you need help.

 

[articulate]

All good info. Thanks fellas.

Wil, I assume I can get those replacement parts through you, The Engel Guru. I'll call Engel and see what they tell me.

Hey, you guys coming to Chloe's party next weekend? Haven't seen the Kuhn's Family in a long time.

Mark

 

[Signcutter21]

Funny you bring this up Mark. I just used mine over the Fathers Day weekend, or should say tried to. After not using it for the last 8 months, I attempted to keep the soda and food cold for the 2 day trip. For some reason, the contents only got a bit more than cooler than room temp. The green light comes on and I can hear the compressor running. I also tried making it colder with no luck.

Will, do you recommend opening the MT45 up and giving it a wipe down with some warm water?

later, mike

 

[flyingwil]

All good info. Thanks fellas.

Wil, I assume I can get those replacement parts through you, The Engel Guru. I'll call Engel and see what they tell me.

Hey, you guys coming to Chloe's party next weekend? Haven't seen the Kuhn's Family in a long time.

Mark

Yeah mark if you need the parts let me know.
Not 100% on the party yet, we'll call ya and let you know.

Funny you bring this up Mark. I just used mine over the Fathers Day weekend, or should say tried to. After not using it for the last 8 months, I attempted to keep the soda and food cold for the 2 day trip. For some reason, the contents only got a bit more than cooler than room temp. The green light comes on and I can hear the compressor running. I also tried making it colder with no luck.

Will, do you recommend opening the MT45 up and giving it a wipe down with some warm water?

later, mike

Mike,

You can remove the back plates and dust off. I wouldn't get the components wet, but you can wipe them clean with a damp terry cloth and see if your performance improves, I would first try the 110 connection and see if the problem persists before going any further.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

Mark, I'm curious about how old your fridge is?

 

[articulate]

Mark, I'm curious about how old your fridge is?

Owned it new for exactly 3 years. I typically use it for long weekend trips once a month or more.

The past two summers have been especially hard on it because we took two week trips in June '09 (through the southern states) and '10 (Baja desert). It's been breathing a lot of hot air and I think the fridge is aging faster because of it.

I think I'll plug it into 110v tonight and see how it goes, too.

 

[Signcutter21]

Thanks Will, now to find what I did with the 110 cord during the move. Box marked "jeep parts" was a no go.

later, mike

 

[Brian McVickers]

Mine is about six or seven years old and has had similar issues for the past two years.

I called Engel and they said that there is no way to service the closed system and that it should not need it.

They suggested trying a 110v cord to test its cooling capabilities. ( Note, if you can not find the stock cord any 110v desktop PC cord will work )

With 110 it worked fine and even froze water outside in PHX.
The conclusion was that the power source, cabling, was insufficient to deliver enough power.

 

[articulate]

The conclusion was that the power source, cabling, was insufficient to deliver enough power.

As in your battery wasn't pumping enough juice (old and dying?) or you needed different gauge wire to your junction?

 

[Brian McVickers]

As in your battery wasn't pumping enough juice (old and dying?) or you needed different gauge wire to your junction?

Good question,
As in I needed a different gauge wire fromt he fridge to the battery.
I had been using the stock Engel 12 cig plug wire and plugging it into the cig plug on the dash. The 12v plug and socket would get hot and upon inspection I discovered that the wires running to the cig plug are very small compared to the stock Engel wire.

 

[flyingwil]

Thanks Will, now to find what I did with the 110 cord during the move. Box marked "jeep parts" was a no go.

later, mike

AS McVick stated a PC 110v plug will work.

Good question,
As in I needed a different gauge wire fromt he fridge to the battery.
I had been using the stock Engel 12 cig plug wire and plugging it into the cig plug on the dash. The 12v plug and socket would get hot and upon inspection I discovered that the wires running to the cig plug are very small compared to the stock Engel wire.

Correct, most factory cig adapters do not come with large enough gauge wiring. We recommend hard wiring in a solution. One of the better products out there is the Posi-Fit, which eliminates the special Engel DC fuse and allows for standard automotive fuses. Thread on the Posi-Fit.

 

[Signcutter21]

Drinking some cold water now!

Just a little update on my dilemma. I borrowed my buddy's computer cord today. After 2 hrs on the #2 setting, I now have cold water. YAY!!!!!:wings:

Thanks for the help Will, Mark and McVick. Now to start that wiring project I've put off for over a year now. (Will, you ever get the fridge installed in Wendy's KJ?)

later, mike