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Commercial Chiller Service...Freon Charge tips
Home refrigerators rarely, and I mean rarely leak Freon. Now commercial equipment I think their leaking when they leave the factory. My Chiller was cycling very fast, temps higher than normal, and I can't hear the refrigerant as it passes thru the expansion valve so I knew it was low.
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So anytime you're hooking up refrigerant to a piece of equipment to charge the system there is a very basic practice that Must be done in the correct order so air is not introduced to the system. Be it Planes, Trains, Automobiles, or a Chiller it all takes a charge the same. First you hook up your Gauges to the Low side Port on the equipment and the port on the refrigerant tank. At this point all hose connections should be tite.
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So with the valves remaining closed on the Gauges you open the Charging Port on the equipment and the valve on the Tank. Here is the important part, where the tank hose connects to the gauges you crack the hose connection just enough to hear a little refrigerant escape. Just a little. Then tighten the hose back. Go to the Low side hose where it attaches to the gauges and crack it just enough to hear some refrigerant escape then tighten the hose back up. In that split second you hear the tiniest hiss the lines are purged of air. You must purge your hoses before charging. Todays Automotive Gauge sets have Low Loss Hoses. Unless your hoses have lost their pressure you do not have to purge.
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So refrigerators working pressures is very low. Depending on air volume from the Evaporator fan motor the temperature dial for the refrigerant you're using may be less than you would expect. here my Chiller still works with 8 psi of 134A but we are at 40 degrees on the door.
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Since the low operating pressures I charge at a low pressure.
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Now at normal operating pressure (Less than 20 psi) the compressor shuts off at 34 degrees but the system bounces down to 32 degrees before warming up to cycle again. Just posting something different, I hope you find the information useful.
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More Repairs - Controller & Temp Probes
This Chiller was purchased a long time ago. I didn't think it was made in China till reading the label for this last parts order. The Evaporator coil was replaced 10 years or so ago but leaks a little now. Not a well made Evaporators at all. When I pull it out to fix this time I will just fix as the new replacement I purchased began leaking within a few years. This time the problem was with it freezing everything inside. I looked at the display on the front and it was 3 degrees, not good. I decided the Controller and Temperature Probes needed replacing. One probe senses the Temp of the Evaporator itself the other senses the Temp inside the Cabinet.
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These controllers are very versatile. You can program these for controlling lots of different functions using probes or switches. The Water Chiller for my Shiner Tank uses a Controller like this. Anyway I swapped the Controllers first and did a test run, the system was still running past the shut off temperature.
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The Evaporator probe runs down the right side of the coil turns and the Cabinet probe drops thru the Evaporator Cover into the Cabinet. After replacing both I closed up the Evaporator area.
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The sealant the Mfgr used obviously didn't seal. All air must be cut off in the Cabinet area or the inside will make excess water on the Evaporator coil so I sealed both areas where the wires went thru well before closing up.
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Hooray, Happy Chiller Days are here again. I couldn't go to the Rez before fixing this anyway.
