Let's talk about freezers
General Topic
Sorry, no politics on this thread yet, but it's early. I have a 27 year old Westinghouse/Whites upright freezer in the garage in one of my houses. No room to put it inside. It still keeps chugging along, but the inside temp isn't cooling below 24 degrees on hot days. The compressor still seems to work fine (from listening to it). I have not checked the condenser coils.
Question for you guys - should I waste money getting a bunch of diagnostics done on it and keep on trusting it, or retire the old girl and trade her for a cute new "garage-ready" unit? Is "garage-ready" a gimmick? Temp swings in there range between 100 on the hottest days and 0 during winter cold snaps.
I monitor all my fridges and freezers remotely, but I might be a long ways away when/if it fails.
I have had a freezer failure and don't want another one.
Thoughts?
https://www.whirlpool.com/blog/kitchen/what-is-a-garage-ready-freezer.html
If you've got air compressor blow out the coils. Otherwise rig up some kind of brush to clean them.
Good chance temp will improve.
The new ones you can buy aren't as reliable or durable as the one you have now. Blow out the dust, it'll probably last another 27 years.
Dana, thanks. Gee, I never thought to Google something, lol! I'm waiting for Paul or Wild Bot to give me a cut-paste AI reply... ;-)
Bluedog, I'm going to do that, but my question is more along the lines of, "Would you continue to trust a 27 year old freezer in these kind of temperature swings", and "Is garage-ready a gimmick?" Hoping for some real world experiences.
Thanks, scare. What I was looking for.
If after cleaning coils it pulls temp down good enough I'd trust it more than a brand new one. Slight chance it's a tad low on freon but only slight...
Been my experience the first year of a compressor is when it's most likely to fail. That goes for AC and freezers both. JMO
Coils are all sealed inside. Only the compressor is outside, underneath and that looks all clean. Dunno.
Coils are all sealed inside. Only the compressor is outside, underneath and that looks all clean. Dunno.
Chance condensor coils on a metal sheet up the back of unit outside? Passive, no fan style? Never seen condensor coils inside a unit.. that's make it impossible to work. They have to be able to release the heat.
I have 2 freezers in my garage, one upright and one chest freezer, can't recall the brand. Anyway, neither is "garage ready" and both over 15 years old and no issues. So not sure if garage ready is a gimmick or not. I wouldn't hesitate to put a non garage ready freezer in the garage.
I'll post photos in a bit, but there's no metal plate on the back, or any screws to remove the back panel.
Think I'm lost... no idea
I have the same deal as Kevin no issues at all.
A chest freezer will pay for itself in a few years with electric savings FYI, I would NEVER fix it. I have owned 100's of fridge in my rentals and most landlords replace if broken.
Older freezers are fine in a garage with big temperature swings. Newer "non garage ready" not so much. If I was buying new, I would definitely go "garage ready". There was a big discussion on this a while back. Not sure if you can do a search and bring it up.
The condenser coils are the actual racks themselves. The top half is cooling to 8 degrees. The bottom section below the coils is 24 degrees. I'm mystified. I would really like to stick with this old gal if possible.
Those are the evaporater coils not the condensor coils Jaq. The condensor coils have to be outside box.... somewhere
Sounds like the system is low on refrigerant if the evaporator coils are not cooling evenly. If that is the case, I highly doubt they still use the same type of refrigerant and if you were able to find the leak, repair it, and recharge, that would cost as much or more than a new freezer. Good luck!
A monetary mistake I made about 5 years ago... Ihad a full 30# jug and a half full 30# jug of R12. Sold one to my wife's cousin who plays with older John Deere cab tractors. Sold the other one to a guy I know that's in a classic car club. Sold them for a fraction of what they are worth now. Also just sold a full jug of R22 this spring, no use for it anymore.
Just digressing ;)
Bluedog, that's what I thought, too. But the rear is entirely sealed except for the very bottom where the compressor is. Not even any screws to remove a back panel. And as you can see from the first pic, there isn't any interior access. It's like it's sealed. I'm going to do some more research on this particular one, and I appreciate the feedback
I believe you but I've never seen one that they weren't either underneath or on back of unit. I do know they can't be inside.. wouldn't work at all in that case.
You can fit a lot in a small chest freezer and fit it under a lot of different stuff, in corners, stack stuff on top of it, etc.
I live in a log cabin that was added onto on each end so it's long and skinny, just like me. I have small chest freezers all over the place. They're very efficient so it's not too big a deal to lose the efficiency of a larger unit.
And the smaller ones are great because you can put one animal in one and another animal in another, or sort your meat by roasts, burger, etc, in different freezers.
The tiniest chest freezer that will fit in the corner somewhere with stuff on top of it and will hold more meat than you've currently got in your freezer that you put a pic of.
As I run lower on meat, I turn the ones off that I don't need and fire them back up as I fill them up.
It also makes it easier to eat your oldest meat first and not end up with a 7-year-old mystery meat lost in the back corner of a large chest freezer.
The heat dissipating coils are there underneath by the compressor motor. Pull the freezer away from the wall and look into that open area where the compressor is. There will be coils under there covered with 27 years of dirt. Clean it all out (it will be a pain). If that doesn't get your temps down then you probably have a freon issue.
Never heard of “garage-ready” freezer until today. I have had multiple freezers in multiple garages over many years, all in northern New England, never a problem. Makes me question the necessity of any unique garage-ready features.
27F is still frozen......... ;)
I have one older than that I would assume that has done the same except worse. I actually lost some meat that was stacked on the bottom shelf and the shelves above were still frozen. Following…….
Aspen, I did, and there is nothing there. I'll post a pic.
Shiloh, that's exactly what happened here. Stuff on the bottom was soft, everything else frozen hard.
