charge chest freezer

[Karl Townsend]

I'd ask over on the HVAC forum, but I got my head bit off last time.

We have a 21 cuft commercial chest freezer. Quit working. My neighbor
was over last night and put on a pierce style fill fitting and put in
a couple oz R134a. Got -27 deg F this morning. So, all unit needs is a
bit of refrigerant.

Pressure reading on low side is -15 in HG. Any educated guess on what
low side pressure i should fill to?

Second question, my neigbor said R134a is a blended refrigerant so you
need to have can upside down to put in liquid. This can be a problem
slugging a small system. On all my R12 and R22 systems I've just let
the compressor suck in vapor off the top. Is it really necessary to
have can upside down?

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

Karl Townsend <karltown...@emmarqmail.com> fired this volley in
news:snltmap96ihdugk6s...@4ax.com:

> my neigbor said R134a is a blended refrigerant so you
> need to have can upside down to put in liquid.

That part isn't true for 134A. Many manufacturers recommend charging gas
rather than liquid, even on systems requiring much less total charge than
the capacity of the dispensing container.

He might have confused 'lube cans' containing both refrigerant and
compressor oil.

Also, Karl, almost all refrigerators and freezers specify ONLY charging
on the high-side, while the compressor is OFF. That often requires
warming the can -- up to 120F.

Charges are typically small. An 18cu.ft. combo might take only 6-8oz
total charge. If you cannot observe the frosting of the coils, it makes
more sense to 'recover' the old charge, and use weigh-charging to get it
right.

Lloyd

[Karl Townsend]

Thanks for the reply. Good to know I can charge conventionally.

I'm sure you're right for new installs. I don't own the equipment to
do recover/weigh/recharge.

I now have a system that leaks. Need to check with it running to a
set pressure number and see how much add to get back to there on a
regular basis.

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

Karl Townsend <karltown...@emmarqmail.com> fired this volley in

news:7potma9ebpngammgl...@4ax.com:

> I now have a system that leaks. Need to check with it running to a
> set pressure number and see how much add to get back to there on a
> regular basis.

???
Why not find the leak, and repair it?

Lloyd

[Karl Townsend]

>> I now have a system that leaks. Need to check with it running to a
>> set pressure number and see how much add to get back to there on a
>> regular basis.
>
>???
>Why not find the leak, and repair it?
>
>Lloyd

This work above my pay grade. If the unit leaks too much, toss it and
buy a new one.

[rangerssuck]

For $18 and a few minutes' work, you could find your leak and save yourself the trouble of future refills. http://goo.gl/dQnN6s

[gerald...@yahoo.ca]

That's the way I figured with my 23 year old A/C system - why bother
finding the first leak?
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

If it leaks, find the leak and fix it , or replace it. It is ilegal
to charge a system without testing it and repairing any leaks.

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

And for a few more bucks you can put in a sealer and fix the leak
(better than 50-50 chance of the sealer working - but don't expect to
discharge and recharge in the future - it's a "last ditch" attempt. If
it doesn't last, you ditch it.

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

cl...@snyder.on.ca fired this volley in
news:p58vma961ep0shq24...@4ax.com:

> And for a few more bucks you can put in a sealer and fix the leak
> (better than 50-50 chance of the sealer working - but don't expect to
> discharge and recharge in the future - it's a "last ditch" attempt. If
> it doesn't last, you ditch it.
>

Don't expect the 'goo' sealers to positively affect capillary-tube
systems. They tend to seal up those parts, too.

I'm not a 'scrounge', generally, but when folks up and down my road throw
out reefers or window ACs, I will generally pick them up and dismantle
for parts -- just to have them around for family or near-neighbors'
problems. It costs me nothing but the trouble to 're-dispose' of the
same junk the next day.

A mile-up neighbor tossed an 18 cu.ft. Whirlpool reefer (about 6 yr old)
yesterday. I trailered it to the barn, and today had to go back hat in
hand, and offer it back to her -- working. 'Seems she'd gotten ripped-
off by an unscrupulous repair outfit who sold her a new one because "the
compressor was fried" in this one.

Well... it was... but not so badly that simply replacing the run cap
didn't fix it up fine. $8.58 + $4.50 s/h for a new one, delivered
tomorrow. In the meanwhile, the 'scrap' replacement cap is running it
just fine. (that's what the salvaged parts are FOR! <G>)

I hate it when folks get taken like that. The lady was nice, told me
"thanks", and said to keep it. So now daughter gets a nice clean working
fridge about twice the size of her little apartment job. A $13
replacement fridge in really nice condition with all the toys. <shrug>

Lloyd

[Larry Jaques]

On Wed, 03 Jun 2015 20:51:49 -0400, cl...@snyder.on.ca wrote:

>On Wed, 3 Jun 2015 05:08:33 -0700 (PDT), rangerssuck
><range...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 7:52:46 AM UTC-4, Karl Townsend wrote:
>>> >> I now have a system that leaks. Need to check with it running to a
>>> >> set pressure number and see how much add to get back to there on a
>>> >> regular basis.
>>> >
>>> >???
>>> >Why not find the leak, and repair it?
>>> >
>>> >Lloyd
>>>
>>> This work above my pay grade. If the unit leaks too much, toss it and
>>> buy a new one.
>>
>>For $18 and a few minutes' work, you could find your leak and save yourself the trouble of future refills. http://goo.gl/dQnN6s

Those usually don't work -after- all the magic coolant has leaked out.

> And for a few more bucks you can put in a sealer and fix the leak
>(better than 50-50 chance of the sealer working - but don't expect to
>discharge and recharge in the future - it's a "last ditch" attempt. If
>it doesn't last, you ditch it.

That's (usually) only good if the compressor hasn't been damaged by
loss of coolant and oil, when you catch it on the way down rather than
after it's blowing warm. But it's a chance. When mine truly goes TU
(I replaced the start/run cap a few years ago), I'll replace it with
whatever system + new refrigerant they use. Mine's an old R22 system
and will have to be completely swapped out. ChaCHING!

--
It takes as much energy to wish as to plan.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

[rangerssuck]

I'm no expert, but I think you can just add NU22 to an R22 system without swapping out all the hardware or even doing a purge.