nail hole in a/c coil
Chris Krahe
baluster, nail first, into the side of my Carrier A/C unit (about 3
inches from the ground, near the center of the front). Smooth. Within
about 15 minutes the freon was out (i.e. I could no longer hear it
fissssssssssing). That might give you an idea of the hole's size I
suppose.
The unit is a 6 year old Carrier 38TRA036330.
Can something like this be repaired?
thanks in advance,
Chris Krahe
Ellicott City, Maryland
Dave L.
Sounds more like what an electrician would do. Mounting a disconnect box.
Sure it can be fixed, the hole has to be located, the aluminum fins scraped away
and then the hole brazed with silfos. The small section of damaged coil will
cripple the capacity, but not too much one would hope.
All of the above can be done by a refrigeration tradesman, maybe 3 to 6 hours on
site.
Don't try it yourself, explosions and such can result.
Dave
In article <d27d0064.02041...@posting.google.com>, ch...@krahe.org
basil...@zotnet.net
>A week ago I was tearing down my deck and carelessly knocked a
>baluster, nail first, into the side of my Carrier A/C unit (about 3
>inches from the ground, near the center of the front). Smooth. Within
>about 15 minutes the freon was out (i.e. I could no longer hear it
>fissssssssssing). That might give you an idea of the hole's size I
>suppose.
>
>The unit is a 6 year old Carrier 38TRA036330.
>
>Can something like this be repaired?
Yes. Depending on the construction of your condenser coil (how the
tubing is plumbed through the coil) you may loose a little or a lot of
capacity by removing the condensing fins to patch the hole.
Cropping out the fins and the bad section of tubing and then soldering
in a new section of tubing is an option.
A good refrigeration technician should be able to fix this fairly
easily. Hopefully, you turned off the power to the unit and have not
let it run without the refrigerant in it.
Your system once repaired will have to be pressure tested using
Nitrogen or other inert gas and then pulled to a deep vacuum and then
finally recharged with the right refrigerant and oil if any was lost.
Neon John
>A week ago I was tearing down my deck and carelessly knocked a
>baluster, nail first, into the side of my Carrier A/C unit (about 3
>inches from the ground, near the center of the front). Smooth. Within
>about 15 minutes the freon was out (i.e. I could no longer hear it
>fissssssssssing). That might give you an idea of the hole's size I
>suppose.
>
>The unit is a 6 year old Carrier 38TRA036330.
>
>Can something like this be repaired?
Sure. You can either braze the hole shut or epoxy it shut. I've had equally
good success with both processes. To braze, simply cut away enough fins so
that you can get in with a micro-torch (a tiny oxy-propane torch) to braze it.
Works equally well with aluminum or copper coils.
HVAC supply houses sell epoxy repair kits. I've had success with industrial
repair epoxy like Dexter Epoxi-patch. Don't waste your time on the 5 minute
stuff - too weak. The area around the hole must be thoroughly degreased. The
epoxy is applied to the hole and then a light vacuum is pulled on the system
to pull the epoxy through the hole a bit where it expands out and forms a
mechanical lock as well as adhesive bond. Either heat the epoxy to ~225
degrees after it gels to speed the cure or leave it for a couple of days.
Then evacuate and recharge the system normally.
If the condenser is copper and you choose to braze, use Sil-phos. No flux
required so there's no problem with flux contamination.
John
---
John De Armond
johngdDO...@bellsouth.com
http://personal.bellsouth.net/~johngd
Cleveland, Occupied TN