Ike, this is my big freezer in town. That photo is the top portion to show there's no remo a le plate inside. It is about to get filled with moose and elk. My freezer at the other place is this size too, and will also get full (hopefully).
I think mine needs thawing out. I have a fair amount of ice buildup. Do you have ice buildup in yours Jaq??
I defrost it regularly, so no.
Here is a photo underneath. As you can see, no coils,no dirt (we keep it cleaned out too)
Better photo of the rear. No panel.
Had the same issue. Talked to a repair guy, his advise was his troubleshoot would be costly cause everything was in the walls. His best guess was he could fix it, for a short time for decent money, to fix for real wasn't worth it. Same issue, some shelves real cold others not.
Yes garage ready on new ones is real, also avoid self-defrost ones.
Lou, I think I would get a new freezer for peace of mind. Even though a new one will likely kick the bucket before it should, still not worth it.
I had an old chest freezer that I took home after it sat on my folks outdoor porch for 2 years. Prior to that it was at my brother’s place in Arvada for ten years and he got it used. It chugged along in my unheated garage for almost 30 years before I moved. I got in a rush and didn’t let it settle after moving even though I kept it relatively stable throughout the move. It wasn’t freezing evenly so I gave it to one of my contractors. He unplugged it let it sit and it has been working for him going on 3 years.
They certainly don’t make them to last anymore. Just get a new one so your upcoming moose meat is safe.
Thanks, guys. Bob, that's what I was afraid of. It might keep on going for awhile and I can keep stuff fine in the top half, but would hate to lose a bunch of moose, bison, elk, deer, and fish. Guess I'll bite the bullet. Appreciate the responses!
Slightly related—saw this on the internet—if you have a freezer that can’t be monitored regularly, freeze a cup of water, and then put a coin on top of the ice, and keep it in the freezer. Lose power, ice melts, coin sinks. And obviously coin stays sunk even when power comes back on and water re-freezes. It’ll just alert you to the fact that there was a problem in your absence.
A couple inexpensive Yolink sensors are a little higher-tech solution, and will send an alert to your phone if the temp rises above your preset threshold. Reassuring to look at the app and see what my freezers and fridges are doing from 1000 miles away.
Didn't read the thread.
Check the freezer coils for ice dam buildup. Moist air circulating over the coil will totally plug up circulation.
I unplug the unit and pour hot water on the dam to remove the ice. If there are exposed radiator coils on the back or at the bottom of the chassis, clean them. I use my shotgun cleaning rod with an old 12 gauge brass bristle brush.
PLUG THE FREEZER BACK IN! How do I know that one? lol Good luck.
Thanks, but might be good to read the thread before posting?
Mmmm…yup. That’s a better solution!
But it’s still kind of nice to have that quarter in the freezer. If everything else goes to hell, you’ve still got that quarter.
Lou, Some good advise from guys. Most likely needs cleaning, and then if you still have an issue, like mentioned, you could be low on refrigerant. Also, those of us that keep freezers/fridges in the garage need to also watch out for mice/rodents that sometimes like to chew on the cooling lines/wires. The "garage ready" equipment have a bigger compressor and a little better insulation, my opinion is it's not worth the extra $1000+ for them.
You might try putting a new compressor start relay on it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0nw5etFshs
If start relay goes bad compressor doesn't run at all, his runs just not getting cold enough
Thanks, guys. Dennis, there's nothing to clean since everything is sealed, and I keep the underside blown out with a compressor. Only an occasional cobweb as you can see from the photo.
I dunno. Might just keep meat on the top three shelves and keep it going as long as I can. I can monitor it constantly with the YoLink app. As I understand it, that type of freon isn't available anymore?
Thanks for all the ideas, guys.
I bought a chest feezer 5 years ago new at HD. I paid $75 for it because it had a dent in it. I keeps my deer meat frozen and it sits in an outside building. That’s all I care about. When it dies I’ll get another one. I would not put a dime in a 27 year old freezer
The "garage ready" equipment have a bigger compressor and a little better insulation, my opinion is it's not worth the extra $1000+ for them..... Curious what store you shop at. I don't see an overpriced garage ready freezer around me. 1000* is a crock of bull.
What’s garage ready mean?
jimmy, there's a link in Dana's post at the beginning of the thread.
xtroutx, "Curious what store you shop at. I don't see an overpriced garage ready freezer around me. 1000* is a crock of bull." Here's your crock of bull,
https://www.homedepot.com/pep/KENMORE-32-76-in-21-cu-ft-Convertible-freezer-Partial-Automatic-Defrost-Upright-Freezer-in-white-Garage-Ready-KKUF21-W/329401223?mtc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-BNG-D29A-029_013_REFRIG-NA-Multi-NA-PLALIA-5163653-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-MajorAppl_2023&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-CM-CML-BNG-D29A-029_013_REFRIG-NA-Multi-NA-PLALIA-5163653-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-MajorAppl_2023-71700000034368211-58700008283652564-92700075288346914&msclkid=df5bca5d98e2189e7f84acec3db37118&gclid=df5bca5d98e2189e7f84acec3db37118&gclsrc=3p.ds Compared to standard freezers the same size at $800 or so.
Glad the OP started this thread. I just made the last batch of venison chili a couple weeks ago and remembered mine needed a quick defrost before the opener next month! I have one of those 7 cu. ft. mini freezers in a utility room off my garage. Part of the house, but without heating/air. It replaced a 5 cu. ft. many years ago that came over on the Mayflower, but now sits on the porch up at the "happy hunting grounds" shack and only gets used to keep ice during hunting season. Neither has ever given a problem and I didn't even know there was such a thing as a "garage ready" freezer until I read this. Sounds like one of those Unca Joe "save-the-planet-build-back-better" ideas to me!
ive got a freezer that over 50 years and still running
