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subzero refrigerator 561 cold at bottom warm at top

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Posted: Wed Jul 28th, 2010 10:50 pm

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DaveDr
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I'm having a similar recurring problem with a 561. Six years ago, the evaporator was replaced. I don't think it was leaking, but I was told that "the original evaporators were prone to icing". After the evap replacement, still wouldn't cool. A second tech came out and said the fan wasn't set to the right elevation. Should be 1 1/4" down. He reset the fan and things worked well for years. Now it isn't cooling anymore. I opened up as described in the above posts and observed the following.

1) looks like the fan may be 1/16" low. How do I loosen clamp on shaft to adjust?
2) The green wire is not attached to the temp controller.
3) there are two capillaries coming from the temp controller that seem to be placed differently than in the earlier photos. One capillary has a large metal bulb near the end that is clamped below the bottom of the evaporator. The other capillary has a thin end. It is protruding about 3-4 inches below the evaporator and was caked in ice.
4) The top half of the evaporator is caked with frost/ice uniformly from right to left.

Any suggestions? Can post photos if helpful.

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Posted: Wed Jul 28th, 2010 11:09 pm

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DaveDr wrote: 4) The top half of the evaporator is caked with frost/ice uniformly from right to left.

sounds like a leak, somewhere ..

yes, post photo

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Posted: Wed Jul 28th, 2010 11:21 pm

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DaveDr
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Here is the photo

Attachment: Iced evaporator.jpg (Downloaded 45 times)

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Posted: Thu Jul 29th, 2010 01:02 am

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RegUS_PatOff
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looks like a leak ...

defrost it with Hair Dryer and let the Compessor run for a hour or two..

The entire Evapoprator should be slightly, evenly, completely, frosted ..

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Posted: Thu Jul 29th, 2010 01:28 am

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DaveDr
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I defrosted and adjusted the fan position on the shaft per spec. Ran it over an hour with a setting of 5 (which used to be sufficient). Had only cooled to 58 degrees. Popped it open again and no frost has formed on the evaporator yet. Fan seems to be blowing well. Will check again once it is down to temp.

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 12:08 am

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DaveDr
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Here is a photo after running a day. If this indicates a leak, what are next steps? Evaporator was replaced in 2004.

Attachment: Evaporator After one day.jpg (Downloaded 24 times)

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 01:00 am

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must be a leak somewhere ...

was it the Fridge Evaporator that was replaced last time ?

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 01:42 am

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DaveDr
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Yes, the Fridge evaporator and temp control unit were replaced due to icing in 2004. I believe the freon charge was fine at the time, but the new style evaporator is supposed to resist icing relative to the original equipment.

"must be a leak somewhere". Are you saying that this ice pattern is consistent with low refrigerant charge?

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 02:40 am

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yes,

Evaporator was replaced, but didn't have the same (frost pattern) symptom you have now ?

... did you see him replace the Evaporator ?

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 02:45 am

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micgla
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Def. looks low on freon. I'd have it checked by a professional. By the looks of the evap, looks like the original style evap to me. Newer evaps you have to crimp the cold control probes to the back of the evap coil.

Leak could be anywhere...most likely evap but no way to tell unless you have it checked with leak detector or get lucky with bubbles. Run your finger over the drain trough below the evap coil (where the water drips in to the trough) do you see traces of any oil? If so, good indicator of leaky evap coil....

Last edited on Fri Jul 30th, 2010 02:47 am by micgla

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 04:31 am

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DaveDr
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No signs of oil in the trough below the evap.

This is fishy. I didn't "see" the evaporator replaced, but I was charged $100 parts and $250 labor. I also wasn't involved in the diagnosis. I don't know if they rechecked ice pattern after initial defrost with the old evap. I assumed there was some other way to detect if freon was low. They never said the old evaporator was leaking. They said there was a "known problem" with the old design, so I needed the "new" design.

In another 561 icing thread, SELFINC posted the following back in 2006:

"The problem with 90% of these I find & by the way, I am an authorized Sub Zero Servicer...... The evaporator is the problem. Made of copper & the replacement from a new vendor is not copper. Sub Zero is well aware of the problem. You most likely have an ice ball on the top left corner of the evap that grows out in to the refer compartment & then falls off. I learned the hard way that changing the drier & recharging only lasts 6 months to a year & then it re-occurs. You will need to replace the evaporator & make sure your part supplier is selling you new stock & not old, you dont want to put in another copper evap."

I read elsewhere that the evaporators that need to be crimped on the back are made of aluminum. The current part looks black in pictures I've seen. Including the pics earlier in this thread. The U-bends on my evaporator look like copper.

I don't understand why the earlier generation evaporators had more of a problem. Is a copper evap more likely to leak or some other problem?

Did the aluminum evap become available after April 2004 when my work was done?
Have there been three styles of evap since 1988?
Was my copper evap replaced with a new copper evap from old stock (so I really only got an expensive refrigerant recharge)?
etc....

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 02:31 pm

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52^nd Post

RegUS_PatOff
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DaveDr wrote: ... This is fishy. I didn't "see" the evaporator replaced, but I was charged $100 parts and $250 labor. ... They never said the old evaporator was leaking. They said there was a "known problem" with the old design, so I needed the "new" design....
Thre Evaporator is about $ 100,

Was there any part names or part numbers listed in the replacement "list" ?

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Posted: Fri Jul 30th, 2010 02:37 pm

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micgla
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DaveDr wrote: No signs of oil in the trough below the evap.

This is fishy. I didn't "see" the evaporator replaced, but I was charged $100 parts and $250 labor. I also wasn't involved in the diagnosis. I don't know if they rechecked ice pattern after initial defrost with the old evap. I assumed there was some other way to detect if freon was low. They never said the old evaporator was leaking. They said there was a "known problem" with the old design, so I needed the "new" design.

In another 561 icing thread, SELFINC posted the following back in 2006:

"The problem with 90% of these I find & by the way, I am an authorized Sub Zero Servicer...... The evaporator is the problem. Made of copper & the replacement from a new vendor is not copper. Sub Zero is well aware of the problem. You most likely have an ice ball on the top left corner of the evap that grows out in to the refer compartment & then falls off. I learned the hard way that changing the drier & recharging only lasts 6 months to a year & then it re-occurs. You will need to replace the evaporator & make sure your part supplier is selling you new stock & not old, you dont want to put in another copper evap."

I read elsewhere that the evaporators that need to be crimped on the back are made of aluminum. The current part looks black in pictures I've seen. Including the pics earlier in this thread. The U-bends on my evaporator look like copper.

I don't understand why the earlier generation evaporators had more of a problem. Is a copper evap more likely to leak or some other problem?

Did the aluminum evap become available after April 2004 when my work was done?
Have there been three styles of evap since 1988?
Was my copper evap replaced with a new copper evap from old stock (so I really only got an expensive refrigerant recharge)?
etc....

I would def. suggest calling a professional service company out to check your frig.

Not sure when they came out with the aluminum evaps as service replacements but its been at least some years.

I believe only 2 different evaps since 88.

Couldn't answer if your evap was old stock or not. You'd have to call orig. service company on that one.

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