Health Emergency...R22 Gas Leak...Maybe....Help!

[Roger_D25]

Hey Guys,
I was hoping some of you guys may be able to help out because I made a stupid mistake about 45min ago and I'd like to know if it was a dangerous mistake? I took my 10,000BTU air conditioner out of storage today to clean it up and get it ready for summer (basically I just pull the unit out of its casing and then vacuum out all the crud, dust, cobwebs, etc...).

Well around the bottom of the condenser there was some rust (very normal for an air conditioner as during its use this part of condenser may be sitting in condensed water). So I pulled out my trusty long flat-head screwdriver to help scrape some of the rust from that area while I used my shop vacuum to suck up the rust and other crap.

Then all of a sudden I started hearing a very loud hissing sound from the area I was scraping. It took me a few seconds to realize what the heck I did. I feel like a total meat-head but I must have punctured part of the condenser while scraping it and all the gas inside leaked out (took about 2.5 minutes give or take). Right after I heard the leak and realized what the heck was going on I dragged the air conditioner from my living room to my front porch (about 30-45 seconds went by before conditioner was completely outside my apartment).

This leads me to my question, am I in any danger in regards to health hazard because of the released gas (turns out it was R22 according to the label on compressor)? I should mention that my apartment is only two rooms with an entrance in front of living room and another entrance in back of living room. Within minutes of the leak I opened up both entrances and put my box fan into one of the living room windows (sucking air out of apartment). Luckily its a windy day and I was able to get a very strong cross-wind through my living room, blowing air from back entrance right out my front entrance.

Last but not least I know next to nothing about refrigerants and despite some quick R22 research online I thought you guys would be able to help better because of personal experience with refrigerant gases and maybe even your own leaks? I couldn't smell anything and there wasn't any visible gas in my apartment and at this point its been airing out for about an hour. I'm a tad worried but feel just fine so I'm hoping I'll survive this! Alright maybe I'm a being a bit mellow dramatic but it was a bit scary! Thanks for any help and insight you guys may have!

[ZenEffect]

it seems you ventilated your place pretty well so you will be just fine. have yourself a ice cream and you will feel better i promise :)

[Roger_D25]

I just spent the last hour reading the R22 MSD sheet and it does seem like I'll be just fine. Especially since I didn't inhale massive amounts of the gas, plus my apartment has now been airing out for about 2.25hrs! According to the MSD information unless you ingest, inhale, or get saturated with the gas in high amounts it doesn't seem to be all that dangerous. I must say I feel like an idiot for getting so worried but I really didn't' know what the deal was with the released gas, especially in my apartment, better to be safe than sorry!

I feel horrible for releasing all that gas into the atmosphere, although it doesn't seem to be extremely dangerous in my case (as far as my exposure goes) but it certainly isn't very helpful to the environment! Thanks for replying so quickly ZenEffect, I apprecaite it!

[godmod]

In your case you did the right. You ventilated the rooms well. I doubt that there is any risk left yet. Have a good night :) (here it is 03:46 ;))

[n00b 0f l337]

Hey its okay you'll be fine, maybe cancer later in life, but we all seem to have a high chance of getting that :P

[mytekcontrols]

Adam :eek: You're going to scare the guy :rolleyes:

[n00b 0f l337]

Hahahaha sorry had to, I sent him a PM though saying hes just fine I'm not that evil ;)

[killermiller]

Hey its okay you'll be fine, maybe cancer later in life, but we all seem to have a high chance of getting that :P

I wonder if he eats any sort of mass produced beef, chicken, or vegetable?:rofl: :ROTF:

[ruffus]

you will be just fine don't let anything we have said scare you but again this will teach you not to scrap things when they are under pressur and rusting but other then that you did the right things and i guess now you have a A/C that you can take the rest of the way apart and make ether a chiller or a SS (single stage) out of it

[Roger_D25]

Thanks for all the kind words guys, thankfully I woke up this morning with no major issues, lol! At the moment I'm in the middle of graduate school so I have no time to try using the parts myself (and I have no idea how to do it), however I'm hoping that Adam might be able to make use of the parts as their pretty much brand new, we'll see!

[wdrzal]

You can braze the hole shut,Vacuum, then weigh in the charge on the Tag and it should work perfectly again.......

[Roger_D25]

I did think about that, or at least I thought about paying someone else to do it (no personal experience with this stuff unfortunately). Especially because about 20 minutes before the leak I had tested the AC and it worked at 100% (ice cold air). My plan was to sell this 10K BTU unit and get a larger one but of course that plan is scrapped now, lol! Last but not least I already offered it to Adam if he wants it (that way when I graduate and want him to build my first SS he'll be willing to help out), lol!

If Adam doesn't end up wanting it for whatever reason do you have any idea how much it would cost to do all that work (braze the hole the I made, vacuum, and then recharge it)?

Here are some pictures of the air conditioner, does anything look useful to you guys?

AC System Specs:
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/7400/onect2.th.jpg (http://img329.imageshack.us/my.php?image=onect2.jpg)

Evaporator:
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2946/twokx9.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=twokx9.jpg)

Compressor Specs:
LG Electronics
QK145CBC
1PH 60Hz 115v LRA 44
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6097/threeag4.th.jpg (http://img144.imageshack.us/my.php?image=threeag4.jpg)

Top Of Compressor:
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4789/fourco2.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fourco2.jpg)

[wdrzal]

Other than vacuum time ,it would take about 15 to 30 minutes to braze hole shut,add a schrader valve and charge,since you already have it out of the case. Price depends on labor rates. Borrow some tools and do it your self,everyone starts some where !!!!! Find a DYI friend close by.

