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Post by allan on Nov 23, 2013 11:22:49 GMT
The CK ran for 6 days perfectly. Came in Friday morning and evap was 45 degrees with a heavy frosted Everdure tube, liquid feed line, and 2 passes of the evap. Liquid pressure was 48 psi in a 75 degree room. I want it to be a clog of crud in the float seat but it just doesn't make sense unless there is a lot of crud in the float tank. If there is a lot of crud in the tank then a cleaning of the seat with a wire will only be a temporary fix and with the cost of SO2 here a very expensive one! I still have to try turning unit on the side to try and test for a stuck float but that is not as easy as it seems. But if it remains inoperative the float test is next. Any suggestions?
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Post by ChrisJ on Nov 23, 2013 13:55:52 GMT
With a fine screen on the inlet to the float tank how could there be crud in the tank?
I'm curious, what areas of the evap were frosted?
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Post by allan on Nov 24, 2013 3:19:25 GMT
From what I think I learned from jhigdon the crud is a chemical kind of thing that has formed over time and deposited itself on the float assembly. It is not particles floating around as one might think, which would be stopped at the inlet strainer. The frost on the evap is actually continuing from the everdur tube and liquid feed line. The actual frost on evap begins where the feed line is attached on the side and only continues about 10 inches pass that.
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 24, 2013 3:33:38 GMT
Sure sounds like a restriction of some kind. Build ups in the seat like jhigdon talks about would not just come and go. Sounds like a sticky float to me. Do you have the charging adapter, jhigdon was the one that told me turning it out aprox 8 turns would manually open the float on my DR. If the CKs are the same you should be able to force the float to open and see if it starts to frost again.
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Post by ChrisJ on Nov 24, 2013 11:19:58 GMT
I don't believe the CK float can be raised the same as the DR.
A magnetic float lifter would sure be handy for this.
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Post by cablehack on Nov 24, 2013 22:41:38 GMT
Cutaway diagrams of the CK float suggest it's the same as the CA and therefore not adjustable. The oil Coldspaces mentioned on the Flickr group might work to break down the obstruction. Otherwise there's always a capillary conversion.
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Post by allan on Nov 25, 2013 0:48:47 GMT
Sure sounds like a restriction of some kind. Build ups in the seat like jhigdon talks about would not just come and go. Sounds like a sticky float to me. Do you have the charging adapter, jhigdon was the one that told me turning it out aprox 8 turns would manually open the float on my DR. If the CKs are the same you should be able to force the float to open and see if it starts to frost again. Yea I think the float-needle is sticking for some reason and it could be a build up of the crud causing it. The CK float port is offset from center and you can't control the float like a DR.
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Post by allan on Nov 25, 2013 0:53:24 GMT
Cutaway diagrams of the CK float suggest it's the same as the CA and therefore not adjustable. The oil Coldspaces mentioned on the Flickr group might work to break down the obstruction. Otherwise there's always a capillary conversion. I plan on a professional auto body paint job for this machine so I am not ready to risk future problems with an oil additive until we have more experience with it. I do have interest in the cap tube but I don't know where to start as far as size and length, but I really believe the cap tube is the answer to these machines that need help with their floats. Has anyone did a CK or DR with a cap tube?
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Post by allan on Nov 25, 2013 0:57:48 GMT
The CK sat idle Saturday and most of Sunday. Plugged it up this afternoon and she went right back to work again. It is amazing how fast that evap can go from 76 degrees to 3 degrees --, about 15 minutes, with a 76 degree box!! If I can catch it not cooling again going to try and turn on its right side and listen for the rush of SO2 like jhigdon has advised.
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Post by jhigdon2 on Nov 26, 2013 0:15:17 GMT
Yup. I've seen these behave exactly like this when needle and seat restricted. I repaired a CK 1 that was acting like this just a few months back. Cleaned the orifice and all was ok again. I did convert a CK to a cap tube at one time but it was a real pain. I didn't know where to start with length and dia, and as a result I gave up on it after several tries. It was similar to the CA conversion fiasco. It takes a lot of trial and error and I lost interest in it after a while. What is the cap tube length and dia on your Crosley?? I actually think I did get it fairly close but I ended up hooking the float chamber back up. I was also concerned about the black stuff eventually clogging the cap tube. But who knows? Maybe it would work fine for many years.
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Post by allan on Nov 26, 2013 11:54:40 GMT
Yup. I've seen these behave exactly like this when needle and seat restricted. I repaired a CK 1 that was acting like this just a few months back. Cleaned the orifice and all was ok again. I did convert a CK to a cap tube at one time but it was a real pain. I didn't know where to start with length and dia, and as a result I gave up on it after several tries. It was similar to the CA conversion fiasco. It takes a lot of trial and error and I lost interest in it after a while. What is the cap tube length and dia on your Crosley?? I actually think I did get it fairly close but I ended up hooking the float chamber back up. I was also concerned about the black stuff eventually clogging the cap tube. But who knows? Maybe it would work fine for many years. Thanks for the input. I thought about the Crosley cap tube because the cabinet size and motor horsepower is about the same. It has a brass capillary tube and I have no idea why since copper would have been cheaper for them. I also am concerned about future problems with the cap tube. Have you ever attempted to grind the weld and open up the float? I am tempted and curious but afraid if everything doesn't go back precisely as it was the problem could be worse.
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Post by ChrisJ on Nov 26, 2013 13:04:23 GMT
I read an article yesterday that said it was common for small production runs to use a slightly shorter cap tube and simply add crimps until the expected flow is achieved. This actually surprised me and makes me think crimping the liquid line on a CA machine might be perfectly acceptable as a long term solution. Although, we still don't know if it will erode that small crimp just as it did the float valve.
I may try it on my copper CA-B machine as cablehack had suggested multiple times.
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Post by jhigdon2 on Nov 26, 2013 16:26:49 GMT
I did grind the weld on a Ck float chamber once and pop it open. It was fairly clean on the inside, with only a light discoloration of the components. Most of the black stuff seemed to be at the orifice itself. I just pressed the two halves back together and re welded. I ran a small volume of nitrogen through it while I used the wire feed to zip it back up, just the same as I would weld a compressor back together. This old steel seems to be very good quality and takes a weld surprisingly well. It kinda makes me think that it's virgin steel.
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Post by allan on Nov 27, 2013 0:05:00 GMT
I did grind the weld on a Ck float chamber once and pop it open. It was fairly clean on the inside, with only a light discoloration of the components. Most of the black stuff seemed to be at the orifice itself. I just pressed the two halves back together and re welded. I ran a small volume of nitrogen through it while I used the wire feed to zip it back up, just the same as I would weld a compressor back together. This old steel seems to be very good quality and takes a weld surprisingly well. It kinda makes me think that it's virgin steel. I am interested to know more about the float you opened up! 1. Was it from a machine that was not working properly due to a seat restriction? 2. Can you describe how much crud was at the seat and was it attached to the seat or the needle? 3. Did you return the float back to service? 4. If so do you think it is still working?
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Post by allan on Nov 27, 2013 0:07:59 GMT
Any comments on using 45% silver to braze a float chamber back together after grinding the weld down and popping it open?
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