In your explanation video, merely in passing you said anybody can do it, and my friend, whom I showed the video as 'proof' that a broken fridge need not always be replaced as a whole, kept asking 'but how, how do you top off then?'. Lo and behold, there it is. Clear as day, simple enough for anybody to understand, you showing how to top off a fridge. Thanks for your answer in the other thread, and thanks so much for showing us, boaters, how to do this! Happy sailing!
Thanks Clark! Because of your two fridge videos our 20-year old Adler-Barbour cold machine is living up to its name again. Total cost ~$50 😀… I had to buy all the tools.
It’s important to charge using the superheat method. You can also check the compressor amperage draw. Some refrigerants are a blend and must be charged using liquid. (Just flip the tank upside down). Brazing in service ports is the way to go. We use piercings valves just to remove gas. Be sure to fully thaw the system before properly checking the charge. Nice to weigh it in if charging up from a vacuum for reference. Add a small amount of dye when charging to find leaks with a UV flashlight for in the future. 👍🏻
Have a dead fridge. Now I have some knowledge and will se if resurrection is possible. Thanks! And... happy to see you flying good colours on your skin. You look good. :)
Hi Clark watched the fridge series thanks for the information. I'm running a Secop BD80 with the controler (101N0390) and have gone through at least 1 controler every two years mainly through heat. You mentioned a bypass of the controler How would that work? I was wondering whether I could extend the 3 wires and mount the controler away from the compressor any way I enjoy your videos Regards Paul
Hi Paul, I don't think I mention a bypass of the controller anywhere. Sure you can mount the controller at any reasonable distance But better would be to add a hunk of aluminum to the heat sink or a small fan. The newer bd50 controllers don't have a heat sink anymore. I'm not sure about the bd80s but they dropped the heatsink because they use better MOSFETs (I assume).
I actually have the water pass through the AC condenser then the refrigerator condenser. They both use the same pump and a few diodes let's them both be able to turn it in. So it a $100 Jonson pump that is way overkill. And draws 1amp Set up this way a fountain pump should do the job.
I attached my low pressure line from a device similar to what you are using from Harbor Freight tools. Even after about 40 minutes the pressure never went lower than 55 psi while running the compressor. As in the past, the evaporator plate was somewhat cold, but no frost line at all. Any idea on the next step to take. I'm thinking of maybe calling in a tech, if I can find one that is.
Psi. Look at your gauge. Compare the temperature of the 134a scale for the two units. Should be pretty apparent. I'm not saying this to be rude. It's a great exercise to understand what that gauge can tell you.
Very easy and calm explanation for people that will not do it themselves, but at least they will know what the repair guy or friend is doing.....thanks John
Seems that in Canada we can only get 1234yf without a licence. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Can I put 1234if in a 134a system? Can I mix the two gases. Thanks!
I haven't used 1234. Like any refrigerant change you need to verify the lubricant is compatible. 134a is still made. Look into it I'm sure you can find some. 1234 is more of a new system thing. And I understand is quite corrosive
Great to see you looking better and of course cool content as usual. My inner 5 yr old also sniggered at the passing gas remark, flatulance jokes are funny the world over ;)
Hey Clarke. Great videos and much appreciated. I do have one question though. I bought a set up similar to what you use in the video, but the end of the hose that should connect to the Schrader valve is too large. Can you tell me specifically what fitting I need to buy to make the connection to the valve on the compressor. I believe the end of the hose fitting is a 1/4 npt fitting. TIA
@@Clarks-Adventure Made a mistake when I tested the hoses. I randomly picked the yellow hose and tried it on the red and blue connectors not realizing the yellow hose connection was larger. Problem solved. The hoses fit on their appropriate connections.
It occurs to me that currently we have a couple of generations of men (and women) that are knowledgeable and capable. Certainly we don’t know everything about all things but if you had 5-10 in a group, you could build or create most anything. As an OTR truck driver I run into people constantly that not only have no idea about the job they are doing but aren’t mechanically capable in the slightest. I’m somewhat skeptical about the future.
