True T49 commercial refrigerator

Guy stopped by my place a few months ago and asked if I would be interested in a commercial food service refrigerator. It belonged to a church that he did maintanence work for. He said they would like a donation for it, and suggested $40. I wrote them a check for $75. They purchased a new one after they were informed this one would need a new compressor. Being 11 years old they just decided not to spend $500 to fix it. I honestly didn't know much about them but figured I could sell it outright for well above scrap value. I've seen similar ones sell on ebay, needing a compressor, for $300+. And that's what I was going to do. But after seeing it sitting in my shop for months I've thought maybe it would be worth repairing to sell.

Anyone run across something like this? Part of me thinks, get what you can the way it sits. Then I see ones sell for well over a grand that don't look this good. One way or the other this 50cf, 500lb beast needs to move...it takes up a ton of space.

I get some big units on occasion but the requirement is that they be evacuated of freon before being released to me so I'm never quite sure what the issue is and don't have the space to store them. If I can't find a local restaurant equipment company that wants it I go after the easy parts like shelves and their supports, hinges and handles, then off to the crusher.

01GTB:
I recently was given a commercial grade "Fudge Machine" Before it met its demise I called and called, googled me buns off. But to get to the end result. I was given the name of a local restaurant equipment company. These places sold everything restaurant related. Grills, freezers, trays, warmers, ovens etc.. You name it they stocked it- and it was all used equipment. I ended up selling a broken (motor seized) "fudge kettle" for $200 bucks. I got far more than scrap value off of it.. and I figured $200 off a freebie was a pretty good day! I'm certain your fridge would fetch far more!

You can read the whole thread here if interested. Good luck with whatever you decide.
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/day-l...e-machine.html

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Originally Posted by 01GTB

Guy stopped by my place a few months ago and asked if I would be interested in a commercial food service refrigerator. It belonged to a church that he did maintanence work for. He said they would like a donation for it, and suggested $40. I wrote them a check for $75. They purchased a new one after they were informed this one would need a new compressor. Being 11 years old they just decided not to spend $500 to fix it. I honestly didn't know much about them but figured I could sell it outright for well above scrap value. I've seen similar ones sell on ebay, needing a compressor, for $300+. And that's what I was going to do. But after seeing it sitting in my shop for months I've thought maybe it would be worth repairing to sell.



Anyone run across something like this? Part of me thinks, get what you can the way it sits. Then I see ones sell for well over a grand that don't look this good. One way or the other this 50cf, 500lb beast needs to move...it takes up a ton of space.

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How do you know it needs a compressor? One in three compressors returned to the factory for replacement were NDF (no defect found) and that is from a tech checking it (not a good one but good ones are hard to find). The only way really to know if it is truly bad is to run a megger/hi-pot on it to check the winding which is never done. I would pull out the mulit meter and check the system to confirm it's a bad compressor.

I was just going by what the guy with the church told me. It crossed my mind that it could have been something other than the compressor.

I would definitely find a tech that knows what they're doing. A few years back a guy called about a True freezer I had, to replace his. According to his guy the compressor or something was bad. I ended up trading my freezer for his old one, plus a few firearms. With the firearms value the freezer was almost free.

Took the freezer to a tech. I don't recall exactly what it was, but it was simple, and about $180 bucks I think. Flipped it for $1,500.

True makes pretty solid equipment and it's probably worth repairing, or at least getting it looked at.

I would foe certainly get it looked at by someone who you can trust. I still do a little hvacr and been called a few time on a compressor replacement and found it to be a switch or overload. I'm just to honest to hose anyone. so have it checked outed out. just my 2 cents

I've found a faulty thermostat was an issue a lot in these. It's easy to check. There should be two wires connected to the thermostat. Just connect them together and see if the compressor turns on and cools the fridge down after you plug the unit back in.

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Originally Posted by tski72

I would foe certainly get it looked at by someone who you can trust. I still do a little hvacr and been called a few time on a compressor replacement and found it to be a switch or overload. I'm just to honest to hose anyone. so have it checked outed out. just my 2 cents

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You're not coming to Florida anytime soon, are you? LOL :)

I thought I'd revisit this thread since I was on my cell phone when I posted here last. Unless this thing is in pristine condition (super clean, and not physically damaged), I wouldn't bother with having it fixed...it's pretty old and that is taken into consideration when restaurants are buying equipment. It could take awhile to recoup your costs in repairs. Sell parts off of it. Does it have casters? If so, you can get $40-50 for those. Vent grill, any switches, shelves, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tski72

I would foe certainly get it looked at by someone who you can trust. I still do a little hvacr and been called a few time on a compressor replacement and found it to be a switch or overload. I'm just to honest to hose anyone. so have it checked outed out. just my 2 cents

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The list of stupid things goes on and on. If it's low on freon it won't start, if the capacitor is bad, if the fan is bad it won't run (over heat and shut off), if the relay is bad, if the thermostat is bad, any one of a number of wires could have got "pinched" and shorted against the metal, a wire could be broken, the blade connectors at the compressor could be bad, the compress could just be stuck (you just wack it on the top right or left with a hammer), voltage could be irregular, the compressor could need a hard start, and I'm just getting started. These are all simple things you can check yourself.

Bust out a multi meter...........

Make sure you have power at the compressor,

Then ohm your compressor

HVAC Ohming Compressor Windings - YouTube

It's a very simple place to start.

I have scrapped hunreds of fridge compressors & theres only been four or five faulty compressors.

Theres been a few that did die because of rough handling when its been shifted, or its been shifted on its side & the mounting springss