[n00b 0f l337]

Ya if you dun want to pay an HVAC guy to recharge it and such, I'd definitly take it. We can just figure out shipping n packaging cost :) Would be great as I've been thinking of picking up some more scrap pre-drained window ac's for similar to Mytek autocascade in the box. The main thing I like is the condenser with fan assembly, its nice and thin and predone :)

[Roger_D25]

If the shipping charges are outragious and you don't take it than I'll try to fix it (and maybe learn a little something in the meantime). That is usually the best way to learn anything, first-hand! By the way thanks wdrzal for your information!

[Xeon th MG Pony]

Why did I know what was next second I read *Screw driver*

NEVER use screw drivers near refrigeration systems less you know what your doeing!

[Roger_D25]

Why did I know what was next second I read *Screw driver*

NEVER use screw drivers near refrigeration systems less you know what your doeing!

Yeah, pretty stupid right! Believe me I feel like a total idiot, you have no idea:shakes: Being a student in graduate school for mechanical engineering you would think I would have thought that one through before using a screwdriver! At the very least I learned a valuable lesson, and maybe I'll learn a bit more about this stuff from that mistake (stuff I wouldn't have learned otherwise)? After something that stupid you need to look at the bright-side!

[mytekcontrols]

The LG QK145CBC has a pretty large displacement for a 115V rotary (14.5cc). It'll make a real nice autocascade. I'd estimate 200-225 watts @ -100C. I hope Adam goes for it :) Could get interesting ;)

Ancient Chinese proverb says:
One man's loss, is another man's autocascade.

[Roger_D25]

We're trying to make it happen, unfortunately we thinks its going to be expensive to ship. So I'll probably just pull off what he wants to make it cheaper to ship. Can you make SS with a Rotary like this one?

[n00b 0f l337]

Definitly however it would be rather oversized. I'm more interested as you know Mytek for the condenser and family assembly then the compressor ;)

[mytekcontrols]

If you don't want it, I'd be interested in the compressor. Adam send me an email if this is a possibility, and also the cost (or forward my email address to Roger).

Thanks :)

[yngndrw]

Ancient Chinese proverb says:
One man's loss, is another man's autocascade.
So it was the Ancient Chinese who invented Autocascades ?! :o

What worrys me is that the punctured tube would be on the high side. If a screwdriver manages to accidentially puncture the tube, does this mean that the tube was already "too weak" ? Could this have popped under pressure at a later date ?

[Roger_D25]

That is a good point because I certainly wasn't using "extreme" force on the screwdriver, just lightly scraping the area between condenser and fan shroud. Until I have time to remove the shroud however I won't know exactly what punctured.

According to the AC label there was both high-pressure and low-pressure sections in the cooling loop. Do you happen to know if the gas/liquid in the condenser would have been under the high-pressure (350psi) or under the low-pressure (150psi)? I do know that when it was punctured it was very loud so I assume it was under high-pressure?

[yngndrw]

As the unit was off, the pressure should have been the same throughout the system.

However, the condenser is on the high-pressure side when running.

[Xeon th MG Pony]

No a screw driver acts like a knife and cuts into the tubing with ease, tons of fridges have died a smiler death only with a butter knife as some one figured it's a good way to defrost!

[Roger_D25]

Understood!

[ZenEffect]

No a screw driver acts like a knife and cuts into the tubing with ease, tons of fridges have died a smiler death only with a butter knife as some one figured it's a good way to defrost!
ahh yes, back to the good old days when i worked as an appliance repairman.

quickest way to patch without brazing *evaporators in a freezer of a fridge*.... jb weld. does wonders :up:

[Roger_D25]

I didn't even think about that, I actually have half a tube in my toolbox (stuff is like duct-tape), lol!

[teyber]

you should be fine. I had a similar incident, peircing valve wasn't attached well enough and it poped and i got oil in my eyes and almost passed out and died due to the r22 displacing all the o2 in the room.

Best advice so far is to go eat some ice cream. And go to bed early.
Regards

[Roger_D25]

Wise Advice......

[{.bLanK} GoD]

Wise Advice......

I concur. :up:
Although it may work for now, please don't use jb weld to try and fix an evaporator. Ta bro. :shakes:

[Xeon th MG Pony]

ahh yes, back to the good old days when i worked as an appliance repairman.

quickest way to patch without brazing *evaporators in a freezer of a fridge*.... jb weld. does wonders :up:

Tell me about it, some one brought me one where he tried to use duct tap, sad part is for the most part it worked lol, retained what gas was left!

[Xeon th MG Pony]

I concur. :up:
Although it may work for now, please don't use jb weld to try and fix an evaporator. Ta bro. :shakes:

Actualy it is standerd practice here albeit not JB weld but a refrigerant grade epoxy. It is all so heavily used to make alu to cu joints.

[ruffus]

hey guys can u guys tell me what the specs are for the capacitor for this compressor as i just got one but it did not have a cap with it

[wdrzal]

Quick "go to" list for MSDS of refrigerants,oils & chemicals common to refrigeration.

http://www.refrigerants.com/msds.htm

[n00b 0f l337]

Did I miss something here? Dead ressurection and then odd posts? Did we have a forum mess up?

[ruffus]

no u did not miss anything i have some of these compressors and i don't have the starting hardwaer for it and can't find anything about them so i was hoping some one would know what caps i would need for this compressor

[Vinas]

Well, I have a Universal EPA cert and can tell you that there are three major things which can happen when exposed to R22 or any CFC.

1. asphyxiation
2. infertility
3. frost burns

Number 2 usually results after several periods of direct contact with CFC filled areas. Being as you're still alive, I think you're ok and good to go! :up: