bamboozled Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 My gal felt bad for the coolant trapped in our old duu yen so she decided to liberate it by making a small hole in one of the tubes of the freezer section. The gas was delighted and rushed out with a big smile and a loud hiss. She and I are less delighted now that we have no cool water to cut through this hot hot heat. The common solution to this situation is to buy a new refrigerator. However, this being Thailand with inexpensive repair costs, I was thinking it might be worth my while having someone plug the hole and put the gas back in its "cage". Any thoughts/ideas/info on getting this done? Thanks, Bam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthedarkside Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Any proficient air con engineer can weld/braze a patch on the line and recharge the gas. Cost from 500 baht - 1,000 baht depending on your location. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerry123 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Any proficient air con engineer can weld/braze a patch on the line and recharge the gas. Cost from 500 baht - 1,000 baht depending on your location. i think a soldered repair would be more suitable if on copper or light steel tube 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noise Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 The refrigerator repair man I had look at mine said the coolant is a closed system with no valves for checking pressure and/or refilling, adding that both of those would have to be done in the shop. Is that brand specific, mine being a Whirlpool side by side? Don't know. Brazing a patch on the hole is one thing. If there are no refrigerant pressure/fill valves, you might want to take the brand and model particulars to the Niyom Panich appliance repair shop (say) and check with them before having an air conditioner technician work on a refrigerator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamboozled Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 It's a pretty old bugger, too. But it came with the house (rental) and I'll probably get stuck paying for it at a high rate if I don't fix it... Meanwhile, let me go get a drink of hot water.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thighlander Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) on small appliances; it will be a crimped copper tube, very close to the compressor....that is where they evacuate and fill....then re-crimp. You will need yo add a valve, if you wish to re-fill. If you let it run after the puncture, your compressor is ruined due to water ingestion. Edited April 22, 2014 by Thighlander Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamboozled Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Yup, located the crimped tube. I think the difficult part will be plugging the hole in the freezer section. Is the material aluminum? Seems pretty soft but it's painted and/or coated in plastic/rubber so I imagine some prepping will need to be done on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thakkar Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 A company called Saha Paniche (sp) will pick up your fridge (and other appliances), repair and bring it back.. Call them for a quote. Have used them before, but with mixed results. Tel 053 220-999 ext 111 They are agents for major companies, including Toyota T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyecatcher Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Rule of thumb: When fridge coolant is gone time to but new fridge. There is no repairing it, no matter how positive you want to be. Ask girlfriend how much she has in her budget for new fridge. That will get a frosty answer....unlike your fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamboozled Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 To conclude: my landlord's husband delivered the fridge somewhere in his pickup truck. It came back after two weeks and is working great, colder than ever. Cost: 1000 baht. The only thing, for the last week it's been making an unholy whining vibration-type racket. I finally pulled it out and looked in the back figuring something was loose. Sure enough, the compressor tank (I guess that's what it is) was completely loose. Obviously, it had been taken out and put back with the 4 nuts just twisted onto the bolts a couple turns. One was missing but the other three I tightened down and the thing is so silent now that I often figure it's broken again. So, moral of the story, you CAN fix a fridge that has had a hole punched in the gas tubes. Probably manual labor is so pricey in Farangland, and the corporate powers that be so entrenched, that getting this type of repair done OVER THERE is like getting a screw tightened down properly OVER HERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyecatcher Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 No the moral of the story is; If you have a proprem with anything or anyone in Thailand, a couple of screws in the right place will work wonders. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamboozled Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 hmmm, let me think about that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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