Thread: One for the fridgies

A proper Fridgie would have vacuum pumped out the whole system so there was no doubt about the charge.

Don't rush the recharge but do keep an eye on the floodback to the Comp. An overcharge can kill the compressor as it can bugger up the internal valve gear & it may not pump..

As it has an electronic controller,not a constant cut in thermostat in the coil,if the charge is anywhere near what it should be you should be OK.

The ONLY way to tell for sure is disconnect the evap. fan and see where the frost line goes to,it should stop before the compresser.If it doesn't some of the refrigerant should be reclaimed to get the frost line correct,which can be tedious,and a PITA.

Or see how cold the compresser runs,even if frost line goes to compresser.If its not that cold,still has warm sump,just leave it.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Keep up the sharing of trade secrets, by you HVAC engineer blokes could end in you being asked to take out a Vendor sub..

No Ian, no money is changing hands with this free Voluntary service . Cuban Cigars ,Gold Watches, Diamonds & Racehorses maybe, but no dosh.
As if?

These are the electronic gauges they use these days,i think Rick said he has a set.They are bloody amazing.
I dontMy Imperial Eastman gauge set are going fine....
The boys have had a set each for a couple of years.

They are set up like normal gauge manifold,and have two pipe clamps with temp sensors in them.

IMG_2672-2

This pic shows pressures in PSI,and actual pipe temps,in this case compresser discharge and suction actual pipe temps.

IMG_2674

This pic shows system pressures and total system superheat(in K) as clamps are on pipes at compressor.

And at the push of a button again(i forgot to take a pic),it will give Saturated Suction temp, and condensing temperature as well.

This system is having issues,50K package AC unit,i caught one of the scroll compressors unloaded the other day,which is being caused by high discharge temps,only on hot days.After looking at the unit a few days later,and with a set of these fancy gauges,we found the discharge temp was up around 110 degrees,GAs charge full,superheat to high,TX is shagged.

I hate Alco TX valves

Oh,and the gauges can do heaps of other things as well,even blue tooth to your phone......
Rick may chime in with other stuff they do,but this is enough for me to digest ATM

Bloody Hell ! I'll never be able to afford those on my Apprentice Wages on what you pay me, even if you take it out weekly.

Thanks Paul, mystery solved.

Originally Posted by 4bee

Bloody Hell ! I'll never be able to afford those on my Apprentice Wages on what you pay me, even if you take it out weekly.

Thats why i haven't got a set

No, I'm old school like you Paul, have Refco (134a, 404a) and Imperial (410a) analogue 4 ports

My old Canberra apprentice, Scott, has those digi Testo's.
I did borrow them once or twice
We had this discussion when he was buying a manifold and vacstat, my suggestion was the digital setup as it worked out at the same $$ as buying a stand alone guage manifold and vacstat

I want to get the superheat clamps too.
The Testo Bluetooth hygrometer is excellent, but I don't rate their vacstat.
I've pensioned mine off, too inaccurate.
And it's been replaced once under warranty

I rarely get my manifold's out these days, the bulk of what we work on has transducers everywhere and a nice big digi screen with all the data a click or two away.

Originally Posted by scarry

Thats why i haven't got a set

Ditto!