# Refrigerator compressor oil



## johninva (Jun 8, 2009)

I have a mid 1940's Philco refrigerator in very good condition.  It stopped cooling well,  I had a service man top it off with refrigerant.   Cooled well for about a year, got warm again.  borrowed a bunch of equipment from an hvac buddy.  No pressure was in the system.  I filled it with 200psi of nitrogen.  Found the leak.  Fixed it.  Ready to pull a vacuum and recharge with r12. I know when freon leaks out it takes oil with it. My question is,  should I add any oil? how much ?  There was some oil around the leak area - not very much though.

Thanks in advance for the help


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 8, 2009)

johninva said:


> I know when freon leaks out it takes oil with it. My question is,  should I add any oil? how much ?  There was some oil around the leak area - not very much though.



     It seems to me that the oil isn't going to vapourize as it leaks out the way the refrigerant will.  If any oil leaks out as a mist with the refrigerant, it's going to form an oily film on whatever it settles on in the vicinity of the leak.  It's not going to vapourize without leaving any residue behind like the refrigerant will.  If oil leaks out of your fridge with the freon, it's going to leave an oily mess in that fridge somewhere.

I wouldn't put any oil in, or at least no more than you noticed leaked out.


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## northeastguy78 (Jun 16, 2009)

wow mid 1940s.....


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## kok328 (Jun 16, 2009)

You would benefit by replacing the unit all together with something that is energy star rated.  Although, I'd hate to see a conversation piece like that put out of service.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2009)

Repair that fridge if you can, but if it turns out that you end up discarding it, make sure you take the door handle off or disabling the handle and latch so that they don't work before discarding it.

That's because old fridges like that still had mechanical latch handles, and children would play in and around an old fridge (using it as a "house" or "rocket ship" and often end up locking themselves inside it, often with tragic consequences because they end up suffocating.

The law in Canada and the US is pretty similar; homeowners have a much greater responsibility to the children in their neighborhood than they do other homeowners.  If you don't put up a fence to keep children from swimming in your pool, and one of the local kids drowns in it, you can be held responsible.  If you dig a big hole in your back yard for a pool, and there's a torrential rain so that the big hole fills up with water, you need to fence that area off and put up "Keep Out" signs because it would represent an opportunity to have a cool swim to a local kid, who could end up drowning because he can't get out of that hole cuz of the slimey mud.  A discarded fridge or old freezer represents the same sort of thing; the kid won't recognize the potential danger until it's too late.  The onus is on adults to recognize that children WILL trespass onto other people's property if there's an opportunity to play and have fun on that property, and people who know of potential dangers on their property have an obligation to protect the children in their neighborhood from them.


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