Refrigerator Charge

[Ken Heyman]

Attached are some pics of my recharging process for the Adler Barbour cold machine. Bob Kuba and I struggled through some sketchy directions from a gauge supplier and proceeded. As both the C34IA treasurer and commodore risked incapacitation, decapitation or worse we took the safety risks seriously and wore appropriate protective gear (principally swim masks). I had previously been certified by the ESCO Institute as a  technician allowing the purchase of R12 refrigerant form a car dealer. I bought some gauges and a can tap on-line from a polarexpress.com. We:


pierced the refrigerant can
attached the yellow hose from the gauge set to the can fitting
attached the blue hose to a schrader valve on the unit (low side attachment point is critical otherwise you pump pressure back into the can thus creating lots of shrapnel) I previously had accessible schrader valve attached to the unit by a "real" technician.
bled the air from each hose
began adding refrigerant
turned on system
monitored the pressure(weakest link as we did not know what the pressure should be--the tag on the unit was illegible and I couldn't find it on line. Waeco has been purchased and I couldn't find anyone via phone that knew much.

the good news is that unit is once again working (it has a very slow leak). It probably isn't working as efficiently as it might (not frosting over but getting quite cold). I'm going to vacuum the fan to increase efficiency. I have a fear that I may have overcharged the system but so far it doesn't seem that I blew any seals. ----thanks to Bob for the assist

[steve stoneback]

Ken,

The fridge in my boat hadn't worked very good for the past few years so I pulled the compressor and the evaporator out last fall.  This spring I had a friend (who is HVAC tech) come over to my shop with his equipment and he installed schrader valves on both the low and high pressure side.  Sorry, I don't know what the pressure should be.  After installing the valves he hooked up his suction pump and put the system under 15 lbs of vacuum for about 10 minutes.  The tag on the unit said it holds 3.5 ounces of R-12.  He had a tank with about 15 lbs. of R-12 in it and the equipment to accurately weigh the tank and added exactly that amount.  We bench tested it and all worked fine.  I then had to separate the evaporator and compressor and install it in the boat.

Since launch it has been working like a charm.  The evaporator completely frosts up within about 15 minutes and once it has everything cooled down runs about 30 to 35 percent of the time when it is 90 to 95 outside temp. Obviously it runs less when it is cooler outside.

Steve

[Ken Heyman]

thanks Steve--I guess I'll have to weigh my 12 oz can and see whats left. I may have over charged and I suspect I will find out shortly. I may have to bleed the system a bit if it is over pressurized. If a seal goes that will be done for me.

thanks,

Ken

[steve stoneback]

Ken,

Yeah, if your can has 6 ounces missing you will know you added to much.  Even if there is just 3 or 4 ounces gone from the can you won't know how much there may have been in the system before you added being you didn't put in under vacuum and evacuate it all before you added.  Good luck, I wish I were more help.

Steve

[Sundance]

I went through this process last year.  I worked with Richard Kollmann from Kollmann Marine, he walked me through how to recharge my system.  It doesn't take much R-12 to recharge the system, but one you do it, you realize it is really easy.  Here is a link to the online instructions he gave me, he even called me and offered to talk me through it while I was at the boat, extremely helpful.

http://kollmann-marine.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2066&highlight=

It has run fairly well now for over a year, even after winter.  I think in my case the seals may have dried out and just adding R-12 rejuvenated the seals.

Hint: Use the Wanted section of Craigslist to obtain R-12.