Being a cheap bastard and keeping my integrity intact forensic analysis was conducted upon a 7.2 cu. ft. Magic Chef freezer which from all date codes appeared to have been manufactured in 2009 which I brought back from the dump. It looked absolutely new. It also looked cheap by the hardware present. Spare parts were worth it as well as the fun of getting to tear it down if problem was terminal.
No visible leaks and not a single degree of cooling either. Anywhere for that matter. Compressor working great, smooth very quiet etc. Obviously no freon. So since the leak was likely in the cooling coil pipe within the freezer walls it was indeed terminal.
So after stripping the carcass of all spare parts to the extent to make even a fat turkey vulture proud....we started tearing into the case to salvage the copper pipe for casting later. We did so carefully to be able to find the freon leak. Removed nearly all of the copper pipe (1/4 inch diameter) yet no obvious leak. The last foot of copper pipe was deep in the insulation coming off the suction line from compressor so had to really get gorilla with it....let my son do that :sly: . Once freed from the insulation the dirty deed became apparent. The cooling coil pipe was not copper. It was copper plated to look like copper. Terribly cheap but the real cause of the leak was that the steel pipe was brazed to a copper tube from the compressor. The obviously dissimilar metals (copper, steel) in contact set up a galvanic action that severely corroded through the steel pipe causing the freon leak.
This is such a fundamental flaw in design that it was either manufacturing fraud by unsanctioned substitution or specifically designed to fail shortly after warranty expired. Perhaps both? Yes, made in China.
So the advice from Squeaky Labs is to take a strong magnet to all exposed sections of suction line to check for dissimilar metals. Then do the same all along the inside of the freezer case. If you get no attraction then attraction with the magnet ON THE SAME LINE......DON'T BUY IT!
No visible leaks and not a single degree of cooling either. Anywhere for that matter. Compressor working great, smooth very quiet etc. Obviously no freon. So since the leak was likely in the cooling coil pipe within the freezer walls it was indeed terminal.
So after stripping the carcass of all spare parts to the extent to make even a fat turkey vulture proud....we started tearing into the case to salvage the copper pipe for casting later. We did so carefully to be able to find the freon leak. Removed nearly all of the copper pipe (1/4 inch diameter) yet no obvious leak. The last foot of copper pipe was deep in the insulation coming off the suction line from compressor so had to really get gorilla with it....let my son do that :sly: . Once freed from the insulation the dirty deed became apparent. The cooling coil pipe was not copper. It was copper plated to look like copper. Terribly cheap but the real cause of the leak was that the steel pipe was brazed to a copper tube from the compressor. The obviously dissimilar metals (copper, steel) in contact set up a galvanic action that severely corroded through the steel pipe causing the freon leak.
This is such a fundamental flaw in design that it was either manufacturing fraud by unsanctioned substitution or specifically designed to fail shortly after warranty expired. Perhaps both? Yes, made in China.
So the advice from Squeaky Labs is to take a strong magnet to all exposed sections of suction line to check for dissimilar metals. Then do the same all along the inside of the freezer case. If you get no attraction then attraction with the magnet ON THE SAME LINE......DON'T BUY IT!