Thanks, It seems about 1/4 of the boat I bought is refrigeration, non of it working, well the portable engle just needs the cord end fixed, but when it reaches high priority I will review these and dig in
I don't know if you talked much about this (at least I don't remember hearing it in the previous episode) but my understanding of how refrigeration works is based on the phase change of the refrigerant gas. When the gas goes from a liquid to a gas when the pressure is reduced (evaporator) (ie. boils) it takes a lot of energy to do that and that is what sucks the heat out of the cold side. When the compressor squeezes the gas back to a lower volume (higher pressure) and then the condenser gets rid of heat and makes the gas condense down to a liquid again that is where the heat comes out on the hot side. I think this point might be missed by someone with no experience at all with this stuff. My understanding is rudimentary so someone correct me if I have this wrong. My understanding also is that certain gasses are much more efficient at moving heat than others based on the amount of energy it takes to go from liquid to gas. I know they used to use ammonia in household fridges and I guess they still do in some commercial applications but due to the dangers of ammonia they have switched to these fluoro carbons and hydro fluoro carbons etc...
You Are right. I believe I do talk about phase change in the first video. But I don't dwell on it. The pressure change is what drives the system. First refrigeration ever was just regular air being compresses. Heck the machine was made of wood and could make ice. The refrigeration cycle would work without the phase change. BUT the phase change is very important. It allows the working gas to carry a LOT more energy.
Ammonia is used in most large commercial plants. Your Frozen food was almost certainly made with plant running on Ammonia. It's cheap, leak detection is very easy (mark one nose plus litmus paper for the really small leaks), energy efficient and environmentally friendly. However, it is not compatible with copper! The small, (relatively) cheap systems on a boat are only viable with copper, not steel. Also, weight for weight, the modern HCFC refrigerants need more heat to boil off so a smaller system can be built for the same duty.
Use scales to measure the weight of charge you put in. And write it on the unit. So the next person can charge it quickly by weight. If it is a pre manufactured system then there should be a weight of charge label on it from the manufacturer. Also in the Uk we have to use quick hose connects , you could add these to your lines . that stop any refrigerant form the lines escaping when we take the lines off. We take off the high side off first. And then purge the line through the gauges back into the low side and then remove the low side. Bit more tricky to do on your two valve gauges though. as you will need to put the open end on your yellow gauge line onto the stub on the back of the gauge. And then open gauge valves on the low and high side to allow the refrigerant to flow through the gauge.
Another great video, so well paced and informative ... thank you for sharing (& I will say again, so glad you are feeling & looking so much better - you had a rough few months between you there)
Hi Clack! Mabye you know what to do. There was to much gas in my weaco unit, the returnline was frozen all the way to the compressor en the avaportator stayed to warm, it didnt work under sail. After letting gas out the evaportator temp comes down to 64F. Under sail it only comes down to 23F. According to the amazon gauge, it has between 10 and 11 psi pressure on the low side. The avaporator is fully frozen, but the return line is not. Any idea?
Hi Clack, thanks for your great videos for DIY boat work. We refrigerator is starting to struggle to keep the temperature low and I consider to top-up the R134a gas in my system. When I am searching for these small canisters with R134a gas, I only get results with R134a Refrigerant Replacement Gas. As I read the descriptions, this is a more environmental replacement gas for R134a. Do you or anybody else know if this can be mixed (added on my R134a system) without emptying the system first?
I bet it's ok. You can mix refrigerants. We do it often It's all about lubricant compatibility. If they call it that I bet it's lube compatible. But I'd find out what it really is and check it's pressure/temperature table to see how far off it is. It might already be a mixed gas. Also check if it's flammable. Lots of the new safe gas's are just propane family molecules. If so....
I can pretty much do and fix anything on my yacht except, then refrigeration. This series gave me enough info to feel like I can do it. Not even close to being as hard as I imagined. Thanx Clark. You da man !! And thanks to you too Emily. :)
Wait! You said in this video that you would explain why 11.7 psi worked for your frig, but you would explain how we would determine the number for our frig at the end of the video, but you never did. Can you explain in a pinned post? Please!!!
