Glenco-Star Freezer Problem

[Caitedid]

Hoping someone here will have some ideas to try out before we call somebody in. Last week we purchased a 3 door Glenco freezer, which was holding at 0 when we purchased it. It was at 0 when I put product in it, but later got up to 35, causing things to thaw. With some fiddling I got the temp to drop again, but it was up today when I checked it again. The temp knob is broken off, so I'm having to guess which way to turn it to make it colder. Any chance that it's a problem in the defrost/energy saver setting or condenser drain? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, as we already lost about $500 in product, and have a fair bit of cash tied up in this thing. Thanks!

[agmantoo]

Caitedid
I cannot tell you how to repair the unit but can share a few things to look for.

Since the unit was cold at the seller's place and initially at your place I take it for granted that the freon fill was good. It is possible that a solder joint fractured or a line cracked during the move and now the freon charge is low. When this happens the evaporation unit will freeze over with ice on on side so you could look at that.

Where the freezer is located can impact its performance. Small motors that power timers/defrosters do collect lint and dust and if cold ambient conditions may slow down of stop working.

Improper circulation around the condenser fins can hinder the efficiency of the unit and the freezer may not be able to lower the temperature.

Leaking gaskets and excessive amounts of product can cause the unit to be erratic or too warm.

Here are a few things I would check or do.

Check to see that the unit is setting level.
Have the freezer in a location similar to where it was working temperature wise.

Take the model number and look up the defroster knob on the internet. View the knob and determine the direction to turn the setting.

Get a 2nd thermometer and verify what is happening, keep and log of time.

Clean all coils and fins and small synchronous motors and using a syringe and hypo needle lube the motors.

Check the voltage to the freeze at the freezer. Do not use an extension cord.

If the above fails then you will need a hands on person with some test equipment to ID the cause.

[arabian knight]

Also make sure the unit has enough space in the back so that the sir can circulate for the compressor, if not the compressor gets hot and will not cool properly, my friends have lots of trouble like that on their soda machines, and food machines as well.
They place a 2 x 6 down so the machines are far enough away from the wall to get air flow to the compressor. Dust is also a killer on cooling. Maybe moving it the dust moved some and fell more on the cooling "fins".

[agmantoo]

What was the outcome?