Engel thermostat ?

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,

just wondering if anyone has had a thermostat fail on their Engel and what were the symptoms?

I have a 45ltr Engel with the old style turn dial at the top that you can turn to freezer and it is getting coolish but not not as good as usual.

I suspect it could be the thermostat as even if I put it on minimum the compressor still runs yet it will chill down hot cans to cooler than I would expect , yet it seems to just stay on 1 temp range as it won’t freeze .

could be low on gas but can see condensation on the pipe work that run to and from the fridge compartment.

any idea would be appreciated.

thanks and cheers Ean

[Blknight.aus]

It may be low on gas. If the condensation is occuring on the pipes between the condensor and the onside of the fridge.

If its chilling inside the fridge on the evaproator then its one of 3 things and 2 of them are the same on the old style fridges.

It might be the powersupply try it on 12 and 240v if it works better on one than the other then the powersupply is beginning to fail. If it works the same.on both then most likely on the older style engles its the thermostat.

It will be either the spring that drives the contacts getting weak and not closing the contacts after they open or the contacts burnt.

This is an easily.replaced.part and can be done with an old.school electric cooling fan controller from supercheap. Its not as accurate but will.get tje job done. Better is to get a temp.controller from somewhere like jaycar.

Theres still a couple.of.places that hold parts for the old school engles if youre not in a hurry for it.

It can be cheaper to replace the fridge if ir needs a replacement powersupply that is not available.off the shelf.

[101RRS]

But Ean - you should know that Engels are like Toyotas - they never break down [tonguewink]

I bet it will cost nearly as much as my great ebay fridge cost to buy to get the the thermostat on your fridge replaced and the gas recharged.

Yes I know - not a helpful response so I hope you are able to sort it [thumbsupbig]

Have a Happy New Year [bigsmile1]

Garry

[rick130]

Ean, to check the refrigerant charge, and this applies to any static evaporator, capillary system, lick your finger and see if it sticks at the end of the evap. Basically it should stick all over the plate right to the end of the coil. A frost pattern all over will also be a good indicator, then do the lick and stick test.
A sweat back on the suction line back to the compressor is usually a good indicator too but sometimes it can just be because of a really high ambient RH.
If it's short of gas you'll also notice a partial frost pattern, eg. 2/3 of the plate.
Often when this happens it will actually freeze the contents of the fridge as the t/stat bulb is (usually) at the end of the coil, which doesn't get cold enough to switch the comp off.

The old moist cold domestic fridges used to do this, often with a big block of ice on the first third of the static coil.

[PhilipA]

If it is a post 2000 Engel it has a fan which blows onto the compressor. Check that the fan is operating.

If the thermostat fails in my experience it either is on flat out or not at all.

First I would check the fan.
I have had both fail on my 2000 model Engel. There is a place in Perth that sells parts on the net.

Regards Philip A

[Ean Austral]

I did check the fan was working and it is going as normal.

Cheers Ean

[scarry]

Compresser running ALL the time and not cold enough?

That won't be a faulty thermostat.

As Rick said,low on gas,follow his post on that[biggrin]

Compresser may also be not pumping correctly.

Sometimes with Engles they seem to get oil logging in the evap.Happens to one of my brothers every now and then.
Turn it off,take everything out and leave off overnight to warm up inside.
Turn back on in the morning.
Then it may work as normal,hopefully.

Good luck.

[DiscoMick]

Ours starts to freeze if the dial is turned above 1, but I had it serviced last year and they said it was within the manufacturer's specs, so I thought that was normal.
I had to replace the fuse near the power supply yesterday.
The dial on ours is loose and vibrates around, but I just used blue-tac to hold it on 1.
They are rugged old things.

[DiscoMick]

I have read that another cause can be the thermostat probe not reading correctly. If you can, check the probe is clear. If the probe is iced, it may not give correct readings. Turning it off for a day may cause the ice to melt and the probe to read the correct temperature range. Hope it's that simple for you.

[Toxic_Avenger]

I was given an engel the other week - it's probably 25years old...
Warmest 'defrost' setting is 1.6 C
Coldest 'freeze' setting is negative 16.

Is there a way to give it a bit more resolution in the 'fridge' side of things?

[weeds]

I was given an engel the other week - it's probably 25years old...
Warmest 'defrost' setting is 1.6 C
Coldest 'freeze' setting is negative 16.

Is there a way to give it a bit more resolution in the 'fridge' side of things?

Pretty sure I started a thread on what I did.......I did a basic conversion to my 15 year ish Engel, now I can dial in any temp and it maintains it exactly like modern fridges.. Got sick of frozen veg/salad.

[trout1105]

Has the fridge been sitting idle for a while?
If so chuck it on its side and drive around on some heavey corrogations, It used to work wonders on my old house fridges[thumbsupbig][thumbsupbig]

[weeds]

Has the fridge been sitting idle for a while?
If so chuck it on its side and drive around on some heavey corrogations, It used to work wonders on my old house fridges[thumbsupbig][thumbsupbig]

That only works for 3 way fridges.......don’t believe it works for compressor fridges

[rick130]

That only works for 3 way fridges.......don’t believe it works for compressor fridges

It'd be a quick way to totally **** it. [bigsad]

[scarry]

I was given an engel the other week - it's probably 25years old...
Warmest 'defrost' setting is 1.6 C
Coldest 'freeze' setting is negative 16.

Is there a way to give it a bit more resolution in the 'fridge' side of things?

Check the thermostat bulb is clipped tight to the evaporater plate.

If its not,that is your problem,it will run too cold.