Just got out a seminar of R-290 R-600 and R-32. Good to see it on a repair here. 👍 This refrigerants are here to stay. And will continue to scale on bigger systems.
I struggle with that reality a bit... As an industrial ammonia tech, the idea of mitigating highly explosive refrigerant leaks is sketchy. Now, ammonia can be sketchy, of course. But its explosive limits are not nearly as nutty as propane. I mean, it’s bad enough to deal with the caustic nature of ammonia, but its LEL is manageable. Propane on the other hand... That’s crazy. I would not want to have respond to a major release of hundreds or even thousands of pounds of that stuff. Check out this video of an ammonia explosion in an industrial engine room, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AqPOAPiH0Sk.html Now imagine if that were propane... 😳 That whole plant would probably have been leveled. Pretty gnarly to imagine huge systems using propane. I kinda doubt they’ll get that big, but even the thought is kinda terrifying 🤣
I was at the Manitowoc factory when they started using danfos valves the danfos rep actually held the valve in his hand while he welded it to show you don't need a heat shield on stainless parts
Ever thought about using locking caps on the service ports for R290 especially if you're leaving the ports on and I totally understand why you do, I do the same... Just a thought.
Thanks for the tip on the coated crap ! Thanks again for the videos! 🥃🥃🍺🍺🍺🏌🏻♀️🎯 Stay safe. Retired (werk'n)keyboard super tech. Wear your safety glasses!
hey i started a HVACR company about 5 months ago. i have been watching you for about 2 years. your awesome, thanks for always doing a good job. your a good example of good tech. thanks for being some one to look up to. have a good day man!
Chris morphed himself into somewhat of a celebrity here in the I.E., California. I’m quite sure he didn’t expect that, but it’s well deserved. He’s a true mentor, most definitely.
Great video, it's hard to sit through a pull down without the cores removed. From time to time I get the not enough clearance to install the Appion. Slooooow...
Chris, you are VERY VERY good to your customers. They deserve it, I guess, only if they pay you well for the crud you have to put up with. Nice video sir!
You can't really protect these Danfos TXVs because of the limited space and with them if you do it properly you can hold the Head in your bare hands and sweat it in by walking the solder into the joint
I will discuss this on my livestream this evening 02/07/22 @ 5:PM (pacific) on RU-vid come over and check it out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AjnU2FRoRiA.html
I wish they would allow R290 to be used in heatpump and ac systems. It's cheaper, available, zero harmful to the environment. I'm not sure why it isn't allowed since we are allowed to have gas or propane appliances and heating systems. Yes there is risk of HVAC techs causing a small explosion but that is also the case with gas heating systems or steam boilers. Plus we have good push together/crimp fittings these days.
Big guess is that in heating system your active in controlling the burn so tons of safety, but a/c or heat pump will leak and they would need higher volume of gas that would be unsafe and uncontrolled, with heaters ( gas or electric or water heater with pilot ) in the area the fire or explosion would be way greater. Not against it but I think way more safety system needed ( like a emergency outside vent if system pressure drops too quick, or power break for house kicks out if again pressure drops to quick, but I'm sure if price good enough someone will make it.
Because Honeywell and Dupont can't make their Billions on Gucci refrigerants. Patenting is big money bro. Then you get techs like Chris here making a tiny system like this seem like there's some huge danger of an ounce of propane in a giant kitchen that has natural gas pumped in by the cubic yard lol Yes common sense is vent away from open flame or heat source. But there's so little it doesn't matter. Get into larger systems like a residential AC... even that is so little and high pressure, by the time it vented its up in the atmosphere. Refrigerants can be quite flammable too. Just under most conditions... it is not. But you cannot control the masses unless you use fear so... propane is scary yo.
@@analogmoz induction motors are cheap and no sparks. Still doesn't matter. If you're that worried buy a leak detector and wire it in to shut it all off until fixed. I mean, air to fuel ratio is a thing. And dilution is the solution to pollution.
would it be possible to get a adapter for a bunsen type burner to vent thru? that way you can vent the gas, burn it off in a safer manner or is it too much hassle for sucha small charge
I will discuss this live on RU-vid this evening 3/14/22 @ 5:PM (pacific) come over and check it out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--Q5Dya0wcwI.html
Had same issue with vacuum pull on my fieldpiece, check your hose to the pump at the joins, Had 2 of those 3/8 hose from the manifold to the vacuum pump had very tiny leaks the cause my pull time to become stupid long. As always your vids are just fantastic. Watch every time they come out. Still waiting on your tool reviews. Love the pants one help me find a great set. Maybe get some pants merch ....
