"Toby" wrote in message
...
Hello!

I have been given a freezer (Hotpoint FZ150) that wasn't working properly,
(after being turned on for a while, it would lock out and alarm because it
was not getting cold enough) - it had the signs of low refrigerant, so I
bought a set of gauges, and that confirmed it was indeed extremely low,
pulling down to about 18inHg on the suction side when running.

So, I bought some R600a refrigerant and then used an old freezer
compressor to vacuum the system out (after venting what little R600a there
was outside (As it is just butane, this is OK, apparently) The old
compressor got it down to just over 20inHg, which I was happy with for a
DIY job :-)

My question is, how do I know if there is enough refrigerant in the system
if I check it at a later date without having to wait for it to be so low
it stops cooling and alarms? I weighed in the amount it stated I needed on
the data plate, but if it does need topping up at a later date (which I
assume is likely if there is a small leak somewhere (which I will try to
find)) then how do I tell how much is in there at any given time?

Is it to do with the pressure on the suction side when the compressor is
running? (It is working fine now by the way)

Thanks for any pointers :-)

How did you recharge it?