no schraders. they have a special crimp on fitting sorta like a compression fitting that you have to have a special tool for to do it the way the manufacturer wants anyways. been doing r290 on true and delfields for a while its not that bad to work with.
hi!!! Your Manitowac ice machine maintenance & troubleshooting videos saved us $3500!!! we fixed it ourselves.. thank you thank you thank you!!! Do you happen to have a video on replacing the condenser on a vending soda macine?
Not seen a drive through store before !!Jim, what's your take on using an electronic manifold with hydrocarbon refrigerants? The 550 manual has a caution about not using in an explosive atmosphere, but no guidance about running them through the manifold. Any ideas?
i see you work on alot of walk in coolers and small refrigerator like this. do you think putting a mash filter over the condensor coil will cause a problem? i have seen turbo air refrigerators that came with filter on them but none of the other brand does.
Jim, I wonder if the digital gauges i.e. testos even have R290 to check pressures? I wonder if the propane has been chemically altered to make it safe around a flame. I can just imagine the liability for safety involved. It's nice to have an easy day from time to time, and pick up a "buck" cleaning condensers. Another great video! Woody
+Steve Wood the propane has been purified so it's clean, but ashrae rates it flamable and highly explosive, there is a 5.25 oz limit on these units, the fan motors, temp controls and relays have to be explosion proof, and if the compressor has to be changed the process tubes have to be crimped and brazed to prevent leakage . I was having zeroing issues with my blu tooth testo 550's that I bought last spring, so I sent them back, they sent me a new set, R 290 is one of the refrigerants on the gauge set along with all the other new refrigerants. True has R290 instruction videos.
true doesn't want anyone working on those boxes unless they are certified from the factory for propane unit service. I heard they won't let you submit a warranty claim unless you are certified by them. I also heard the little amount of propane inside the system can't explode internally because there is no oxygen in there because it's vacuumed down to like 200 microns or something. 5 to 7 oz charge max.
Yea, R-290 is just like working with any other refrigerant. It's no more dangerous than hooking a propane bottle to your barbecue grill. You just have to exercise a little common sense. FWIW, next time you're at a Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, or some other place that sells home refrigerators, have a gander at the sticker on them. You will see an awful lot that are running R-600a (isobutane). It's only a matter of time before all HFC's are phased out (many already are) and the choices will be either hydrocarbons or HFO's. Many HFO's are "mildly" flammable as well (R-1234yf for example) and unlike hydrocarbons they give off nasty fumes just like the non-flammable refrigerants if they are burned. Just wait till you get to work on an R-744 system. Seeing 1500+psi on the high side of a transcritical system is a sight to behold. Unlike hydrocarbons a whole new set of tools and techniques are needed to work on R-744. Subcrit 744 in a cascade system is more like a conventional system, with pressures in a low temp 744 system much like pressures in a R-410a system with a bad condenser fan motor :)
