Fridge Repair help

I may have accidentally killed my mini fridge. I was busting up ice last night and my fridge started making a weird noise, then it started putting out a terrible odor. It's not a burning smell, more like a chemical smell. It's not cooling any more either but it's definitely on and running.

I'm going to open up the back today. Any thoughts on what I should be looking for?


@bmf4069 aren't you an electrician? Help me

 

Forgot to post pics. I may have bumped that white tube.

 

AC refrigerant has a chemical, sweet smell. You busted a refrigerant line. Cheaper to just buy a whole new fridge.

 

Bummer. Most likely the white line that runs up from the bottom there?

 

Yep. The temp sensor is telling the compressor to kick on but there’s nothing to circulate. The refrigerant also lubes and cools the compressor. It will just burn up without refrigerant. By the time you take the thing apart and replace the line, pull vac and fill with new refrigerant, you could have bought a new $50 mini fridge lol

 

Lesson learned. The weird thing is that the line looks intact. It's not loose or punctured. It's like it came loose down below, where I can't see.

 

Probably broke it at the fitting. It’s most likely cheap, thin copper tubing with a compression fitting. Doesn’t take much to break it at the connection.

 

I'm with danman on this one. But just be be sure, hit it w/some 240 to make sure it's dead.

 

She's dead Jim...sad day.

 

Freon is oily and you should have heard a loud hiss due to the high pressure. The 3/8 in plastic tube going to the top should be the drain tube for the defrost cycle.

 

Yeah. I realized what I did. While scraping the ice I punched a hole in the paper thin ice tray. I had no idea refrigerant ran through that thing. Really careless move on my part.

Guess who is buying a new fridge now?

 

Your "sealed" system is no longer a "sealed" system...

 

No need to confirm it's DOA but get a smoke tube from Amazon and use it as a cold smoker. Cheeses and nuts.

 

Ha! I took out 2 mini fridges at work puncturing the thin ice tray with a hammer and chisel. It’s ridiculous how easy it punctures. It’s like made from aluminum foil. Second time I knew how easy it was to puncture and still did it again.