Ok, I'm Chilled. I'm Chilled. Relax....56K Warning!

Ok, I decided to modify my ghetto chiller, so let's see....http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/rolleyes.gif This "conversion" has been wrought with issues. http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...milies/doh.gif I'm not going to bother to detail each and every one though. Had problems with the charging, evac, water tight seals...the list goes on. Seems as though I've struggled through them successfully though. The chiller has not been taken out to it's home yet, but is ready for that....probably tomorrow. http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...smiley-019.gif

So, on with the show:

Rolled my evap = At least 2 dozen feet of 1/4" copper...2 separate paths/coils....3/8" in and out:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...version002.jpg



Pulled the ghetto chiler, brought it inside, got out the piercing valve and got setup for the recovery:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...version005.jpg



That went well enough, so it was time to put the evap together and get it mounted. My first attempt looked like this, but I'll tell ya--trying to get 3/8" copper through those 1/2" holes...without creasing it--is a task I could not seem to accomplish http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3.../banana015.gif :

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2004.jpg



So, a 1 hr round trip to Lowes and it came out looking more like this:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2003.jpg



Of course, I knew I should have left a few more inches of copper on the evap ends, but for some reason I thought I left enough ( http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...EMOTICON13.gif ) So, I ended up improvising a solution to get the evap/res mounted to the chiller:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...version009.jpg



I used these water tight sealing doodads for the evap lines in and out. Of course they gave me seapage/leakage issues, but I've managed to get them leak-free:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2002.jpg



While attaching the res/evap I added the low side port as seen in the vacuum pump pic above. And removed the manufacturer crimped off access port and attached a shrader valve there for the high side access port:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...version010.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...version011.jpg


So, now it's ready for the evac.....http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ilies/cool.gif

Same pic as above. Hooked up for evac with the micron meter dead ended:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2003.jpg



I had issues with the evacing, but let's cut to the chase with the first signs of life:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2005.jpg



Followed by the next sign of life:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2006.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2007.jpg



Went round and round with the charging/evacing...back and forth...round and round. Many Thanx! to shurik who was there to try to help a fella out! http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/thumbsup.gif But in the end the top portion of the res was not filling with water (trapped air). It wasn't until after I realized this ( http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...milies/doh.gif )that everything started jumping into place. Once I tilted the chiller to get the trapped air out....charging was a breeze! http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ies/cool-1.gif

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...sion2002-1.jpg



I decided to go with R290 (the ghetto version :p). Modified a torch valve/tip:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2009.jpg



I did not modify the teeny, tiny little hole, so filling was super-duper slow....needed to fix that, so I did--unbrazed the mod, took apart the torch valve and cut the tip off. Now it charges vapor and/or liquid...and super-fast:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2010.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2011.jpg



Put it back together again:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ersion2001.jpg

She ain't purdy, but she works right nice.... http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/sasmokin.gif

So, it was time to get some other stuff done. As stated earlier, I managed to get the water tight fittings actually, uh, water tight! ( http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/facepalm.gif ) Decided to go ahead and remove the original a/c thermostat and just connected the 2 leads together via this little buss bar (red/white, right side):

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...sionRes001.jpg



Got most, maybe all, of the res insulation completed....I may insulate the tee ends...maybe not, we'll see:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...sionRes002.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...sionRes003.jpg


And that's it for the moment. Need to haul it out to the building, get the plumbing hooked up (no biggie) check the tune under load ( at the current low ambients) and then check it a bit later after things warm up a bit. http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...s/thumbsup.gif Next up will be getting the blocks and unisinks mounted on these 58xx series cards....http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ies/cheers.gif

I would double check your "buss bar", I seen capacitors that look like that. Not your normal looking run or start capacitors. Look for a uf rating.


Oh, and great job!:up:

What's with those hand valves; that really is a danger left uncapped or left on to begin wtih.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wdrzal

I would double check your "buss bar", I seen capacitors that look like that. Not your normal looking run or start capacitors. Look for a uf rating.


Oh, and great job!:up:

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Many Thanx, Walt! :up: The buss bar is part of the "control box" that came with the a/c. Same with the capacitor. So, I really don't understand what you're getting at....:shrug: The wires to the left of the red/white thermostat wires are connected to a different little buss bar and are the wires coming in from the plug/wall. Both of the little buss bars look identical, so I've no doubt that it can handle the voltage/amps. The controls, capacitor, compressor, etc are all original from the manufacturer (Fridgidaire), so let me know a bit more about what you are seeing and I'll check it out. :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by n00b 0f l337

What's with those hand valves; that really is a danger left uncapped or left on to begin wtih.