I think I talk about the frost line coming up the suction tube. Keep that in the refrigerator. That's the pressure for you I also believe I talk about ultimate temperature a given pressure can generate and that higher pressures move more heat out of the fridge. Right? I guess one of needs to rewatch this. It's been a while for me.
@@Clarks-Adventure ah, OK, if that is how you determine the proper PSI target. Some other you-tubers say as little as 1-3 psi, you say 11.7. That is a big range. I thought there would be more science behind psi target than frost line. Love the work you do for us DYI Sailors, thank you so much.
Great video! My 17 year old Adler Barbour & BF50 need recharging, but I am having trouble finding gauges that will screw on to the compressor low side port. Do you have a suggestion? Most seem to be for car air conditioning and have quick disconnect fittings. I think the AB BF50 port is a 1/4" Schrader valve fitting. Any ideas where to shop for the right gauges? Again, very informative video!
Great video. Do you do anything with the variable speed aspect of the BD35f and BD50f compressors? Most of the mechanical thermostats have a built-in 1.5kΩ resistor that spins the compressor at the max speed of 3,500-rpm. At 0Ω it spins at the minimum speed of 2,000-rpms which gives greater efficiency with lower total cooling similar your wall metaphor for low gas pressure. When I installed my digital thermostat, I put a 1.5kΩ resistor in line with an on/off switch. If the switch is "off" (when on shore power or motoring) I get 3,500-rpms for maximum cooling. If the switch is "on" (when running on battery storage) I get 2,000-rpms for minimum Ah of battery use.
Yes I play with that. Mostly running slower is best for power usage and pump life. I only speed up when I want to cool a bunch of provisions I've just loaded or if I get the cap tube a bit too short.
Hi,from uk, Things we humans do to keep our beer cold ! Some people recon prehistoric men found caves to live in .NOPE !!! Another brill episode ,trying to catch up on them , how many are available ?
Great video, I have a 82 trawler, I can't find the thermostat??? The system runs but only reaches 54 in the fridge so I am guessing I need to add gas????
First of all thank you for the this video very helpful. Around 8.20 in the video you mentioned you put the refrigerant back into the tank, how did you do this ??. I know there are recovery machines that can do that but you did not seem to have one. Besides they are bulky and expensive
I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. I don't recommend this method unless you feel really confident with the pressure you are creating. But I used the compressor to raise the pressure in the high side to higher then the bottle pressure so liquid refrigerant went into the bottle. Warning this method might also move oil out of your system.
Great Video, very helpful. A question. for the purpose of just adding refrigerant to a system, is it necessary to connect both the low- and high-pressure gauge hoses?
is it possible to cool the line with my water tank? I mean instead of putting salt water.... I was thinking to use my 500L freshwater tank to circulate in the system to cool it down and warm my water for bath.
I use the Well analogy. You have to "Lift" the heat from low to high. Low pressure to high pressure. The deeper the well the more work you have to do to get the same amount of (water) benefit.
Good video, thanks but one question, why not pump crash through the condenser from the water tank and let the heat exchange with the sea through the hull, then no problems with dirty water or crap in the condenser 👍
Interesting idea. But what happens when that tank empties? I run my tanks empty on an alternating bases to keep growth under control and generally it's easier that way. One could use diesel fuel. I'm very unlikely to ever let the diesel tank really empty. But to be honest those are thoughts for another day. I'm done with refrigeration for a while. All is working and we have loads of electrical power now days.
Liked, commented, tried to play through _all_ the ads but everyone must skip the Anthony Morrison scam ;-D Used to automotive a/c @ 30+/200+psi, you said 11-12 and I said "whaat?" LOL
Yes, Air conditioning is higher pressure on the low side. Remember the chart on the gage? You aren't trying to cool the air in your car as cold as your freezer. I'm so glad you liked these.
What do you do about oil in the system? Some gas bottles have oil added, some do not. I typically use non-oil gas but worry about too little oil in the system.
I find that when your oil gets low the pump gets inefficient. No oil no seal. Can't make pressure as well. Until that don't bother with oil. Should be many years and many leaks before bit matters. Over oil will be as bad as too much gas. Cause slogging that will kill the pump.
