R23 or R1150 for cascade?

[bthom]

Hi all,

Just wondering what folks thoughts are regarding R23 vs. R1150 for the colder stage of a cascade?

Boiling point for R1150 is lower but on the down side it's flammable. Both R23 and R1150 are legal to work with in the US without an EPA cert.

R508b is also an option but it's just a mix of R23 and R116, and I don't see any advantage to including the R116.

I'm not too worried about cost or availability as I already have or can get any of the above. More concerned about the technical side.

Again just curious to hear from anyone who has already explored this.

Thanks for any info,
-BT

[aenigma]

I was never able to get R23 or R1150, so I haven't used either, however R1150 would be the goal. I tried to get it for a couple years but never did. Small towns suck sometimes. If I remember correctly most commerical autocasades use a proprietary azeotropic blend of hydrocarbons such as R600a, R290, R1150 and R50. I designed and built the first working autocascade for overclocking about 10 years ago when I was into overclocking, then another just for the heck of it. Then I got out of it for many years since I reached my goal and couldn't get a good low stage refrigerant to really make her sing.

I am using propane and nitrous oxide since that is all I can get around here in central Washington. Many thought I'd blow myself up and win the Darwin award, and probably thought I did since I stopped posting for so long.
Nitrous oxide isn't very efficient, unfortunately, but I did get down to -102C.

[wdrzal]

While R23 is a second stage gas in the lower 48, it's used as a first stage gas in Alaska and in Artic regions of the world in some commercial applications.

[aenigma]

That makes sense if ambient temperature is very cold year around.

[Sk_rmouche]

Hi to everyone,

I've used in the past R23 and R14 in a three stages cascade and I would highly recommend using R23 if you're not about getting the coldest possible temperature.

Compression ratio is very stressful with a R1150 and R404A setup. Compressors are more likely to run colder with R23 and R404A, and you can expect good performance at around -75 to -80?C.

R23 is a pain to get instead of ethylene, ( ok nothing to compare with a bottle of R14 ... ) but you will have less pressure to deal with and it's a little bit safer too