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Those are the yellow jacket hose end ball valves. No one has access to the chiller, except me, a burglar or maybe a ghost ( :D ). No kids, pets, wild animals, etc, so it's definitely not as unsafe as it appears. But you're right, I can put some caps on them...that's not a problem. :up:

I left them on for convenience, because I wanted to check the tune once moved back to it's permanent home. Just lose gas taking them off and putting them back on, etc. They are just temporary...once everything is settled...they're coming off and the access valves will be properly capped. :up:

In the first pic in post 53 I can see a black box(lower left)that I believe is the fan speed control? You said you removed the thermostat.
The red wire from that control goes to the white "buss bar" ? In general these type of units all connection are at the fan switch,thermostat,or on capacitors.I never seen a bus bar in a window unit. The white buss bar (upper right rectangle with red,blue & white sheathed wire) may be a small capacitor for the fan motor(depending on where the wires go),cant see.Check with a multimeter if it is a buss bar you will have 0 ohms between all possible connections. Look for any letters or numbers on it.

And look and the wiring diagram.

Just stumbled upon this thread and its VERY interesting. Great work so far Naja002! Just one question, and it may not matter much now since you've changed the setup, but are you sure a 70/30 mix was necessary for your 24 gallon reservoir/tank? Wouldn't say an 85/15 mix be sufficient yet more efficient?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wdrzal

In the first pic in post 53 I can see a black box(lower left)that I believe is the fan speed control? You said you removed the thermostat.
The red wire from that control goes to the white "buss bar" ? In general these type of units all connection are at the fan switch,thermostat,or on capacitors.I never seen a bus bar in a window unit. The white buss bar (upper right rectangle with red,blue & white sheathed wire) may be a small capacitor for the fan motor(depending on where the wires go),cant see.Check with a multimeter if it is a buss bar you will have 0 ohms between all possible connections. Look for any letters or numbers on it.

And look and the wiring diagram.

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Ok, I understand what you're getting at...:up: I can take a pic, but the metal of the little buss bars is all one piece (2 separate bars though). The red/white wire are actually both red--the white sleeve is just that...a sleeve. If ya look closely (maybe enlarge the pic some) you can see the hint of red wiring just after the sleeve. They are both red wires. As you know, a thermostat is just an on/off switch. All I did was by-pass the switch by "connecting the wires together".....via that little buss bar. The buss bar is just solid metal with 4 prongs for the wires to mount on to it. The prongs do not go into the plastic....it's completely visible. 100%. Just a convenient direct connection. The other little buss bar is the same.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FlawleZ

Just stumbled upon this thread and its VERY interesting. Great work so far Naja002! Just one question, and it may not matter much now since you've changed the setup, but are you sure a 70/30 mix was necessary for your 24 gallon reservoir/tank? Wouldn't say an 85/15 mix be sufficient yet more efficient?

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Thanx! :up:

I asked, but ultimately could not locate an adequate answer. So, with all of the aluminum on the evap of the ghetto chiller...it was better to overkill then underkill, IMO. :up:


Just wanted to toss in here about the micron meter. As some will recall in my plateHX conversion thread I had a lot of headache from the micron meter, or the system not holding vacuum or something. Well, after I-have-no-idea-how-many-cleanings and letting the micron meter sit for months with alcohol in it....it works just fine! :up:Apparently originally pulling the oil over it made it go wacky and there was no simple 1 or 12 cleaning fix. It took a lot more then that! :yepp: So, 1) I'll be dead-ending it from here on out, and 2) I ordered a 3', 3/8" vacuum hose and adapter that I am hoping will eliminate the frickin' BS from trying to do a serious evac with the standard charging hoses. If this doesn't work then I'll order another adapter and make a copper line like Ultralo1 ! Dammit. :D

Got ya Naja...........It caught my eye because I've seen small plastic enclosed capacitors in that shape with 4 to 8 spade terminals. The pic looked to me there are 4 terminals on one end,a small space and 4 terminals on the other end.

Sorry ,but it didn't hurt to ask :shrug:......Carry on. :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wdrzal

Got ya Naja...........It caught my eye because I've seen small plastic enclosed capacitors in that shape with 4 to 8 spade terminals. The pic looked to me there are 4 terminals on one end,a small space and 4 terminals on the other end.

Sorry ,but it didn't hurt to ask :shrug:......Carry on. :up:

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NP at all, Walt. I'm glad and Thank You for asking and pointing it out. :up: In this case it is really simple and straight forward. If I had bothered to look around and pay attention in the past...I could have just eliminated the thermostat/ambient issues I had before. That's done now....:up:

BTW, yes, it is 4 x 4, but there's no connection in between...:up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naja002

BTW, yes, it is 4 x 4, but there's no connection in between...:up:

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yep ^^^^^^ that's exactly how they look,but there is one metal rivet holding each 4x4 down and that rivet is connected to a wire to the capacitor in the plastic block the ones I have seen. I almost missed it myself,I think is was on a chest freezer with about 1/6hp compressor, and a couple small window units.
so the capacitance is between the 2 4x4.

Well that fooled me,but everyone should now know that all capacitors are not round or oval.

This last post is just a heads up for everyone here as XS. China does some strange wiring.