Yoder Loop Leak diagnostics

[braebyrn]

My wife had me pick up a free LG LFD25860ST French Door model that she liked.  I cleaned the dirty condensor coils and fan and called my neighbor.  My neighbor is an appliance repair guy and said it was low on refrigerant and charged it up.  It worked for 6 days then stopped.  We used a sniffer and after no alarms, pulled out the tank of nitrogen and a bottle of soapy water.  Still didn't find anything.  He said I could try to find it with a stethoscope and some patience. 

Can someone give me a better idea where the lines might be other than some stock photo of a "Yoder Loop" fridge?  I spent almost 2 hours and think I have pinpointed it on the side of the cabinet almost to the section between the fridge and freezer horizontal area.

The neighbor suggested to bypass the Yoder Loop but there might be some condensation that forms on the area near the doors, but he wasn't sure it would do that much.  

Any other suggestions on trying to pinpoint a refrigerant leak?  I didn't ask him about the dye and a UV light to see the leak, but I read something that this refrigerator uses a linear compressor and there is not much oil in the system or something like that? 

 

 

[braebyrn]

 

[Ryan Thomas]

A leak in the yoder loop is pretty much game over. LG makes a dye drier that can be installed to pinpoint the leak.

https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Filter-Drier/ADH73150206/3191623?TLSID=1779&Ref=611198&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9aH1j-HZ4QIVBNbACh3U_wasEAQYASABEgJsG_D_BwE

[certified tech group 51]

Remove the stile heater /  yoder loop out of  the system and  Install the Frigidaire heater... ..Part number 5303918222.........May take some creative electrical wiring to fit an LG...........................I have a new one in my hands as I type...

[braebyrn]

On 4/18/2019 at 6:37 AM, Ryan Thomas said:

A leak in the yoder loop is pretty much game over. LG makes a dye drier that can be installed to pinpoint the leak.

https://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Filter-Drier/ADH73150206/3191623?TLSID=1779&Ref=611198&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9aH1j-HZ4QIVBNbACh3U_wasEAQYASABEgJsG_D_BwE

Ryan,  Thanks.

My neighbor offered to put one in and showed me just what you you posted, but I told him I was determined (stubborn) to find the leak.  He has the LokRing fittings and installation tool and said it would be a quick fix if I located it.  

Did I mention that the top of the freezer liner was sagging.  Is it possible that the leaking refrigerant is having an effect on the glue holding it up? 

There is also a bulge in the plastic on the inside of the refrigerator right where I heard some low frequency noise with the stethoscope.  Right next to that it looks like there is a rectangle area that is sunken.  The neighbor came over and thinks that is where the leak is and the hot gasses melted the plastic and bulged it out.  We went to Lowe's to look and see if any of the LG fridges had any defects like I just described with the bulge and we couldn't find any of coarse the fridge I have is years old.

I was thinking of unplugging the condenser fan and firing it up again to test this theory.....heat up the refrigerant line and feel it if it is getting hot in that spot?  Maybe drill a small hole and put in the sniffer?  Bad idea?  The hole would be small enough to plug with a plastic plug maybe if it didn't show a leak?

[braebyrn]

21 hours ago, certified tech group 51 said:

Remove the stile heater /  yoder loop out of  the system and  Install the Frigidaire heater... ..Part number 5303918222.........May take some creative electrical wiring to fit an LG...........................I have a new one in my hands as I type...

CTG51, Thanks for the info!

That sounds like it would NOT be fun trying to dig into the sealed case.  Unless someone can tell me that it can come apart to install one?  Maybe I could see the Yoder loop if I knew how to disassemble the front where the Yoder loop is?

[Vance R]

Yoder loop is foamed into cabinet when the liner is installed. If you live in a non humid area just bypass yoder loop and wipe down the gasket area to keep mold from forming. The heater kit is you next option. 

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[certified tech group 51]

for the Frigidaire replacement heater, it is a real small wire type heater... You cut the  yoder loop tubing, suck in a small string and pull the heater from one end to the other end of the loop, ( it is removed from the flow of refrigerant).........You would have installed a small piece of tube to bypass the yoder loop..........Small Test..You can remove the yoder loop out of the system, install a piece of tube to replace the loop and recharge the system, Still leak???.....

[braebyrn]

On 4/19/2019 at 7:45 PM, Vance R said:

Yoder loop is foamed into cabinet when the liner is installed. If you live in a non humid area just bypass yoder loop and wipe down the gasket area to keep mold from forming. The heater kit is you next option. 

 

 

On 4/24/2019 at 4:16 PM, certified tech group 51 said:

for the Frigidaire replacement heater, it is a real small wire type heater... You cut the  yoder loop tubing, suck in a small string and pull the heater from one end to the other end of the loop, ( it is removed from the flow of refrigerant).........You would have installed a small piece of tube to bypass the yoder loop..........Small Test..You can remove the yoder loop out of the system, install a piece of tube to replace the loop and recharge the system, Still leak???.....

Thanks Folks!  I found the Yoder leak today.  It is at the base and face of the cabinet right next to where the front leveling leg attaches.  I noticed a little rust color between where the plastic and metal freezer section meet and then took a closer look with the sniffer.  Bingo.  Not sure why I didn't pick that up before.   The refrigerant tube you can see coming down from the top of the picture and curving down to the left and it is Small for sure.   Will see if the neighbor would attempt to fix it with his handy dandy LokRing fittings and tool or maybe the good old fashioned way of a brazing repair.  Attached is a picture of the leaking section.   

[Frigid-Air]

Did you ever get this sorted out?  How?

[braebyrn]

Yes it got sorted out with my neighbor coming over, cutting out the 12" rusted section and brazing in new copper tubing.  After we evacuated and charged the system, it's been working flawlessly. 

It was not especially easy getting to that section, because it is not designed to be take apart like I did.  The sheet metal and the foam are very well attached together, but after a bit of digging, and a bit of bending the sheet metal, it can be done.  I just bent it back into place and it looks fine now.  The bent metal was under the refrigerator on the bottom, so it is not visible if your wondering.

[Jonathan Ayala]

Sorry to be coming in late on this but can one install his own Yoder loop? I’ve been seeing more of these lately.