I'm not surprised. Some leaks only show up at pressure lower than the surroundings, some at pressure higher than the surroundings. A vacuum leak can also be somewhere else in the system, but the only way to really know is to stop pumping for a while and see if the pressure rises.
Dude it's like 5 ounces of propane probably less due to leak. You can more easily light your fart on fire. Dropping that amount of propane in the building is literally like putting one drop of water into the ocean. Him running a meter and exhaust fans is funny overkill but what you're talking about is just ridiculously funny. Lol
@@etherealrose2139 WOW Your ignorance must be bliss. You have obviously never repaired any combustible refrigerant equipment. I don’t believe he is to concerned about an explosion The concern is a manager overreacting when they walk by and smell it. If you had ever performed a repair such as this you would know how bad it can smell. True recommends using a water hose to vent it out the building. Why to prevent a psycho manager from clearing the kitchen of staff!
@@vicenterivera69 yeah probably true. I know the first time I did a r290 repair I was so like this is crazy I will say this it’s been my experience that when using crimp offs to weld the ports back closed it is very easy to crimp a hole in the line It’s a fine line on how tight you out the crimper on!! Have a good one
Hi guys, the all time high. R290 refrigerant charge was 205lbs, , yes I worked with lots of it years ago, and just ALWAYS, BE CAREFUL, NEVER. HAD A PROBLEM.THERE will be more now, including home refrigerators, then the INTNL BUILDING CODES WILL BE CHANGED TO COMOLY WITH MORE A2 REFRIGERANTS TO GET AROUND GWP LEVELS ,STAY WELL,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Ty Branaman has a whole video series on vacuum. His latest video does quite a good job showing how using gauges to perform a vacuum can show your numbers from the gauge to the system can be way off. Most of us in the trade with some years under our belt will already know this....its great for newbies. Sorry Chris wasn't trying to hijack or promote other channels ( i know Ty and you are on good terms, if not friends and you won't be upset with this ). It just goes to show you how you can think you are doing a good job.....but you really aren't. This was a nice easy call. Typical type of day to day work we in the trade deal with. Its not the most glamorous job every day, we do a lot of repetitive type work....doesn't mean its not important or mean you skip steps....thats what i like most about you and your channel....you are honest, try your best with what you have to deal with and you are realistic about what the situation is. Not every job gets the A++ treatment....most customers don't want or can't afford the Beverly Hills repairs.....so we do our best to complete the job within a time period and to keep it profitable.
wouldn't it be safer to Light up the gas, just like a torch? I mean... I'd rather have a controlled flame (you have a valve that controls the amount of gas) with the alternative being a room filled with a potentially explosive mixture of flammable gas and air. You probably need to add a flame arrester or something so the flame won't travel back into the system when the pressure drops, but that's it.
It does not burn like LP it does burn tho it is a refrigerant style of Propane and it is the oil and refrigerant mixture that causes the flammability now for the comment made about no oxygen unfortunately this is incorrect there is oxygen in the refrigerant not alot but it is there so yes the flame could burn into hose when the pressure is nearly non existence because when the refrigerant escapes there is a vacuum behind it which can and will suck the flame back into the system which with the vaporization of the oil which could pressurize in system could become a bomb like a pressurized boiler with no pressure relief valve that is why you purge propane the purge nitrogen to force out the vaporized propane the you use a torch to make sure it is primarily nitrogen before you try unbrazing the fittings ie.. any one that has used a torch on a line that still has pressure on it knows it will make a flame shoot out some distance but it is still a flame thrower.
Ya know... It’s tough watchin’ you make these little jobs look easy... These kinds of services used to piss me off beyond all comprehension... Haha! Sometimes! Not all the time... Great work on swapping that valve. I don’t miss those restaurants... At all 🤣
You're up late/early today! Had an "emergency" service last night? - I use quotes, because most people would have a clue what a true "emergency" is, even if R-22 sprayed them in the face! ROFL
Nice job on the cutting boards, I was at panera and they were putting cardboard boxes on the cutting board to open and empty. I am sure they were fresh off the floor or the floor of the truck that delivered it.