Looks like they use a secop (dandoss) bdf35 compressor. www.seabreeze-industries.com.au/products/WAECO-CU85-Compressor-Condenser-104.htm I owing that your search should be easy. Hint:. Same controller as the bdf50 Hint:It was the same as the one in my hands in the video.
Thanks Clark. I love how you simply provide a recipe on how to do something rather than dive deeply into the theory of how it works. Reading a refrigeration book would just blow most peoples mind and even if they came to understand the theory, they still couldn't fix the darn fridge. Great job once again, and salutations from Clearwater, Fl.
Thanks again Clark! Very very helpful and hands on! Curious as to why there would not be permanent gauges in the system. (we have oil pressure gauges). The "experts" on the forums say that you need to know the amount of gas needed to recharge or check the simple systems, such as a simple ice box conversion kit and that this method would not work. (makes no sense to me). What do the control units do? It seems so simple..more of an off or on situation. For trouble shooting, could you just by pass the control unit? (BTW I am an engineer so this is fun for me) Glad to see that you are feeling much improved!!!! Will you be staying in the DR for hurricane season? We are nervous in Florida. Hello to Emily too!
Hi, 1. Gages would probably leak gas slowly and of course they aren't free. One only needs them when they do so it's easy enough to hook them up. 2. Your "experts" are dead wrong. They are not engineers likely they are technicians that have been taught one way to do something and do it that way. One doesn't have to know the weight of gas to use. The engineer who wrote the guidelines didn't have guidelines and did it my way. 3. This control unit is, among other things, a dc brushless motor driver. Can't just plug the three pins of the motor into 12v. It comes up to speed slowly in a rotating phase reversing manor. Best solution is buy one and carry a spare. I could build one but the R&D time would be huge. 4. Yeah, we are staying here. I'm still too weak to enjoy a crossing and travel is still a pain. We just got our first shots yesterday. Shouldn't be long until travel is an easy thing again.
@@Clarks-Adventure wow. Thanks for such a quick and detailed response! That makes perfect sense about the control unit! I dont trust the experts, lol. But you I trust. I know the theory, just need the practical. Someday I will modify a window ac to use pool water for cooling it. (just to see if I can) Glad you got the shot. We got our second one a month ago so we feel a bit safer (both 60). Keep improving!! Best of health to you both. (we have some health challenges or we might be your neighbors right now) No happy moms day for Emily or my wife either. We chose to stay childless and glad we did.
Hi Clark and Emily. I came across your video series on Refrigeration. Very informative. It has helped me heaps with learning our fridge system on our beautiful Jade Akka. Having had both controllers pack up on each system with in 1 week of each other. They were 22 years old. I got 2 of the Secop 101N0212 controllers and all works well. The only thing is that one set of evaporator plates running on the bottom circuit does not work right. I am getting -20 C at the entry point of the 1st plate and on the second double evaporator I am getting only -5 C after a long time running and no frost. The top circuit cools rapidly to all places evenly. -18C. I can only assume that I have a leak as the system was regassed by a tech only months prior. So I'm ready to re-gas and have this question. Which I hope you many know the answer to. My question is this: Is R134a for cars ac the same as for fridges? The reason I ask, is rattling around in my brain is this doubt that I read somewhere that the different oils could damage the compressor and system. The R134a I found on board is a car product that has the wrong attachment. I was going to chop it of and attach my homemade charging adapter. Which I'm ready to do. I thank you for any tips and help. Fair winds and fine weather.
R134a is all the same. The auto parts stuff is fine to use. R12 was used with a different oil. That's what you might be thinking about. There was a lot of talk at the time how you couldn't change cheaply from 12 to 134a without solvent cleaning and replacing the oil. Though I switched my Porsche from r12 to R134a without changing the lube. Been running fine for 20 years.
As long as I don't think the gas is contaminated I reclaim. I hook to the high pressure port and run the compressor. I'm not recommending this. Have to watch the pressure-temperature. Could go bad.
