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Post by ckfan on Dec 18, 2016 4:05:41 GMT
Thankfully you have enough spares. With my luck the poor 36 Frigidaire I'm using now is going to leak out of the terminals just like the cold wall. I mean, it'll be fine!
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Post by Travis on Dec 18, 2016 4:37:26 GMT
Think positive. I have three DR's, an FEA and a ball top running now. They'll be alright. I say nice things to them.
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Post by coldspaces on Dec 18, 2016 5:07:43 GMT
Wow that is no fun. Is it indoors where its warm? I am pretty sure it is. Sure sounds like a blocked float. You would know if it lost the charge. Yes, it is nice and warm inside. It just got stopped up, presumably, all of a sudden. I'm really wondering where to go from here. I'm going to let it sit overnight and see what happens when I start it up tomorrow. I even got the liquid line to frost for a minute but then no more. Yes let it set and hopefully balance out so there is no pressure against the blockage. After it sets over night or longer try to give the float/float seat area some vibration the best way you have that seems safe BEFORE you start it. Maybe you will get lucky. I believe this is something I did on Travis's Majestic if I remember right. I have thought before about the fact that the Flat tops and I suppose also CKs also have not seemed to suffer as many float problems. I assumed that the system dehydration and quality of SO2 had improved by then. Hope yours starts to behave.
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Post by ckfan on Dec 18, 2016 5:25:05 GMT
Yes, it is nice and warm inside. It just got stopped up, presumably, all of a sudden. I'm really wondering where to go from here. I'm going to let it sit overnight and see what happens when I start it up tomorrow. I even got the liquid line to frost for a minute but then no more. Yes let it set and hopefully balance out so there is no pressure against the blockage. After it sets over night or longer try to give the float/float seat area some vibration the best way you have that seems safe BEFORE you start it. Maybe you will get lucky. I believe this is something I did on Travis's Majestic if I remember right. I have thought before about the fact that the Flat tops and I suppose also CKs also have not seemed to suffer as many float problems. I assumed that the system dehydration and quality of SO2 had improved by then. Hope yours starts to behave. What would you suggest to do to provide the right vibration? Gentle tapping with a hammer? I'm also curious as to where you applied the vibration before. Do you apply it to the float body or near the liquid line at the seat? I tried to get back there today and it is pretty tight being that it is a size 1 evaporator. I just think that SO2 in general is a pretty nasty refrigerant. It's a shame because it works very well. I'm staying positive though. I'm not going to let this one fall by the wayside that easy. On a side note, a friend came over and wanted to plug his diesel block heater in. Blew two different circuits and even after flipping the still on breakers I can't figure out what is wrong. Had to manually close the garage door and run an extension cord to the freezer. The DR is without power too! God, I just need to go to bed before anything else breaks!
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Post by Travis on Dec 18, 2016 5:30:19 GMT
It sounds like you need a larger panel for all your fridges buddy.
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Post by coldspaces on Dec 18, 2016 5:42:58 GMT
Yes let it set and hopefully balance out so there is no pressure against the blockage. After it sets over night or longer try to give the float/float seat area some vibration the best way you have that seems safe BEFORE you start it. Maybe you will get lucky. I believe this is something I did on Travis's Majestic if I remember right. I have thought before about the fact that the Flat tops and I suppose also CKs also have not seemed to suffer as many float problems. I assumed that the system dehydration and quality of SO2 had improved by then. Hope yours starts to behave. What would you suggest to do to provide the right vibration? Gentle tapping with a hammer? I'm also curious as to where you applied the vibration before. Do you apply it to the float body or near the liquid line at the seat? I tried to get back there today and it is pretty tight being that it is a size 1 evaporator. I just think that SO2 in general is a pretty nasty refrigerant. It's a shame because it works very well. I'm staying positive though. I'm not going to let this one fall by the wayside that easy. On a side note, a friend came over and wanted to plug his diesel block heater in. Blew two different circuits and even after flipping the still on breakers I can't figure out what is wrong. Had to manually close the garage door and run an extension cord to the freezer. The DR is without power too! God, I just need to go to bed before anything else breaks! The float on the majestic was different in shape and mounting. I have used a hammer and punch on the tube below the seat but of course you must be careful. One the float housings I would use no smaller a contact surface than a hammer head. And of course use caution. Yes so2 is "dirty" by comparison to Freon's and such. Sounds like you may have lost one leg of the power coming into your place or have a bad neutral. If its a bad neutral you may have noticed lights that get brighter than normal. This is bad and can burn out 120 volt powered things of all types.
