Westy Fridge - won't get cold (1978)

alexii4

Hi guys and gals.. I have a 78 westy that has not been used for several years. I have taken the interior apart and disassembled the refrigerator system and shelved the ammonia circulator. Well I've pulled the thing back out and for some reason I'm not getting any cold.

Can anyone tell me how long it should take for the thing to get cold? It has fluis in it and since it's a closed system, I have to assume there's nothing wrong there. Additionally, the heating element heats up just fine and it gets hot all the way to the heatsink (hot side).

I've had it turned on for an hour now and it's still not producing any cold... HELLLLLLLP

Thank you all

Karl · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject:

You need to plug it and turn on and let it sit for 24 hrs.

Letting it sit, the ammonia gels in the lowest point.

An old trick of refridgerator repair people was to flip an ammonia fridge upside down for a few days to a week.

greenbus pilot · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:21 am Post subject:

vw76westy · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:53 am Post subject:

never make fun of carls advise !!! Shame on you

theizzardking · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:34 am Post subject:

WestyPop · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:02 pm Post subject:

Karl... that's a good trick that I'd forgotten. Thanks for the double-barreled answer to alexii4's question (I needed to ask the same thing).

J.R.
68 Westy
(+ others)

itlives · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:14 pm Post subject:

Karl's correct again.
I did my fridge in my '74 that way and then plugged it in . It took a couple of days.
You can also TAP LIGHTLY on the lines with a small tool ( doesn't have to be a hammer).
I've heard that the ammonia can crystalize if the system is not working for a long time. The tapping can break up the crystals.
Anyway, mine's working fine in my shop. I replaced it with an Engle.

alexii4 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:47 pm Post subject:

ok.. so it's been 24 hours and no cold. It's appropriately hot. Should I leave it another day? It's hooked up to a 12-vold charger with up to 6 amps (it's drawing 4).

Before hooking it up, I could hear the liquid all sloshing around inside. The stuff's under pressure, isnt it (implying that if I didn't hear the liquid then it may be cooked for good)?

Thank you

VDubTech · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:54 pm Post subject:

Why don't you run an extension cord to the Bus and run it off of shore power? A lot of the newer battery chargers have automatic shutdowns and don't constantly charge. There is a switch on the control panel to go from the aux battery to the outside hookup. Is the red light coming on on the control panel?

alexii4 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:08 pm Post subject:

problem is that the bus is parked in the street. My charger has an option to trickle-charge (where it shuts off at specific intervals) or sustained charge. It keeps a constant current going. Since its only drawing 4 amps, where 6 are available, can I assume the charger is sufficient? I'll go tap the coils a bit.

VDubTech · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:12 pm Post subject:

alexii4 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:15 pm Post subject:

huh?????

It's plugged in in the garage and as I said, the bus is in the street. I dont want someone tripping on the extension cord in the middle of the night

Karl · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:26 pm Post subject:

alexii4 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:56 pm Post subject:

I honestly appreciate the advice but what am I missing here? The charger delivers a continuous current at more amperage than the fridge is drawing... so what is being pissed into the wind.

rigamarole16 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:46 pm Post subject:

wait a tick...... is his fridge out of the bus and sitting by itself in the garage?
Shocked

_________________
'77 Westy
http://leifcrew.weebly.com/
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...highlight=

MalibuLX3 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:49 pm Post subject:

There are 2 ways you can run the fridge

Through the AUX battery

as well as by plugging into 110

Running through the battery is mostly used when driving, since you can't plug in, then when you get to your destination, you plug in.

So, instead of running your refrigerator off the AUX battery, and charging the battery at the same time, just plug the fridge in directly.

Check out the control panel inside, right next to the fridge, to switch it to shore power instead of battery
_________________
1978 Westfalia

alexii4 · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:23 am Post subject:

Ok.. now I see the problem... yes, the fridge is out of the bus. In fact its not even connected to the box. My apologies for the confusion.

My understanding is that when on shore power, the fridge still gets 12 volts from the inverter and not the 120 that comes from "shore."

alexii4 · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:30 am Post subject:

... and the real issue is (according to some of you) the method of deliverig the current. As I've said, it's getting a continuous, uninterrupted 12 volts from the charger and the fridge is drawing 4 amps where there are 6 available to it... meaning to me that there is NO ISSUE regarding the power getting to it.

Can anyone tell me "WHY" it takes so long to restart a fridge after it's been turned on its side or moved around? I never did understand that.

I love this forum

Paul D · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:47 am Post subject:

I am not sure if a 78 is thermostatically controlled, but here an interesting read about the 74 fridge and in 12 volt operation.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

It took a couple of days for my refrigerator to come back to life, but I used 110V.
_________________
76 Fuel Injected Standard Bug

KantDriveFast wrote:

onion456 · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:14 am Post subject:

yep the fridge runs on 12v ONLY. dont plug 110 into it =P your 110 gets converted into 12v before the fridge sees it.

only thing i can think of, is that if there is no ammonia solution in the heating chamber or whatever, nothing may happen... i.e. all your ammonia is in another part of the tubing, so heating the chamber does nothing. might try to figure out (by sloshing noises?) where the liquid is at, and maybe juggle the fridge around to try to work the ammonia back into the area that is being heated.

from what i understand, heating the ammonia causes it to separate into 2 parts, which travel through the tubes till they get to the condensor area, where the particles will rejoin, which somehow grabs heat from the surrounding area, making the element colder. if theres no ammonia there to heat, well, no separation occurs.

hope this helps- i think your charger setup is probably ok, but if you have a spare 12v battery sitting around, might as well connect that up too, so that you definitely have a constant 12v. could even leave the charger on it, so as not to drain the battery.
_________________
'76 Sage Green Westy 2.0 FI
'76 Creamsicle 7-passenger 2.0 CS FI
'85 Tan Westy


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