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Post by blackhorse on Aug 19, 2017 17:40:38 GMT
I've heard about flushing the S02 out of the system but is there any reference manual for the novice (me) to do this in order to fix the line. I'm sure the compressor is fine, however, one of the lines was probably damaged in movement as the inside was oily and had the S02 smell. The guy helping move it decided it was easier to load it on its side--my heart sank when I saw the oil--I first thought it was melted snow, but nada. Do you have refrigeration experience and equipment? If not, then this isn't a really good place to start. If so, charging 134a into it as a "holding charge" will probably be easier/cheaper unless you actually HAVE a nitrogen tank/regulator. It's cheap and readily available without a EPA license, and there's a good chance that's where you will be going with this anyway. All the flattops are scotch yoke machines and do great on 134a as a replacement for SO2. I have always charged the system at least once with R12 in the past or 134a recently, run for a bit to help flush the SO2 out of the oil, vent the (by now incredibly stinky) 134a, before doing any repairs. DO NOT try running it if you use nitrogen; it won't raise the float, and something will probably blow out from the nitrogen trapped in the high side. |
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Post by birkie on Aug 21, 2017 15:16:42 GMT
Travis and I are going to visit Gill this weekend with those guinea pigs in tow. It should be a fun time experimenting! Did you end up delivering the guinea pigs this weekend? How did it go?  |
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 21, 2017 16:11:26 GMT
Yes the Ginny pigs made it. One is going to work now that I chipped out the bad heater. Oil is warming and I plan to get it on a cabinet tonight. I will then run it with SO2 for a while. The other one has bad windings. Travis's unit form California didn't behave either but he will most likely fill everyone in on it. By the time they got here Saturday I had already converted the original Ginny Pig monitortop.freeforums.net/thread/984/dr-2-g16-r152a-experiment from 152A to 124. I will try to post details tonight on it. I can tell you that we were drinking beverages that were cooled by R124 Saturday and Sunday. |
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Post by birkie on Aug 21, 2017 17:13:19 GMT
Glad to hear everybody (humans and sick or healthy machines) made it safe! Eager to read the stories slowly trickle in as people have time.
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Post by blackhorse on Aug 21, 2017 19:00:09 GMT
We'll be seeing some more crop circles?!?
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Post by ckfan on Aug 21, 2017 20:14:35 GMT
It was so cool to drink beer from an R124 cooled DR. Very nice. It was running great too. Very very quiet. Almost scotch yoke quiet. That's what impressed me the most. Well, that and the low running watts. Around 160 I believe.
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Post by birkie on Aug 21, 2017 20:45:37 GMT
It was so cool to drink beer from an R124 cooled DR. Very nice. It was running great too. Very very quiet. Almost scotch yoke quiet. That's what impressed me the most. Well, that and the low running watts. Around 160 I believe. The quietness certainly encouraging to hear! I know it's probably not rational, but the reproducing (or at least getting close to) the aesthetic characteristics of SO2 in terms of tone and loudness is important to me. The manual says something like 175W for a 20F evaporator in 100F ambient for the DR-2-G16, so it sounds like it might 160W might not be that far off base? |
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Post by ckfan on Aug 22, 2017 0:17:49 GMT
Here's the kicker. When it starts it's right around 175. Or at least I think that's what I saw. It settles down to about 160.
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 22, 2017 0:43:21 GMT
Last Monday night I blew the 152A from the original Ginny pig. Tuesday I pulled a vacuum for hours while heating the oil till I could get nothing else out. (had the float opened manually) I then charged it with 1.75 lbs of r124 and fired it up. It ran ok but I could only get the very first parts of the coil and shelf to frost. I messed around banging on the bad float and such but never got much flow. Float was not plugged as I could manually open it and the gas would rush right on through. I then added 4 more oz r124 and got about the same results. Original so2 charge was 2.2 lbs so I added 4 more oz r124. Float still would not open right but was trying to regulate just a wee bit. You could here it just barley open and the watts would go up, then close and watts back to vacuum area.
Wednesday I forced 4 oz of Supco 88 oil additive directly into the float and let it sit 1 minute. I then stated the machine expecting the float to be oil logged and it was, even with float manually open there was no flow noticeable. It was than way for a good while maybe 15-20 minutes, I let it keep running and no cooling was happening at all on the evap. Then low and behold after the Supco made it through the evap magically stated to all frost. It has been running great ever since.
Starts about 175 watts and that drops to 160 or even lower by the time it cycles off. Head pressure was about 63,sounds great and good frost line. The frost line is a bit high but I did get it a bit over charged when I forced in the Supco, about 4 more oz r124 went in. We may have just hit the jackpot!!! I will get you all a pic of the frost line soon.
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Post by birkie on Aug 22, 2017 1:49:53 GMT
I would have been sweating bullets with the float situation, glad to see the magic touch worked!
So 63 psi is an approximately 97-98°F condensing temperature. I read the table in the manual wrong, it's 175W for "average 80F performance" (I'm thinking that's an 80F ambient room temp); it's the capacity figures that are given for 100F. Anyway, at least from this vantage point it looks like it's totally in the same ballpark! That's fantastic, and a good 40W less than R152a from your previous tests with the guinea pig in winter... and that was with a 64F condensing temperature.
So would you say it's noticeably quieter than R152a as well?
... and ckfan said the cycles were a little short (but it might have been the control)?
Sorry, I'm excited!
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Post by Travis on Aug 22, 2017 2:13:57 GMT
I'm also excited. I would love to dump the so2 and use something nicer. I'm all for original noises, but I won't defend so2 if they're a reasonable replacement. In my opinion, $10-15 a lb is fine.
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Post by ckfan on Aug 22, 2017 11:02:31 GMT
It may just be my brain fooling me but I do think it is quieter than the 152a. I even think it's quieter than SO2.
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Post by birkie on Aug 22, 2017 11:19:14 GMT
It may just be my brain fooling me but I do think it is quieter than the 152a. I even think it's quieter than SO2. That just fascinates me to no end. |
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Post by ckfan on Aug 22, 2017 13:30:55 GMT
I'm seriously excited about this. As an extra bonus this R124 is a direct replacement for R114 which two of my antique Frigidaire models use.
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Post by birkie on Aug 22, 2017 14:21:14 GMT
I'm seriously excited about this. As an extra bonus this R124 is a direct replacement for R114 which two of my antique Frigidaire models use. Do the Frigidaires rely on the miscibility of R114 for oil return? I don't know much about them. Unusually for an HCFC, R124 is not readily miscible in mineral oil except at higher temperatures (I think something like 114F). They recommend alyklbenzene oil if miscibility is required. |
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