tool pics, my fridge broke

[wdrzal]

Here's some quick pics I took of hvac tools, I was up all night so I will tell you the story and what they were used for. Not all were using in the repair because the system did not have schraeder valves and I was able to diagnose and fix the fridge with out installing pressure taps.

Tool list
1:Electronic leak detectors
2:ultrasonic sight glass
3:fluke 65 infrared temperature meter
4: Textron digital pen multimeter
5 Fluke clamp-on multimeter + above meters and extension cables and clamps

[wdrzal]

1: Direct reading watt meter
2: Non-invasive ultrasonic velocity meter:uses doppler frequency shift to measure velocity,by know velocity and tube Id. flow can be determined

[wdrzal]

1: differental pressure mass flow meter w/ leak down test...did not use
2: very niice single,double flare set with swaging dies and tube cutter,the yellow tool is for de-burring.......not used.
3: Electronic stethascope, for listing to compressor for bad valves or bearings,you can also hear fluid flowing thru the tubing.

[trance565]

how exactly does the electronic leak detector work? does it have an ultra sensitive microphone or does it detect the gases?

[wdrzal]

how exactly does the electronic leak detector work? does it have an ultra sensitive microphone or does it detect the gases?

Those detectors pictured are electronic, electronic detectors either use corona discharge or a solid state heated ceramic diode to pass a electoral charge too. There are other sensing methods but those are the main 2. As they come in contact with halogenated refrigerants they alarm.... The one one the Left has what the manufactures call a ion pump (no moving parts) to pull refrigerant into the tip. The Red one on the right has a "true mechanical pump" to move refrigerants. I tested them for sensing time and noticed no difference. I prefer the the black one made by cps just do to that the wand wraps around the body and is smaller in the case to fit in your back pocket.It is the newer 790B model. On ebay the cps models are mostly yellow and most are the older A model. The Red one was produced by CE (central electronics) for snap-on who was the exclusive marketer for a number of year, now Tif and other companies sell that same model (color is different)


There are also ultrasonic detectors (not pictured) that "hear" the high frequency sound waves all leaks make.

SoddemFX I will explain the trouble shooting process I did a little latter today,I think it will have some benefit to the forum even though this was a fridge.

[wdrzal]

I noticed the drinks in the fridge getting a Little warmer than the usual 38f degrees I keep the fridge and 0f for the freezer. the evap is completely hidden behind a false wall in back of the freezer and condenser is wrapped in a square tube underneath, both use small fans to move air over them. The system is factory sealed using r12 with No schrader valves.

Since the fridge was cycling on and off I would have liked to check pressures but wasn't to keen on putting taps on the line.The first thing I did was check underneath and inside the freezer and fridge for any signs of leaking refrigerant with electronic detectors, none was found. So i put my electronic sight glass on the liquid line and could "see" it was full, moved it to the suction and noticed it spitting a little liquid back toward the compressor. This should not happen,unless either the fan was not moving air over the evap or the evap was iced up. Either way the back panel from inside the freezer had to come out.Well after about 20 min. of diagnostics and 10 min to get the panel out the problem was apparent, the evaporator was a solid block of ice, but the fan was running OK. unlike air conditioners that operate above freezing this evap located in the freezer compartment is always at around 0f or a little below. when moisture condenses it turns to frost then ice until the unit "defrosts" itself.
Well I metered the heating element and was ok .In short, It ended up being the thermal control that keep the defrost cycle from coming on when the compressor was running. A little tap unstuck the points.

I already moved everything into the basement fridge , so I let the evap thaw overnight, I got 4 liters of water out of the drain pan in the morning. I listened to the compressor to see how it sounded with a electronic stethoscope ,everything sounded ok so I put in the$ 8.00 part and every thing is fine.

You older guys probably remember the time before "frost free" fridges and mom had to defrost it every few months depending on humidity and how often the doors were opened. Still beats the iceman having to come twice a week.

Back to cooling CPU's

[Xeon th MG Pony]

I have a frost guaranteed fridge, Love em, no stupid fans to muck up, no unneeded circuits to fry or break, uses less power.

And when the Power goes out I don't need to worry :D it has its one cooling pack inside ha-ha :)

fyi pics doen't seem to work.

[Thrilla]

Non of the pics work for me?
SuSE Linux 10.0 + Firefox 1.5.0.7

[[XC] MarioMaster]

pics probably got trashed from the server swap