Freezer making strange noise

[Francis Asis]

My freezer has recently started making a strange shrieking noise. It sounds like gas escaping and has actually set the smoke alarm off once or twice. I think its dangerously ill. Can anyone confirm this. I have, for now, emptied it and unplugged it. However it is still making the noise intermittantly.

[Clanad]

If it still makes the sound when unplugged, it's deffinitely the compressed gas escaping, probably through a split line. Pressure shouldn't last long now, but you need a service man to find and repair the leak.

[Francis Asis]

Thank you for answering Clanad. Could you tell me if the gas is dangerous or is it OK to carry on using the freezer until it dies completely? I don't want to get it repaired as I need a bigger one anyway and will probably use this opportunity to get a new one.

[wollock]

wont do the ozone layer a lot of good.

[Clanad]

If it's an older set, the gas is most likely Freon, which is inert. It may have an agent adding an odor so a leak could be detected. If it's a newer machine, I'm not familiar with the gas agent. If you're getting a leak that is producing the sound you're describing it will probably fail soon. Luck!

[Yinzer]

Freon may be inert but I read that it's one of the only things that our livers can't clear out of our bodies.

[cheyenne]

put it in the garden to be on the safe side?