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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 16, 2018 20:14:01 GMT
So interesting to see inside one for real, after all these years! Echo coldspaces - thanks for posting. I guess the small hole on the suction line is to allow the oil floating on the surface to drain back to the compressor. Fascinating.
I think you're right about the small hole being for oil return. In Coldspaces' manual page postings above, it shows a schematic diagram of that, with the larger hole pointing up and then a smaller one down lower.
I'm going to have to be sure the 11% lighter refrigerant liquid will lift the float to the same level as the SO2 did, so that the level isn't higher and allowing liquid refrigerant to flood back.
Finalizing travel plans to get the compressor skid from Travis, as well. Exciting times! LOL!
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 16, 2018 23:14:26 GMT
A few pictures I didn't get posted yesterday.
After cleaning the inside of the evaporator. It was fairly easy to clean. I filled it up with Zep Purple Degreaser. That's an alkaline product which really cuts through oil. I use a compressed air pump-up weed sprayer for this soap. It was pretty easy to get the wand down in there, and inject the soap through all the evaporator tubes. After that, the pressure washer came into use. To ensure the evaporator tubes were cleaned internally, I made a "special" tip.
The "special" tip was a plugged quick connect tip fitting, with a side-hole drilled (arrow). This produced so much side thrust that I could never hold the pressure washer gun. It would spin me sideways with my feet rotating in place on the ground! With it inside the evaporator tube, the action and reaction cancelled out. This made it useful for cleaning inside the tubes. Surprisingly, a large amount of discolored water was produced. Apparently, after almost 90 years, a lot of crud builds up in there! LOL
The evaporator head has two flare fittings for the lines. The liquid line fitting had some sort of device in it. I tried to clean it and never could get air to pass. I then tried to desolder the two halves. This was unsuccessful, although it did release blue, green, and purple flames and a lot of raunchy smelling smoke from the fitting. After that, I decided it was not salvageable. So out of curiosity I parted it on the lathe. It seemed to have a screen in it and some other material which had decomposed from the torch heat. I believe that material was debris trapped in the filter, and not something from the factory. I don't see a way to manufacture it without burning that material brazing the filter together.
The new one I built up from fittings. it seems to put the line hookups in the same place as the original. To minimize the chance of the needle valve orifice plugging, I plan to install a filter/drier in the liquid line somewhere on the unit. Probably replace the lines as well, since they have been open for so long.
All capped off and pulling vacuum. I have a temporary o-ring in there now. Will use a Teflon seal for the final assembly. It seems that a "dash 337" o-ring backup ring will be about the same dimensions as the original lead seal was.
I know that this design did work, and with renewing all its parts so that there are no stuck or blocked areas, it should work again like it did before. Will see
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Post by birkie on Jun 18, 2018 1:55:14 GMT
Very nice - I've only seen that float through drawings. Thanks for sharing the pics.
I do love the early (over) engineering. It was all about function and survival; it took a while to figure out how to economize the designs (and design for specific life spans). Patents were also an aspect. Everybody had their own patents on basic designs, so machines had to be intentionally different in some respects order to avoid infringing. The end results are strange, but wonderful.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 18, 2018 2:32:22 GMT
..... The end results are strange, but wonderful. Yes. Yes they are!
Good point about the patent issues they faced back in the day. That's a very real issue for manufacturers!
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Post by Travis on Jun 19, 2018 20:31:59 GMT
David left St. Louis with all the necessary parts to complete his Frigidaire. We’re all watching and wishing you success!
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 20, 2018 4:07:11 GMT
David left St. Louis with all the necessary parts to complete his Frigidaire. We’re all watching and wishing you success!
Yep, just made it home! In addition to getting the parts, I had a wonderful time talking old fridges and all sorts of neat, technical things today. Thanks again for the great hospitality and showing me your incredible collection. I am truly in awe.
All of your machines are amazing, but I am especially impressed with the two door 1928 DR that runs so nicely; and the Norge belt-drive Rollator refrigerator. That one just HAS TO get fixed up!
