ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Fixing vintage French refrigerator?

Hello Trumpy-yes, I have been working with refrigeration, from domestic to cascade, compound, and modulating systems. My main market for that is the hospital, research, and laboratory field. I'm also a licensed electrician, I guess I'm just distracted easily.... Thanks for the hearty welcome- I am jealous of you though- I hope to see your corner of the world someday. New Zealand has always fascinated me- even more so since the tolkien movies are out, there's some intense nature down there. Are you on 50Hz?

Hello Chi, and welcome to ECN.

N.Z. is indeed on 50Hz, as is most of the world outside the Americas. Saudi Arabia has some 60Hz, and most sources indicate that the small African country of Liberia also uses 60Hz.

Japan also has a mixture of 50 and 60Hz, and I believe that there are a couple of other far eastern countries which use 60.

Hey,
No problems Chris!.
If you're ever over here, give us a yell, I'd be more than happy to show you the South Island.(That goes for anyone else too!,I just like to stay away from the normal "Tourist sites".)
As Paul said above, yes we do use 50Hz supply here, with a 230/400VAC system.

how about that Frimatic refrigerator?

Finally an update on the old fridge. Today I went down on it with a decent meter and _lots of light_. (the last time I had a meter with intermittent test leads ) and here'S what I found out: The thermal cutout is indeed cold out. The motor windings all give reasonable resistance readings, as well as the relay.
Chi-Spark, the compressor is at the bottom of the box.
I have no idea how long it was unplugged after moving.
Right now I'm trying to figure out a way to jumper the cutout. Jumper cables with alligator clips would be great, unfortunately I don't have any. Guess I'll have to try something like wrapping stranded wire around the terminal or just cut the link wire between thermal cutout and compressor.

IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!
Jumpered the thermal cutout with a piece of zip-cord (noticed the insulation of the wires feeding the compressor looks a bit brittle), took out all stuff that had acuumulated inside the appliance (my brother used it as a convenient shelf for boxes of cereals and similar stuff ), plugged it in and it started humming softly! After a few minutes it was noticeably cool inside.
Going to unplug it overnight though.
Any idea what to do about the thermal cutout? I feel I should replace it, but how do I do that? And are spares available that fit mechanically?
Thanks for your support!

Ragnar,
That's great to hear that the old girl is away again!.
Are you referring to the Thermostat or the Over-Temperature cut-out that protects the Compressor?.
If it is the Thermostat that controls the temperature in the fridge chamber, you may have to retro-fit a modern T/stat where the old one was mounted.

Ragnar,
Sorry,
I didn't read your post above to well before I replied.
Thermal cutouts for Refrigeration compressors are usually of a generic type, in that getting a suitable replacement, shouldn't be a problem, they all trip at the same temperature.
While compressors do get rather warm (especially during Summer)during normal operation, the protection is generally 90 degrees C, AFAIK.
Take the cut-out to a spare parts place and see if they can give you something similar in Temperature and Current rating.
Failing that, post the serial number off the cut-out and I'll have a word to our Guru of Refrigeration at work, Ken.

Thanks!
Going to try taking the thing out (couldn't figure out how to do that yet) and go looking for a replacement. I can also buy a new rubber seal for the door (the old rubber ring is cracked and stiff as a board). And I should probably replace the power cord since it's very badly patched (just twisted and some old-style cloth tape) and very oxydized (copper looks close to black).
I'm really happy I found the fault and got it at least half-working again! It's a cool thing, the door has individual oval holes for the eggs! Going to paint it some nice color outside, my dad had it painted an awful 70ies brown that matched his old kitchen cabinets and wallpaper.

Ragnar,
I'd personally "soak-test" the thing first.
This means running it for an hour or so to see that the Thermostat works correctly.
Also, is there a requirement to Earth these appliances?.
The soak test will show how well the Refrigration system is working, and the fridge should "pull-down" to at least 2 degrees C in the first hour.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Trumpy.