Punctured freezer or evaporator: what to do

If you are in a rush, trying to defrost your fridge quickly, punctured the freezer, it may have formed a crack, a hole. It all depends on the “tool” you used to help your camera get rid of the ice faster: a knife, an awl, a fork, etc. Don’t worry, any situation will be corrected – we will tell you what to do with a puncture. Action Guide The first and main question that the user is concerned about: will the refrigerator work if you pierce the freezer? Of course, it is better not to use the puncture technique – you should disconnect the device from the network and assess the consequences of unfreezing. There are two scenarios according to which the events will develop:

Evaporator channels remained intact. Then punctured only the insulation layer of the compartment and the tubes with the refrigerant are not touched. This is the best thing that could happen in a puncture, and the problem can be solved without the help of a specialist. You will need a low-temperature sealant or a similar composition. You can also patch up the hole with a piece of plastic cut off, for example from a yogurt glass.
A knife or other sharp object punched a tube with the coolant. This is not the best thing that could happen, but it is also quite a corrective case. Have a master fix this problem – he will quickly restore the integrity of the pipeline.

When you call the repairman, do not waste time – do the preparatory work

Disconnect the appliance by removing the power cord from the socket.
Temporarily seal the place of puncture with duct tape, tape or seal with plasticine. This will prevent moisture from entering the system and keep the motor-compressor in good condition. This is important: even a little moisture will knock the refrigerator out of operation, and repair may not help.

Ventilate the kitchen. In fact, modern freons are absolutely safe and cannot be a threat to your health. But there are certain brands, such as R600, which are characterized by explosion hazard, so it will not be superfluous to air them.

By doing this, you can safely wait for your technician and entrust your technique to his experienced hands. How do you know that a tube has been punctured? So, you have a punctured freezer San Diego. What can I do? How do you know if it is just plastic or a tube? Tighten your ears first:

Have you heard hissing? Surely the evaporator is punctured and freon gas is escaping from the system.
If you can’t hear any sounds, but after defrosting, you notice that the products have become worse cooled – the leakage still occurred. The refrigerator with two compressors will fail, the freezer with one will fail, and both compartments will fail. The models with sound alarms will alert you to a problem with a characteristic squeak or flashing light on the control panel.

How do professionals fix the problem

There are two traditional solutions to the problem if a user punches a hole in the evaporator of his refrigerator. Below is the order of work done by professionals, if you do not have the proper experience or tool, it is better not to be amateur.

Repair with sealing pencil (LA-CO). This fixture quickly seals small punctures, cracks and sharp objects.
Replacement of evaporator. This method is needed for serious or multiple punctures of the freezer.

Also, instead of replacing the entire evaporator in some cases, it is possible to repair a puncture in the old evaporator. For this purpose, the puncture place is cleaned and degreased, and then the surface is heated and solder applied. Then, such actions are performed:

Replacing the old filter-drier. The part is cut off and replaced by a new one.
Removal of moisture from the contour. If water has entered the system, the master removes it with a vacuum pump.

Airtightness check. To check the quality of work, the circuit is supplied with overpressure one and a half times higher than the working pressure.
Vacuuming of the unit. Using vacuum pump and Shredder valve, the master removes excess air from the circuit.
Refrigerant filling. Armed with special equipment and tools, the master fills the system with freon of the appropriate brand. By checking the volume of freon introduced by a manometer or cylinder check weighing, a specialist pumps into the system the exact volume of required gas.
Completion of works, quality control.

Useful tips for users When defrosting the freezer, you don’t have to pick ice with a knife. If you don’t want to wait 24 hours, but don’t really want to pierce the evaporator, take a note of our recommendations:

To speed up your camera’s defrost, you can put a hot water container on the shelf (on a plate). Change the water as it cools down. Evaporating the hot water will speed up the process several times.
You can put a rubber water bottle in your freezer to speed up defrosting.
Do not use a hair dryer or fan heater as this is extremely unsafe.

Now you know what to do if you accidentally managed to pierce the wall of the camera (evaporator). The main thing is not to panic and take care of your technique.