I killed my freezer!

[Kev Williams]

The freezer is just a small 5 cu.ft upright 'Insignia' from Best Buy. It's only 15 months old...
Last week I took a phillips screwdriver to some built-up ice so I could get at some microwave snacks. Next thing I know everything is thawing out. Once all the ice melted, I found where I hit one of the cooling tubes with the screwdriver. Wasn't a sharp-tipped screwdriver, and at a glance it looks like only the paint was chipped off the tube but the depression is pretty deep, so I'm pretty sure the tube was penetrated and all the refrigerant escaped. When plugging in now, the compressor runs, but the cabinet temp just goes up...

So, can these tubes be soldered or otherwise repaired, and the system recharged? If so, for less that the $300 a new one will cost?

[Lee Schierer]

The tubes are probably aluminum. They can be repaired, but your cost is likely to be equal or greater than the cost of a new freezer. You will also need to pay someone to put in new refrigerant.

[Matt Day]

Next time eat faster.

My little deep freezer never piles up with ice/frost like that. It did come with a scraper though.

[Bill Orbine]

Where the gas was entered into the system, the tubes are probably pinched off and soldered. No valves. Something to think about

[Kev Williams]

I was pretty sure it's a done deal, but wasn't sure....

[John K Jordan]

The freezer is just a small 5 cu.ft upright 'Insignia' from Best Buy. It's only 15 months old...
Last week I took a phillips screwdriver to some built-up ice so I could get at some microwave snacks. Next thing I know everything is thawing out. Once all the ice melted, I found where I hit one of the cooling tubes with the screwdriver. Wasn't a sharp-tipped screwdriver, and at a glance it looks like only the paint was chipped off the tube but the depression is pretty deep, so I'm pretty sure the tube was penetrated and all the refrigerant escaped. When plugging in now, the compressor runs, but the cabinet temp just goes up...

So, can these tubes be soldered or otherwise repaired, and the system recharged? If so, for less that the $300 a new one will cost?

Bummer. I'd probably look for a new one. I put a flat blade screwdriver through the front of the radiator of a 1960 Ford pickup once but it was copper and I was able to fix it by soldering in a plug made from a short piece of 12 gauge copper wire.

Your freezer might make a nice refrigerator kiln for drying bowl blanks.

We de-ice by emptying the freezer, letting it warm up some, then use a plastic scraper. I use mild heat from an old hair dryer if needed.

JKJ

[Ole Anderson]

I did that to the mini fridge at work once...

[Tom M King]

What kind of refrigerant was in it? Did you figure out what metal the coil was?

[Ron Citerone]

IMO trash it, go buy another one and learn from the experience. Don't beat yourself up over it..............at least you didn't cut the Central Air line with a hedge trimmer.

[Jerome Stanek]

You could replace it for less then you could fix it for.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insigni...?skuId=8390036

[Myk Rian]

.....at least you didn't cut the Central Air line with a hedge trimmer.

I'll bet that was fun.

[John K Jordan]

.........at least you didn't cut the Central Air line with a hedge trimmer.

For even more fun try cutting an 8" water main. A guy I hired to dig a driveway years ago didn't call before he dug. Made a fun geyser that made the front page of the newspaper, shot 160,000 gallons of water into the air.

JKJ

[Tom M King]

A friend of mine cut the natural gas line between the street, and their house with a garden tiller. Fortunately, there was no fire, but created a lot of excitement in the neighborhood. This was years before he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, so maybe he learned something from the experience.

[John K Jordan]

A friend of mine cut the natural gas line between the street, and their house with a garden tiller. Fortunately, there was no fire, but created a lot of excitement in the neighborhood. This was years before he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, so maybe he learned something from the experience.

I'm getting a bit old for that but maybe there's still time. I'll try cutting some gas, power, water, fiber optic, and sewer lines and try for a nobel. I did cut through an underground cable TV line but no world-wide recognition came from it yet.

JKJ

[Bill Dufour]

I had a Datsun with a glued ac evaporater. Glue looked like JB weld. I cleaned and gooped more JB weld onto it. never got it to seal for long. Finally bought a wrecking yard one. You would have to clean the oil off the leak, epoxy it with something . Pull a vacuum and add the correct amount of the correct oil and refrigerant. I would add a filter to remove the moisture in the system.
Buy a new unit.