Maytag French Door Design Flaw

[tgoods]

I've identified a design flaw on Maytag french door and bottom mount fridges.  There is about an 8 inch length of high side tubing that runs through the drain pan.  I've seen four times in the last couple of months where the tubing has corroded through, leaked all the gas out and seized the compressor.  I've been painting the tubing that I replace, hoping that it will last longer.  What do you think about eliminating the tubing in the pan and installing a pan heater instead? The one I'm working on today is model MFI2569VEM.  It's four years old and only has a one year warranty on the sealed system.  They probably paid about $2500 for it, so they want it fixed.

[RegUS_PatOff]

... an 8 inch length of high side tubing that runs through the drain pan ...

1) planned obsolescence
2) lower government energy usage
a lot of fridges do that

 

[Bailey]

I wonder what would happen if you moved the tubing and didn't put a pan heater on it? I think it would work fine. I would try it. You can always put a heater on it later.

[RegUS_PatOff]

I wonder what would happen if you moved the tubing and didn't put a pan heater on it?

the Defrost drain water wouldn't evaporate, and would over-flow

[RAH52]

I've moved the line and it worked fine ...seen this problem many times .

[tgoods]

I wonder what would happen if you moved the tubing and didn't put a pan heater on it?

Hardwood floor, don't want to risk it.  If I lived in a dry climate, like Arizona, it would probably be fine.  It's too wet in the Pacific Northwest. I decided to go with painted tubing, a couple of coats of Rustoleum should keep it good for a while.

[Bailey]

I have also moved it when installing a compressor. I think there is enough heat generated by the condenser coil to evaporate the water. I have never had a call back for water on the floor.

[tgoods]

Well, I'm reminding myself why I quit sealed system work for so many years.  I've run into a problem and I'm not sure how to proceed.  I have a restriction.   If I stick my head in the freezer, every few minutes I can hear refrigerant moving but then it stops after a few seconds.  I knew I had water in the system because a bunch dripped out when I removed the filter/drier.  I flushed out as much as I could with dry nitrogen. Then I did a triple evacuation after I replaced the compressor and filter/drier.  My vacuum pump crapped out on me so got a pump at Harbor Freight (that's all I could find on a Saturday).  The new pump seems to be good, it pulls right down to 40 microns.  Problem is, it has different fittings than my old pump and I couldn't use my micron gauge while evacuating the system. So, I assume there's still some moisture in the system.  I used my last filter/drier but I can get another one to replace it tomorrow.  Do I need to replace the compressor again because the moisture has compromised the POE oil?

[tgoods]

This fridge has kicked my butt and I'm about ready to throw in the towel.  I replaced the filter/drier again.  I evacuated it for 9 hours in 3 sessions.  I'm still getting a floating restriction.  Need advice please.

[AJ]

Try heating up the evap coil when you have the vacuum pump on it to help get the moister out of it.

[tgoods]

I didn't heat the evaporator directly but I did crank my shop heat to 80, it was only 62 in there.  I think the mistake I made was not drying the system better before installing the compressor.  I did flush it with nitrogen but I should have evacuated it too.  I think the POE oil has absorbed too much water and won't release it.