The haul safely home! I did have to stop and move the caps from the compressor skid to the evaporator. The evaporator must have a blockage of some sort and still has SO2 in it. I started smelling it horribly in the car! The compressor service valves work and kept that one closed off, but the pinched off lines were not sealed on the evap!
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Post by Travis on Jun 20, 2018 4:20:33 GMT
Smells great, huh?
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 20, 2018 4:21:37 GMT
It smells greatly!
Yep and it tastes about as lovely as it smells!
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Post by ckfan on Jun 20, 2018 11:38:05 GMT
Oh my. Wish I could have shown you some fun stuff too. I don’t have near what Travis has but I still have some fun stuff. I’m glad you made it back without gassing yourself. That stuff is really nasty isn’t it?
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Post by birkie on Jun 20, 2018 12:11:00 GMT
What efficiency and dedication to the craft! Glad it worked out
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 20, 2018 12:33:26 GMT
What efficiency and dedication to the craft! Glad it worked out Yep I am pleased as punch. The fridge we parted out was really in poor shape. I still hated to "kill" it; but with the cabinet damage and broken brackets around the evaporator, it would not have been a good candidate for restoration. The one I found in Louisiana has a much more pristine cabinet. The parts fridge had a 100% complete compressor skid with all mountings and even the "shipping lock" rods and back screen over the flywheel. Very fortunate for Travis to have saved it and thought of me when he say this post! We also took the door, top, and all hardware off the fridge. This will hopefully help Travis to save another Frigidaire later on since they apparently have regularly broken door handles and hinges. Oh my. Wish I could have shown you some fun stuff too. I don’t have near what Travis has but I still have some fun stuff. I’m glad you made it back without gassing yourself. That stuff is really nasty isn’t it? I would have loved to see your collection as well. This trip I tried to "fit in edgewise" this week on top of some other local obligations. Needed to get home yesterday if at all possible. Definitely hope to make another visit to the St. Louis area in the future. Yep the SO2 is awful smelling! I was concerned it might stink up my car, so I ran the AC on max fan the whole trip, and each time I stopped during the trip, I left the trunk open while I was not in the car. That car has a very early electronic climate control system and it's not possible to run the fan on High, and still control the temperature. It's either full cold, no A/C, or heating when the fan is on manual High. My arms were frozen by the time I got home LOL.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 21, 2018 2:17:08 GMT
Got some pictures today! This machine is far more detailed and intricate than I ever imagined.....
The compressor skid before cleaning. It's pretty cruddy!
The Delco motor is still in place. Unsure of its condition yet. That'll probably be tomorrow's work!
The main skid nameplate.
The control. This control is incredibly intricate. So many adjustments on it! It senses evaporator temperature based on the low side pressure.
The broken automotive A/C compressor housing to the right has a similar sized shaft, and the packet there shows a spare seal for it. Can I adapt this to the old Frigidaire?
(continued)
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 21, 2018 2:22:39 GMT
The compressor skid all clean, without motor. That made it look so much newer!
The crispy, crunchy shaft seal. What a mess. Apparently the seal faces were stuck together and when I turned the flywheel by hand, it shredded the brass bellows part of the seal.
Head removed. Not looking too bad on the discharge reeds.
Reed plate off. Discharge reeds in the plate, suction reeds in the piston its self. That's unusual.
Cylinders off. The compressor operates with an eccentric shaft. There are no piston rings, either.
(continued)
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 21, 2018 2:26:37 GMT
Got the compressor torn down. That shaft seal looks gnarly!
The crankcase seal area. Looks like it can be adapted.....
Modified one of the cover plates, and made the aluminum bushing shown at the right.
The shaft, turned down just a touch, and polished for the new seal to ride on.
New seal adapter with seal installed. Looks like it'll do nicely!
(continued)
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Post by solarmike on Jun 21, 2018 2:32:16 GMT
^^^^ Man now that's very interesting^^^^
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