I'm an idiot. Broke my Waeco fridge

[qazvick]

Well this is the dumbest thing I've ever done. Long story short, I was letting the frozen over fridge/freezer melt out and got impatient. I started chipping away with a flathead and small hammer. Wasn't really that difficult and I wasn't really banging away that hard. But, alas, I have learned the hard way how fragile the tubes holding freon in the cold plates are.

I punctured one.

I was going to try to fix the leak. JB weld? Can it actually be legitimately welded?

Also, even if this is the case, I've come to notice that this danfoss bd35f has ZERO ports available to recharge the system. Nothing for me to screw on an attachment ANYwhere. Is this typical? Everything I find online shows my exact compressor but with attachments.

This is an old Weaco Coolmatic 80. Model RD-80B.

Any guidance much appreciated.

I'm going to go drink about it now.

[OzePete]

Best to replace the fridge. If you have insurance you may be able to claim.

Cheers OzePete

[qazvick]

Originally Posted by OzePete

Best to replace the fridge. If you have insurance you may be able to claim.

Cheers OzePete

[Lost Horizons]

A good way to speed up defreezing process is to use a fan.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

A good way to speed up defreezing process is to use a fan.

really good if you use the wife's hair dryer.

[Jim Cate]

Dunno if it works, but i have seen epoxy based products for patching leaky fridge evaporators. And buck up... you are far from the first to make this error!

Jim

[sailormed]

No filling valve is not a problem. Fridge professionals routinely cut of a piece of the pipe and braze a filling valve on. Then they fill it and you can do so afterwards.

[Kenomac]

Don’t feel bad, my wife did the same thing three years ago and destroyed the evaporator and compressor. A 1200 euro repair.

[Scott Berg]

You MAY be able to repair the evaporator with an epoxy product like JB Weld; then you'll need to evacuate the system and recharge. If there isn't a suction side service port you'll need to solder one in. If you have all the skills and tools have at; if not it may be time for a new fridge...

[Elie]

There is not much pressure in this area of your fridge system. An epoxy paste patch is all that is required to fix it. Of course, recharging the unit is mandatory, but easy to do for an expert. Replacing the whole unit would be costly and unjustified waste, in my opinion.

[lvictorlucas]

You will have to do two things. First add a Schrader valve so that you can vacuum the system and then refill it. Since you're having to cut the line and add fittings you might as well add a large dryer also. Next verify what the tubes are made of if they are aluminum there is aluminum solder that can be used. Otherwise you'll probably want to use Silver solder. Get a good flux that works on your material and do not even think of using acid core solder or flux. An old scrap refrigerator compressor can be used as a vacuum pump. Adding the fittings and soldering will be good practice for your system. I wouldn't worry about adding oil unless the puncture is at a dip in line. If the manual says how much freon to use you will not even need a scale or a set of gauges. You can probably borrow a set of gauges and Harbour Freight has a very cheap set of HVAC gauges. They are not very robust but plenty good enough for the few times you will be using them. Any thermometer in contact with the tubing is plenty accurate enough.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by sailormed

No filling valve is not a problem. Fridge professionals routinely cut of a piece of the pipe and braze a filling valve on. Then they fill it and you can do so afterwards.

A competent HVAC tech. could sweat in a repair piece and a valve for pumping it down and charging. You may find the cost of old Freon will knock you socks off.

[Seman]

A fridge mechanic fitted one of these bolt on taps, no welding. I was able to re-gas the fridge, 6 month later still all good.

[hellosailor]

If that fridge really is so old that it uses real freon, R-12, then the price of R-12 should not be so scary. It "should" be available at $50-75 per pound, although techs will claim that is $200 per pound simply because you can't shop around for it. And since R-12 has been obsoleted for 15? 20? 30? years now, there are very few techs who bother keeping the equipment that is required to work with it, and recover it. (Each gas type needs a separate set of equipment, kaching!) So finding someone to work with R-12 can be costly and difficult.

If it is NOT R-12...a Schraeder valve won't do, each gas type pretty much uses a different valve type, so you don't fill with the wrong. Details count!

And of course a DIY repair will require pulling a hard vacuum in the system before refilling it, considering the price of a vacuum pump it becomes worth considering hiring the job out (IF you can find a good tech) or sadly, replacing a system.

With "AC" systems, there's more than one devil in the details.

On the bright side...a freon leak won't tear your flesh up, the way an old ammonia-based refrigeration system would.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Seman

A fridge mechanic fitted one of these bolt on taps, no welding. I was able to re-gas the fridge, 6 month later still all good.

A saddle valve. They do work well for adding Freon. I can't attest to needing to pull a vacuum as to OP would require.