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Post by ckfan on Dec 18, 2016 16:52:43 GMT
Turns out that the power issue came down to a gfci outlet that had tripped. Of course that was just one circuit. Seems strange to me that most of the laundry room and all of the bathroom circuits would be tied together. Now I just need to find the other gfci that is tied into the garage circuit. Gees this house was built with the care of a drunken sailor.
I'm going to give the float housing a few good whacks now that the system has settled overnight. Hopefully I get some kind of result. Thanks Gill!
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Post by ckfan on Dec 18, 2016 17:36:37 GMT
Well, I found the other gfci that was tripped. It was behind our draft induced water heater. I would have figured it out eventually when I took a cold shower.
I just smacked the float housing every which way. I also gently tapped the float seat. It made no difference at all. The compressor was quiet at first but it is now noisy again and the evaporator is bone dry. Hmm...
I'm wondering if it could be something related to the unloader sticking. I know that fridges rarely have issues with that but that thought just popped into my head.
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Post by timeswelding on Dec 20, 2016 1:08:49 GMT
I had an unloaded stick open on a CK35 when I first pit it into service after which knows how long. It's the one with the bullet hole. The unloaded made a horrible racket. It eventually got quiet and the wattage sky rocketed and it immediately started cooling. So it is a possibility. But, like I said, it was extremely noisy.
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Post by ckfan on Dec 20, 2016 4:27:08 GMT
Thanks Doug. That tells me two things. One, mine has a clogged float since it is slightly noisy with a tinny sound. Two, it is possible for the unloader to stick. I'm glad yours eventually behaved. I love that bullet story.
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Post by ckfan on Dec 22, 2016 3:39:28 GMT
Just for kicks I decided to run the poor flattop while it is on my cold back porch. It is currently 35 degrees. I would usually not recommend this type of abuse but I figured I was right there at the ol panic switch. I'll be darned if it didn't make an unusual oil glurg noise and start cooling immediately. Wow, I guess either having a time out or the cold shoulder made it behave. I still don't know what happened or if it will happen again.
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Post by coldspaces on Dec 22, 2016 4:11:33 GMT
Just for kicks I decided to run the poor flattop while it is on my cold back porch. It is currently 35 degrees. I would usually not recommend this type of abuse but I figured I was right there at the ol panic switch. I'll be darned if it didn't make an unusual oil glurg noise and start cooling immediately. Wow, I guess either having a time out or the cold shoulder made it behave. I still don't know what happened or if it will happen again. Any idea whether the noise came from the compressor, float or the evaporator? Could have balanced out over a few days time and behaved very temporarily or has it been working for a few hours or more now?
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Post by ckfan on Dec 22, 2016 14:27:21 GMT
The noise came from the compressor as soon as I started it up. I am dead positive. It sounded like something shot through the oil circuit. Kind of like an oil glug sound but more pronounced. As soon as that happened it started to cool off. To ensure that lightning would strike twice I let it warm up (as much as it would on a cold back porch) and tried it again 30 minutes later. Sure enough it started to cool again and even satisfied the control on the coldest position. No strange noises this time and I could even tell when the float opened a minute after startup because the boiling in the evap became much more rapid, just like it normally does. I didn't have time to let it run for any longer so I shut it off. In my mind all signs point to it being ok. I guess the real proof will be once I pull it back inside and let it cycle on its own in room temperature.
In your expert opinion Gill, what do you think happened here? Do you think that this thing will have more issues or should I just not worry about it too much. At any rate, when I do pull it back inside to let it rip again I will watch it like a hawk.
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Post by coldspaces on Dec 22, 2016 19:07:11 GMT
If the noise came from the compressor was the unloader stuck and holding the suction valve open? I don't see what else it would have been other than a restricted float. Maybe that the slug caused pressure that freed up the unloader.
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Post by ckfan on Dec 22, 2016 19:18:40 GMT
If the noise came from the compressor was the unloader stuck and holding the suction valve open? I don't see what else it would have been other than a restricted float. Maybe that the slug caused pressure that freed up the unloader. I think that was the case. I would have thought that the compressor would have been louder if the unloader was open but who knows. At this point I'm not exactly sure what happened. I just know that I will be happy if it continues to work once I pull it back inside.
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