1/8 plate frosted--troubleshooting

[Matt Holmes]

"I purchased and successfully installed the 1M kit about 6 months ago. The past two days I had the icebox turned off so I could install shelving for organization. I turned it back on last night and the compressor ran 12 straight hours to get the fridge down to temperature. Less than 1/8 of the evaporator plate frosted over.My initial reaction would be that there is insufficient refrigerant caused by a slow leak somewhere.However, could I have damaged the evaporator plate during my construction project? Could this be a symptom of a damaged plate? Or perhaps I did not notice the condition before the past few days, and my recent project drew attention to it?much thanks,mattsyzygy v40 #201www.syzygysailing.com"

[Forum Tech]

"Matt,It sounds like your system is low on refrigerant. If the leak is worse while the system is off, the leak is probably on the suction side of the system. With only 1/8 of the evaporator frosted, the suction pressure is probably in a vacuum, indicating more refrigerant is required. Any evaporator damage should be noticeable. Unless there is a puncture, it should be OK. Severe bending might cause problems, but that would be fairly obvious as well. Hope this helps,Forum Tech"

[Matt Holmes]

"thanks for the hints, I now suspect it is a slow leak that either I am just now noticing, or else got much worse after the system came up to room temp while I was doing the storage project. if the leak is on the suction side, is it sucking air into the system now? And do I need to be worried about the amount of moisture that has been sucked into the system? What if I just top it off with refrigerant and let it run? How many times can I top it off with refrigerant (the leak must be very very slow) before I have to worry about fixing the leak and vacuuming it down entirely to get rid of moisture?much thanks!matt"

[Forum Tech]

"Matt,Yes, it may be sucking air into the system. The longer the suction pressure is allowed to be in a vacuum, the more air will be introduced into the system. As long as the leak exists, things will be going downhill. When enough water vapor has been taken in and the filter/drier becomes saturated, then the moisture will combine with the oil and create acidic compounds that cannot be removed without removing the oil, and these acidic properties in the oil will begin to attack the motor windings inside the compressor. And, the cap tube end will become blocked with ice, so cooling will be unreliable.How many times can it be topped off? A few, but the problem is only going to get worse if the leak isn't fixed.I encourage you to find and fix the leak, before problems increase.Best wishes,Forum Tech"