HELP Haier home kegerator

[tmcgill]

I purchased a Haier home kegerator and have used it for months. It has been freezing up (and I have read this seems to happen to most with these units as they appear to be crap). While removing the thick layer of ice I put a small hole in the back plate, cold plate causing a leak of coolant.

Estimates for repair were VERY high. So, is this unit now a throw away as it now has a hole and a coolant leak?

If it is a throw away, suggestions for a replacement, should I use the Haier components to customize a standard freezer into my new kegerator? Sudsbuddy unit? Perliter unit? Other suggestions?

HELP as I am a rookie at this stuff but truly want my life back enjoying the suds from my bar tap!!

signed,

Confused

[alphaking]

i am in no way a pro here and this may not be good advice, but i would think of draining the coolant, sealing the hole with some jb weld (or something used with pluming), have the coolant refilled and sell it in used but working condition.
now that may cost more than you will recover selling it, so on the other hand buy a true tdd-1 or a beverage air and never worry about it again. i bought my tdd-1 for $250. since then i replaced all hardware with stainless steel from micromatic and new lines($250), called some fridge guys out to give it a check up($100). i would recommend buying new, but if you cant afford it find a used one. so far ive spent $600 on mine. and as of yesterday had to do some work on it due to rust from a damaged drain tube. but overall i am glad i bought a true and am confident it will serve me for years to come. i definately recommend either of the two.
chris

[tmcgill]

I was told by the service company that it is a sealed unit and to fill the coolant would be a high service cost item even if I sealed the pin hole.

Does that make sense to you? They mentioned a couple hundred bucks in service labor alone. His comment was these Haiers are pretty much throw away units as it is sealed and much soldering etc. has to happen with any repair.

[shuggy]

Originally Posted by tmcgill

I was told by the service company that it is a sealed unit and to fill the coolant would be a high service cost item even if I sealed the pin hole.

Does that make sense to you? They mentioned a couple hundred bucks in service labor alone. His comment was these Haiers are pretty much throw away units as it is sealed and much soldering etc. has to happen with any repair.

The service company is correct. I'm surprised that they even entertained the offer to fix it.

You will be better served going a different avenue as your Haier is a dead-end road.

Being that you already have all the parts I would suggest the conversion route. Just remember that if you use a freezer like you had mentioned you will likely need to get a temp controller of some sort to keep your system from freezing.

[chadschloss78]

the danby unit i bought from my buddy was serviced by their reps. they attached a triangle looking thing on the freon line which taps the line kind of like a valve you attach to your water lines to hook up an icemaker. then they pull out all the old stuff, have a vacuum in the system and insert more refridgerant. i just think the people you called dont want to work on it.. i'd call someone else. why throw it away when all it needs is freon??

[psychodad]

I agree, a good appliance repair shop should be able to make this repair. Tapping into a sealed system is a common thing.

[shuggy]

It's not a matter of not being able to make the repair. The repair is certainly doable. It's the matter of the cost involved. I had called repair shops for a sealed system compact fridge repair and the quotes I got were more than what the item cost new anyways. For the same price of the repair tmcgill is likely to be able to do a conversion using the available parts and have a more reliable unit which in the long run makes more sense.