To the phase-change Gurus.

[Something Sexy]

New to the forums, long time lurker, finally starting a project so I figured I would post. I am building a water chiller from a compressor from LG 5050 BTU A/C. I am going to be constructing my own evaporater and reservoir. I have all the tools to braze and a really close friend who can recharge my compressor and loop, so all that isnt the problem. Just have a few questions.

1. I like the condensor on rparts.com but it is a little big, if nothing else I might purchase it to make it work but I am looking for a condensor that is around a 120mm fan size or maybe a little bigger, if anyone has any ideas or a place I could purchase one, that would be great.

2. The reservoir/evap is most likely going to be placed above the compressor and condensor, is this going to limit my preformance in any way?

3. The pump is most likely not going to be put inside the reservoir, because I want to keep the reservoir as small as possible, now will the pump frost over and need to be insulated, or is the heat from the pump going to stop this?

I think that is all I have for now to get my started, any information or help would be great, thanks.

[Frozendeath]

1. Small 120mm fan sized condensers can be purchased here on the forums from Chilly1, send him a PM for more info.

2. It will not effect the systems performance, just remember compressors get hot, so I would not sit anything directly on top of them. Need to keep some airflow going over it. But if you build a stand to sit the evap on, that will work fine. Are you going for a coil style evap? Chilly can hook you up with one of those as well.

3. It depends on the type of pump you are using, an aquarium pump like eheim or Mag 3 will frost around the barbs and on the front plate of the casing. However even at -30C the sides and back of the pump remain room temperature. So throw some insulated sheeting over the front of the pump, and you will be good to go. A more industrial style pump with a metal housing will react differently (I have no experience with them).

Hope that helps :)

[Stewie007]

I'll be able to tell ya when I get my chiller up and running. However, I have insulated the front of my pump ahead of the housing. Its a good idea just to be precautious, no?

[Something Sexy]

Thank you for the information, I am currently in the process of contacting chilly1 about everything. Now when refilling the loop, do I need to talk to my HVAC guy for what valves I might need to attach or can they do it through the compressor?

[Stewie007]

Clarify please. I don't understand the question.

[Something Sexy]

Recharging the compressor with freon or whatever, is that done directly through the compressor or do you need to attach valves that do it to the loop?

[Stewie007]

When you complete the system, and it is oiled, you draw a vacuum with a vacuum pump. THEN once you have a good Vac, you charge it with refrigerant via an access valve.

[Something Sexy]

Ok, so I am going to have to incorporate an access valve into my loop, which I will have t discuss with my HVAC guy.

[RussC]

You will install the valve on your system. It will have at least a low side shrader valve on a 1/4" male flare fitting, or whatever fitting you install in it. If its a pre-made system, then you will have to adapt the manifold to the valve to fill. Your HVAC guy will have all the correct valves and manifold and tanks to fill the system.

Look at some pics on this site, you'll see these male flare fittings that act as the filler/test ports.

RussC