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Frequently Asked Questions About Domestic Refrigerator Repair:

System leaked now oil is pungent

Hi, Fridge Doc, I have a problem with my fridge and I was wondering if you can help. My fridge is a 437 Liters automatic cycle defrost Simpson(Australian product). I got it second hand about one and half years ago in Sydney, Australia. It has been working ok. But three days ago, I noticed some unusual smell in the fridge while it was defrosting. The next day, when I came home from work, I found the fridge has completed defrosting – there was little ice remain in the freezer and the motor was running. So I switched the fridge off and removed the rest of ice with my hands. About ten minutes later, when I opened the freezer, I found some brown liquid came out from the bottom of the freezer, it was oily and smelled very strong. Then I realized it was not defrosting but leaking. I tried to wipe the liquid out but it kept on coming out. End up I had to leave a sponge on the aluminum. A few hours later, the leaking stopped and I can see a tiny hole in the aluminum.

I guess this is the kind of case you mentioned in the article about a pungent oily odor.

I'm not sure if this can be fixed(eg. by some special glue can fill up a little hole in the aluminum in icy condition and won't cause any chemical reactions with the brown liquid underneath the aluminum). On the other hand I guess the fridge needs to be re gassed.

I know little about how a fridge works and I was wondering if you can kindly let me know what needs to be done to fix the problem. Thanks and regards,

Oh oh. Sounds to me that your fridge is terminal.

Refrigeration oil, the substance that is oozing out, is clear and odorless but when oxygen gets inside the hermetic system the windings of the motor inside the compressor burn and taint the refrigeration oil. When this happens the oil becomes brown and pungent and is an indication of burnt compressor windings, so now we know the compressor itself is damaged also.

Also, when a hole is in the freezer box, the low side runs in a vacuum and sucks water and moisture in as well the oxygen. Not good.

So what you have is a burnt compressor, moisture throughout the inside of the system, and a hole in the freezer box so you might need a new one of those as well. We used to patch them here in Canada but I'm not sure if you can in Australia. My experience is that a patch, no matter how well it's done, will eventually leak again after about two years.

I have repaired systems in this condition but in most cases I would say you might as well get a different one. Sorry to give you the bad news and hope this helps.