Just found out that my freezer (Subzero 561) is running much warmer than I thought. It was going today at about 26F on a medium (5.5) setting when I thought it'd be much colder than that based on previous (casual) observation. It is probably fairly recent as in a day or 2 as the icecream (mmmm.... black walnut!) was always hard as a rock in the past whereas it was soft yesterday which is what tipped me to check the temp.
So of course, I cleaned up the condenser which was not clogged up by any means but nevertheless fairly dusty. That does not seem to make a big difference.
But I saw something that may not be right, I don't know for sure, so I thought I'd ask. I noticed that the freezer compressor is much hotter than the fridge side compressor when both are running. As in 145F vs 115F per an IR thermometer. (Although the fridge comp is closer and directly exposed to the fan so that may have something to do with that.) The freezer one is about 50% bigger. Of course, it has to dissipate more heat but I would have thought they'd be sized so they run at similar temperatures. So, is it normal that the freezer compressor is so much hotter or is that an indication of a problem?
edit: found a bunch of oil in the drain pain so the heating loop there is likely leaking. So much for that... Would have to pull the big built-in out and tilt it to plug or replace the copper tube there. Plus R-12 expensive recharge. May not be worth it for such an old power hog.
So of course, I cleaned up the condenser which was not clogged up by any means but nevertheless fairly dusty. That does not seem to make a big difference.
But I saw something that may not be right, I don't know for sure, so I thought I'd ask. I noticed that the freezer compressor is much hotter than the fridge side compressor when both are running. As in 145F vs 115F per an IR thermometer. (Although the fridge comp is closer and directly exposed to the fan so that may have something to do with that.) The freezer one is about 50% bigger. Of course, it has to dissipate more heat but I would have thought they'd be sized so they run at similar temperatures. So, is it normal that the freezer compressor is so much hotter or is that an indication of a problem?
edit: found a bunch of oil in the drain pain so the heating loop there is likely leaking. So much for that... Would have to pull the big built-in out and tilt it to plug or replace the copper tube there. Plus R-12 expensive recharge. May not be worth it for such an old power hog.
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