Phase change unit silencing?

[jcw122]

Hey everyone,

I'm considering going Chilled Water via phase change soon, and I'd like to know if there is anything I can do about the noise? I'm going to use a dehumidifier's internals for the phase change unit. The unit itself, when running as a dehumidifier, is VERY loud and obnoxious, and that's a problem for me.

1. Is it possible and/or safe to change out fans inside phase change units?

2. How much air flow (CFM wise) do I need to keep over the radiator?

3. How loud is the compressor? Fairly quiet I'm guessing?

Reason I ask all of this is because I will probably not go phase change if the entire unit is considerably louder than the air cooling setup I have currently (3x120mm fans, and 2x80mm fans)

[jinu117]

1. It really depends on heatload and how much refrigerant is in the unit. Typically they are tuned for much higher load than waterchiller would use. So it might be possible. First thing first, you will have to find out PT of unit while running low fan different setting or put schraeder to see if it is going too high pressure while running in configuration you are planning to run it for. (as well as checking compresssor temperature).

3. Compressor ... might be louder than your liking. AFAIK most of these small A/C and dehumidifier comes with rotary compressor which is known for not being the quietest thing in world.

I suggest giving it a go carefully after reading a little more on PT chart and how to figure out pressure based on temperature first to see if you can handle the noise or not. Might be wasted time based on your criteria but you won't know until you really try.

Pictures would help figuring out what the potential outcome would be much better.

[jcw122]

1. It really depends on heatload and how much refrigerant is in the unit. Typically they are tuned for much higher load than waterchiller would use. So it might be possible. First thing first, you will have to find out PT of unit while running low fan different setting or put schraeder to see if it is going too high pressure while running in configuration you are planning to run it for. (as well as checking compresssor temperature).

3. Compressor ... might be louder than your liking. AFAIK most of these small A/C and dehumidifier comes with rotary compressor which is known for not being the quietest thing in world.

I suggest giving it a go carefully after reading a little more on PT chart and how to figure out pressure based on temperature first to see if you can handle the noise or not. Might be wasted time based on your criteria but you won't know until you really try.

Pictures would help figuring out what the potential outcome would be much better.

OK thanks for the help thus far. But what is PT?

[n00b 0f l337]

Pressure temperature chart.

[jinu117]

Oh sorry... it's pressure temperature chart.
Given same temperature, the refrigerant has direct relationship to pressure. Thus we can figure out pressure based on temperature, etc. Only real dangerous thing really in what we do here other than the flammable gas usage (which I don't condone, ever...) would be high pressure and electricity. (both can be deadly so play with caution... some ease means to shut things off rapidly especially).
In the sticky there should be some basic links that tells you what PT chart would be. Even google search will give you quite a few results.

[jcw122]

1. It really depends on heatload and how much refrigerant is in the unit. Typically they are tuned for much higher load than waterchiller would use. So it might be possible. First thing first, you will have to find out PT of unit while running low fan different setting or put schraeder to see if it is going too high pressure while running in configuration you are planning to run it for. (as well as checking compresssor temperature).

3. Compressor ... might be louder than your liking. AFAIK most of these small A/C and dehumidifier comes with rotary compressor which is known for not being the quietest thing in world.

I suggest giving it a go carefully after reading a little more on PT chart and how to figure out pressure based on temperature first to see if you can handle the noise or not. Might be wasted time based on your criteria but you won't know until you really try.

Pictures would help figuring out what the potential outcome would be much better.

OK I found out how much refrigerant is in my unit...says 7.23oz. I can give you a bunch of other figures that I found on my unit too like HS, LS pressures and Capacity and Energy Factor if that will help.

[n00b 0f l337]

That may just be the oil charge. Thats like 250 cc.

[wdrzal]

on your dehumidifier can you determine if its the fan or compressor making all the noise? most are pretty quite.

you can disconect the fan and plug it in and see how loud just the compressor is,won't hurt the compressor to run it a few min. without the fan.

be carful of capacitors the hold a charge and can shock you even if the unit is unpluged.

[jinu117]

Uhmmm 7.2 oz on say... room is going to be not too highly pressured regardless of temp :P But on soda can can be :) I won't know. sounds like a little more refrigerant we use than most SS units. Is there something on compressor that you can see? Label? markings?

[jcw122]

on your dehumidifier can you determine if its the fan or compressor making all the noise? most are pretty quite.

you can disconect the fan and plug it in and see how loud just the compressor is,won't hurt the compressor to run it a few min. without the fan.

be carful of capacitors the hold a charge and can shock you even if the unit is unpluged.

****Well I just figured out it's actually the compressor*****

The fans are actually fairly quiet, it's the rotary compressor that's pretty darn loud....great...there's nothing I can do about the compressor either huh?

[jinu117]

Not much really... maybe box to quieten it down... but now projects gets more massive (in looks, size, effort, etc) (and the box must have good insulation with good airflow... some ducting back and forth with angles can help noise reduction, etc... honestly, a lot of work.

[star882]

Since it's a chiller, move it farther away!

[jcw122]

Since it's a chiller, move it farther away!

My room's not very big, I don't even think I can do that lol.