Hi Clark. Good video, but a question please. When you add a water cooler, where/what's the easiest water source and where do you exit warm water......I assume you break into pre existing circuits, but could differ on boats pre existing inventory? Thanks Perry
So, do you make holes in the boat to achieve this, or do you ´break' into the water system used to cool the engine, or water mater or generator if you have them?
Ok, that makes me nervous...Maybe a good RU-vid video? Guessing the fitments on the inside are pretty straight forward, with a valve below water line for the in. Out simply above w/l....For below w/l is it just a hole or cup/scoop facing rear wood? My boats an aluminium hull so that adds even more nervousness to embarking on such a project.
Woops sorry, my RU-vid app screwed up. I thought you commented on the air conditioner video. No, you are right the fridge uses a cap tube. I guess I designed it that way because that's how others were using for this application and I was like 30 then, young and stupid. Honestly I didn't know what an expansion valve was then. Turns out it would have been easier when I upgraded to my own exaporator to use an expansion valve. It's hard to choose the right size and length of cap tube.
Off topic but wondering if you plan to do an ep on your communication setup? Curious what you think of backstay insulated as antenna, and if your lightening experience has any input
Emily is planning one on how to use the VHF soon. Otherwise we carry opened HAM gear and PACTOR. I do use the backstay but chose to use a much shorter length then most. We tend to relay for others a lot so I'd say our rig is better then most.
Boat im looking at has an insulated as well, and 4 dynoplates, and copper counterpoise the length of the boat, but no ssb equipment. Curious if in this age of satellite inreach ect, if its even worth the very high cost of an ssb and pactor? I want it because ive always been interested, and honestly think its must have, but damn expensive. How many watts minimum do you think an onboard ssb needs? Most of the marine ones seem to be 100+ , been looking at the icom ic705 instead, wouldnt need pactor with it for email, but only 10 watts, any experience with amplifiers?
First off if Skylink is half as good as it should be it will do everything better. If you want one get one. But I'd go HAM. The test is trivial now, no code. Get the unit opened and it will work on marine SSB frequencies (illegally). It's the only to use HAM frequencies and that's where the fun is as well as the better (and free) PACTOR ground stations. That grounding system seems extreme. Can't hurt to have that much.
Watts. Don't get an amp. 10 isn't enough most days. 100 is plenty. Connect at high power then drop power til you loose packets, then up a bit. I think I use about 25 watts a lot.
I like the icom 705 because its an all band portable, does ssb out of the box, plus ham, vhf and uhf, dstar for email, as well as wifi and bluetooth to connect to pc for winlink email. But again only 10 watts, but it is portable and battery operated, maybe be a good backup system , but $1300 Guess i could always go used for an ssb pactor setup ;)
@@Clarks-Adventure evaporator has gas condenser has liquid also if you have 2 inches of ice on your evaporator you no longer have a freezer you have a refrigerator or ice box
@@rogerkerkmann so where do you think the vast majority of the phase change from liquid to vapour occurs?? Especially bearing in mind it is the phase change that 'absorbs all the heat'
As a RU-vid comment reader this comment was painful to read. Be detailed and specific about what caused you "pain" watching this video or don't comment at all.
@@Clarks-Adventure Probably! I just revived my 17 year old Frigoboat refrigerator with a Danfoss BD35 compressor in large part thanks to your videos. It has never worked right since we bought the boat over 4 years ago but it is working perfectly right now. I am currently in Annapolis MD surrounded by marine service businesses so I could have easily called in "a professional". However, I am also an engineer with plans to cruise in remote locations where no marine services exist so I really wanted to learn how my refrigerators and ACs work and have the tools and abilities to diagnose and fix them if (when!) they break. I did a ton of research and found your videos to be the best series to give me a better foundational theoretical understand of refrigeration AND a practical "how to fix your own $hit". Shoot me a link where I can send you some cash. I owe you at least a virtual beer or two. Cold ones even!
Thanks Mark. That was so nice to hear. I'm glad you had success with your refrigeration. We have links to our Patreon page and our PayPal account in the description of most of our videos, if you care to send a beer my way.
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