It's not that hard if you can solder with silver solder. Which means you have to use acetylene. You have to own a vacuum pump to evacuate the system and it has to hold a vacuum for about an hour to boil out any moisture that will get in the system while it's open. Of course evacuating a system into the air is now illegal so you have to have a pump that can capture the freon instead of letting it discharge into the atmosphere. New compressors don't come with filler valves so you also have to find one to be able to charge the new compressor. Oh yes, you also have to have a certification in either refrigeration or HVAC in order to legally buy anything but 134 A and as far as I know that isn't used in anything but automotive air conditioning.
So if you can come up with all those things go for it. In case you're still considering it, a charging system that can capture freon runs around $4000. You can get about 10 freezers for that price. It really doesn't matter if you can see or not. It is a highly specialized field and the occasional repair just doesn't pay for itself. I have a certification to buy any kind of freon and I still wouldn't mess with a freezer. And since I send techs out to service the brand of freezer you are asking about, unless you have a maintenance agreement you might as well buy a new one. It will cost almost as much in the end. ----- Original Message ----- From: Robert Riddle To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 9:06 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] fixing a freezer compressor Hmm. I'll give that a try. Thanks. I've heard of people replacing their own compressor and they say it's not that hard a job. ----- Original Message ----- From: NLG To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 5:36 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] fixing a freezer compressor Replacing a compressor is costly, since you would have to hire it done (more than likely) because of rechartging the system. Is this freezer a self defrosting type? If so, your problem could be with the timer and not actually the compressor. If it is a self defrosting model, locate the timer, could be behind the removable grill at the bottom of the unit near the floor in the front. Insert a screwdriver into the slot on the timer and slowly turn it clockwise. If the compressor starts, most likely replacing the timer will solve your problem. ----- Original Message ----- From: Robert Riddle To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 14:22 Subject: [BlindHandyMan] fixing a freezer compressor Ok, there's not much to a freezer, a pump compressor and thermostat, correct? Our freezer, the one I wrote here about earlier, is broken, and I think it's the compressor because the light stays on but the motor doesn't, and of course everything thawed out. So, this being a Kenmore freezer, how much would a compressor cost and what's generally needed to instal it? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
