R600a in Freezer

[Toby]

Hello!

I have been given a freezer (Hotpoint FZ150) that wasn't working properly, (after being turned on for a while, it would lock out and alarm because it was not getting cold enough) - it had the signs of low refrigerant, so I bought a set of gauges, and that confirmed it was indeed extremely low, pulling down to about 18inHg on the suction side when running.

So, I bought some R600a refrigerant and then used an old freezer compressor to vacuum the system out (after venting what little R600a there was outside (As it is just butane, this is OK, apparently) The old compressor got it down to just over 20inHg, which I was happy with for a DIY job :-)

My question is, how do I know if there is enough refrigerant in the system if I check it at a later date without having to wait for it to be so low it stops cooling and alarms? I weighed in the amount it stated I needed on the data plate, but if it does need topping up at a later date (which I assume is likely if there is a small leak somewhere (which I will try to find)) then how do I tell how much is in there at any given time?

Is it to do with the pressure on the suction side when the compressor is running? (It is working fine now by the way)

Thanks for any pointers :-)

[meow2222]

I guess you could put a how-to on the wiki if you like

NT

[Toby]

Good idea - Done!

[meow2222]

nice one :)

NT

[Toby]

Can I link to a file but use a custom word, rather than it showing as Media:FILENAME.PNG ?

[F Murtz]

hydrocarbons are a bit more forgiving of moisture than other refrigerants (although better to not have any) I connect both red and blue hoses and leave them connected through the whole operation and just do every thing else through the yellow hose. ie vent gas, connect to vac pump,connect to charge cylinder etc. I usually put a bit of uhf dye in yellow hose just before connecting charge cyl (saves having to buy expensive equipment to inject dye under pressure). This allowes you to look for leaks with uv light later.

[Dave Liquorice]

[meow2222]

Yes, but its unclear what you mean. Please explain

If you mean words that show up when you mouse them, see

for picture coding

If you mean linking to a pic file, you can create a webpage with just that pic on it and call it whatever you want.

Also what the webpage shows and what it links to can be different, eg [[con job|get rich]]

PS its recommended to only capitalise the first word of page titles, otherwise searches cause problems and linking is slower.

NT

[Toby]

Just as an update to this, the freezer ran put of gas again after about a week, and after much searching, I found a leak on the pipe joint between the capillary tube, and the evaporator (inside the freezer)

The evaporator is aluminium, so when I tired to braze the connection, I melted the aluminium pipe a bit :-( (Original was crimped, with some glue type stuff too.)

I have now jointed it with J-B Weld, as the pressures are not very high with R600a, so once that has fully set, I will see if it still leaks!

[Chuck Stires]

Toby...can get my pants down past my butt. To the point...long ago you refurbished a freezer with 600a. Did you use a 600a compressor or one using another refrigerant? Thank you.