I agree with using OEM parts on everything possible. True and beverage air both have told me to source cap tubes, and driers from local parts houses. I prefer they send it to me.
Great video as always. What made you decide to keep the process tubes? I personally agree with keeping process tubes on all small units but I remember when you used to remove them for R-290 units.
I have just been thinking about my employees safety lately and that is the only sketchy part of working on the units so I just decided we won't cut them off anymore
@@Mike-zl4zs its an r290 rule. However after you charge the unit in order to remove them you need a crimp off tool and be able to seal the hole you'll make after pulling off the accesses. Really sketchy considering you're heating a pipe up that has a flammable gas in it. Better to just keep them on there. Havent really met anyone whose gotten text book over it.
I will discuss this on my livestream this evening 02/07/22 @ 5:PM (pacific) on RU-vid come over and check it out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AjnU2FRoRiA.html
Actually you are not supposed to leave them on but alot of techs do and they justify it by saying they are concerned for safety but all they have to do is pinch the tubing closed twice and leave the pinch off tool left on at the bottom then snap off the end and apply a drop of solder then remove the pinch off tool no safety issue at all if it is removed this way
Good vid ! 1) Why did u not address the corroded section / Blue section of pipe ? in the evap. Why did u not Sand that Blue Corroded area in the Evap section ? before leak checking ? You know thats got to be Leaking. You Should have replaced that section of pipe at a minimum. Thats where u were getting a hit. 2) on those systens u should be leaving your solenoid magnets 🧲 on the liquid line solenoids before welding to alleviate pressure buildups. 3) Guys - allways put your solenoid magnets on solenoids During welding process.
Is it ok to leave access ports on an are 290 system? I have been sealing off and brazing the process tube but I would much rather leave the access ports like a normal refrigerant
Every one of them !! Even reputable restaurants. They do clean them but not all the time, kitchen work is just dirty by nature. Enjoy your eating out !! Lol
i have a 20 m refrigerant hose with a weight on the end, i throw it out a window and vent there... dont vent inside, it has oil in system that is bad for you..
Another great video. I have a question on the vacuum/gauges. I have been looking at purchasing a fieldpiece manifold set and was wondering how the internal micron gauge works? Is it individually to each side of the gauges high and low? Or does it only read one micron level? Is it possible to allow your gauges to pull from one side and measure the other side? I know an external micron is much better but not always practical
the micron gauge is in the center port. so when pulling a vacuum through my gauges my middle port has a ball valve hose instead of anti-blow back spefically so i can valve off the hose and keep the manifold open. or you can use the vacuum pump if it has a valve on the ports.
R290, that's propane, isn't it? Scary... I don't dare use eg a gas stove, natural gas and propane have way too much of a temper for me. Look at em wrong and BOOM! instant cremation service on an explosive discount... yeah thanks but no thanks :-| I want to live. Electric is fine for me. As an aside, @HVACR Videos -- I emailed you some time ago, my mother has a residential package unit and I suspect it has an electrical problem; I'd love to hear your opinion on that. I've thought about joining your livestreams, but I'm very much the sort who's far better at spinning a yarn across all afternoon than putting out a short, simple explanation. I don't know how I got through college without being able to summarize decently -- a particularly nice four-year institution, at that! -- but I did. You probably don't have the patience to hear me weave the whole tale all over again, and I get really irritated really quickly when people don't just let me tell my story my way, so it's probably just as well that I don't bother :-/ but I'd love to get some advice if I could...
that sounds like a good idea , but actually it woukd probably tske longer to goget your hose , run it out , then put it away than it takes to vent it on the spot over a few minutes time. time is money. work smarter not , harder. Yea , if it was a huge charge of r-290 id agree. but only 150 grams is not much. 5.3 ounces. vent one ounce every minute. wait one minute. so , within 10 minutes refrigerant is gone. Running the exhaust hood too is going to clear that air very quickly.
