I called the manufacturer, and got some guy in their technical department. He says the company has had several units converted from R12 to R134a in the past. He could not say how they have worked out, but he was able to say that the approach taken was to replace the compressor, flush out the rest of the system, put in a new filter and load it up with R134a. Having never done any refrigeration work myself (outside of a couple of late 80's Mercedes Benz), I have no idea how big an undertaking this is ($$$$$).

Cheers,
Werner

You diceision should be made based on wherther there is something special about this unit. Commercial refrigeration is easier to work on,esp parts replacement but service companies tend to gouage homeowners on the assumption they must have deep pockets since they have commercial equipment. Dealers only pay pennys on the dollar for used commercial kitchen equipment so if you have opertunity to bid on used equipment,you can replace cheaper than repair many times. If you simply want S.S. appliances,I reccomend buying used residential if your budget won't alow new. The main difference is the ability to recover and/or maintain tempature despite having door opening and closing in a hot room.

Find out how much power the refrigerator uses. It may factor into your decision.

It uses a standard 3 prong outlet, 11.8 amp/110v. I have a dedicated 20amp circuit already in place. Any idea what is a reasonable price to have a compressor replaced, and have it converted to R134a? It runs right now, but my guess, is that in the near future it will need serviced.

I am actually not fond of stainless steel. I was planning on eventually powder coating the panels and trim white to match the rest of the kitchen (apron sink, chambers stove, cabinets).

Cheers,
Werner