Modded Mach 1 with 404A

[Gleep]

Ok so I finally got my s**t together and modded my prom mach 1 to R-404A, put a new dryer on it and added ~30" of .026 captube to the exsisting prom cap (found a bowman post recommending this as a starting point). After beating my head against the wall trying to get the cap attached to the dryer, I got it on attempt number 4 (I think, could be number 5, it's all a blur), I finally got the system vaccumed, charged, and running again. I'm still fiddling with charge but I started at about 45 psi (system off) and have been giving it a snort of the good stuff every now and then now that it's hooked up and has a real load attached to it.

Right now I have the following temps. Load is a P4 2.8C @ 3.6Ghz with 1.725v.

CPU -20F (mbm)
Evap -40C/F (prom display)
SST is -7"hg (gauges don't show that low of temp, I think it's about -55F)
Can't get to the suction line to get the temp.
Condenser Inlet temp 75F
Condenser outlet temp ?
SCT 90F
Liquid Line temp near condenser outlet 84F

[Gary Lloyd]

Hard to tell without the suction line temp, but it appears to need a couple more snorts of the good stuff. Evap temp and SST should be a little closer to each other.

Find a way to measure that suction line temperature.

7" hg = -58F/-50C

[Gleep]

New info.

CPU -20F
Evap -43F
SST 6" hg
Suction line temp 49F
Condenser Inlet air temp 77F
SCT 93F
Liquid Line temp near condenser outlet 86F

[Gary Lloyd]

It's looking better. Keep adding, a little at a time. Let's take the suction line temp to about 20F, and see how it all looks.

[Gleep]

ok latest temps.

CPU -20F
Evap -41F
SST -50F
Suction Line Temp 19F
Condenser Inlet Air Temp 75F
SCT 98F
Liguqid Line temp near condenser outlet 86F

I'm starting to wonder if my cap tube is the right length underload my cpu temp fluctuates, I didn't notice it before because the refresh rate for cpu temp was 10 seconds, but now I have it set to 1 second and the temps bounce from -20F to -18F and from time to time -14F.

edit: fixed an incorrect temp

[Gary Lloyd]

It is not possible for the liquid line temp near the condenser outlet to be below the room temp.

[Gleep]

Opps, it should be 86F

[Gary Lloyd]

What is the condenser air out temp?

[Gleep]

Condenser air out temp is 88F.

[Gary Lloyd]

It is very close. If you were to cut off about 6" of cap tube, it should be just about right, and would be capable of handling a slightly larger load, but you are not going to get much better temperatures than you have right now.

What temperatures do you get at idle?

[Gleep]

Idle cpu temp -38F
Evap -43F
Suction Line 16F

This is after about 90 seconds, then I hear trickling water panic thinking something bad is happening and load it again. It sounds like it's from the compressor, could it be liquid in the suction line I'm hearing? It's defently not from the front of the prom (condenser). Sorry for all the questions still new to this and thanks for all the help.

[Gary Lloyd]

Don't worry about the trickling water sound. It's just liquid refrigerant inside the evaporator. Those temps are very good. I would call it close enough, unless you want to go for perfection and slice off 6" of cap tube.

[Gleep]

Ok, good to know. I'm happy with it now, just give me a few weeks and I'll be plotting something new. Maybe my next project will be to build a single stage from scratch for my video card.