There's literally not enough propane to have any issues venting all once. Especially with the exhaust fans on moving the air, the fuel to air ratio is so far out of bounds it's not even worth thinking about let alone running a meter lol
150 grams of propane is about 0.3 liters as a liquid and 81 liters as gas. Since LEL for propane is 2% you will have an explosive mixture if you release it in a volume of 4000 liters of air. Since the gas settles near the floor, it would be perfect for a room of 3 meters squared and in the lower 1/2 meters of the room. Converted to US measurements that's 10 by 10 feet area and 1.6 feet high. It certainly is worthwile to take your time and let the exhaust fans pull out vapors over a few minutes at least.
@@mrfrenzy. In a high-enough concentration at floor level, something as simple as a contactor pulling in or normal arcing in a condenser fan motor can be enough to ignite. Better to err on the side of caution. Release slowly and in small amounts, and allow to dissipate. Using the "sniffer" as Chris did was probably the best way to vent the system indoors, since it's going to be highly sensitive and set off a warning tone before the concentration gets too dangerous. EDIT: This is why they tell people if you smell propane (R290 doesn't have the benefit of the sulfur odor additive that "street use" propane does) to leave the building immediately and NOT to operate any switches or electrical appliances.
SMans have issues with the Teflon seals on the valves breaking away from the valves and blocking the flow of refrigerant. I’m about to buy a rebuild kit for mine and they’re not even a year old. I could send them in under warranty, but will I ever get them back ?
Fieldpiece has a great warranty service if you contact them and tell them the issue you're having I had a set that got cold and cracked the plastic housing and they leaked of course it was the first Gen. They sent me a new 2nd gen set.
problem with that is once they start leaking those copper coated valve are history, it just means the coating broken down the point the braze is gasing out and reheat will just make it worse. You can try chasing that rabbit but you'll just waste time, and the customers patience as they are in a hurry to start putting stuff back in while you work...( tell me I'm wrong...)
Same, 50% silver with paste flux instead of the economy 5% or even 15%. I do use 15% for copper/copper and copper/brass. I've done a lot of stainless/stainless using 50% flux coated rods and a little extra flux on hard to clean stainless or steel. Haven't had any of my joints fail.
Remember there can be oil there too. quite commonly. sometimes that copoer gets weird on the outlet of txvs too. the cooler corrodes the copper tubing making pin holes in the copper tubing. i Would have actually asked the factory for a new evap & txv. since under warranty. that evap is not long for this world. he will be back replacing the evap on this one soon.
I have repaired ultra cold freezers and similars cascades for many years. The problem these days is that they get charged by process tubes that they blind them off in an ultrasonic way. The cost ( and leaks) made them in later Years to not include ports to get access. It is a nightmare since I cannot blind off a tube/tubes I have to puncture to check the systems static pressures😳I cannot braze on a system holding ethane propane or ethene so the charge is lost. Warranty or not, the Schrader ports I put on stay the lifetime of those units. No one of the producers denies me to keep my hard cost valves in place😊
I was once told you could burn off the r290 as it’s coming out. Kind of like a torch. That makes sure you have control of it with a valve ball . Is that something any has tried?
I’m Australian. You get a bbq regulator and a small single ring has burner. An you can burn it off because it only lets such a small amount through the reg. Takes soooo long though.
If you have air sucked into the system, you could get into an explosion. I would never dare to try that one😳If the mix air/propane is in the bad range it is pretty dangerous. A suction leak can make such a fatal condition. I usually drain a hydrocarbon system slowly and apply vacuum for a certain time. Later I flush with nitrogen all the time I have a braze to be done.
Why doesn't the customer clean and sanitize the unit? In fact, why don't they keep it clean, as it's a device meant for storing and keeping food cold. Disgusting. When I was a kid working in a restaurant, that's something that we had to do, if it meant getting on hands and knees and getting dirty or wet, so be it. That's what I was being paid to do, after cooking, we cleaned up before we locked up and went home.
I don't get paid to do their job but if they want to pay me to clean and sanitize their equipment when I make significantly more than minimum wage and their staff members make at the most a little more than minimum wage then I'll do it but when I tell them I need to clean it out before I can service they say no they will clean it out and ask me to return tomorrow or a later date but they pay for the rest of the service because warranty does not pay for return visits due to the user's abuse of the equipment ie...filth
When you work on the real world you will realize the customer wants you gone as soon as possible, they don’t want to pay you any more than they have to.
