Current USA chiller not working?

[justinm0424]

I hooked up my chiller this weekend and it doesn't seem to be chilling. It's a 1/3HP modular current usa chiller and was sitting in my basement for a year or 2 before I hooked it up. It's making normal noises like it's pumping the refridgerant and everything but doesn't seem to be cooling. Is there a test port on these models or any way I can recharge it it uses 134A which is readily available at auto stores.

 

[justinm0424]

anyone? I assumed chillers lose their refridgerant all the time.

 

[jyuen]

my chiller have lost it's refrigrant several times during my move. I had to get an A/C guy to come out and recharge it with R22

 

[DarG]

The Current USA chiller uses R134A which is readily available. You may have a hard time getting a regular AC company to come out and service it. You may have a better chance of having someone who service refrigeration units, not AC units or who services both.
You need to contact Current USA for the pressure specs so the tech knows how much refrigerant the unit takes. It may be printed inside the chiller but I dont think it is in the Current chiller.

They shouldnt lose the refrigerant, there is a leak somewhere. The source of the leak really needs to be identified and fixed and if it is in at the point of the heat exchanger, most techs wont bother with it and then you are looking at needing someone who works on units like lobster tank chillers which usually means a commercial refrigeration tech or may be best served sending it to Current USA for repair.

BTW... I had a Current USA 1/3 modular that was a couple months out of warranty when it developed a water leak in the heat exchanger housing (the part that fills with water). They replaced it for me eventhough it was past warranty. It would not be reasonable to expect Current to replace a unit that is well out of warranty and been sitting for 2 years like yours has. But it may be worth calling them and arranging service. Cheaper than a new unit. Your other option is getting the pressure specs from current and buying some 134a and a guage and filling it yourself and topping it off as needed. Im not sure if the refrigerant port is the same on your chiller as on a car, but I am sure you could find out and get the right guage. Dont just fill with refrigerant. You need the right amout/pressure for the unit to work right.

IM not an AC or Refrigeration tech, my comments are just based on general laymens experience on the subject.

 

[jyuen]

You should definately check with current-usa. I have a 1/2 hp chiller and was told it uses R-22. Here was their response to my email...

"You will want to add about 11.5 oz of refrigerant and run the unit for about 20 minutes, then check the amperage draw and adjust. It should be pulling around 4.2 amps with a good charge. A qualified AC repair person should be able to perform a leak check and repair the leak."

 

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15608558#post15608558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jyuen
You should definately check with current-usa. I have a 1/2 hp chiller and was told it uses R-22. Here was their response to my email...

"You will want to add about 11.5 oz of refrigerant and run the unit for about 20 minutes, then check the amperage draw and adjust. It should be pulling around 4.2 amps with a good charge. A qualified AC repair person should be able to perform a leak check and repair the leak."

The larger chillers do use different refrigerants, depends on the manufacturer and at what size unit/compressor they go to R22 or other refrigerant. But the smaller chillers all use R134A now from what I have seen. I am not aware of a single manufacturer not using R134 for their smaller chillers. In the USA anyway. In the USA it is the only refirgerant that I am aware of that is available to the general public, everything else is regulated. The Current USA 1/3 HP Prime (modular) definitely uses R134A ... again, atleast the units sold in the USA.

The instructions you got from Current dont seem very good at all. Maybe 11.5 OZ of R22 completely charges the 1/2 hp that you have when it is completely free of refrigerant but it means nothing if the unit has a partial charge.
The units are charged based on pressure. Current can supply the pressure for the particular unit. Personally, I wouldnt just charge a compressor without knowing the pressures and using a guage. Even the majority of cheap auto parts store ac recharge kits for the car come with a cheap pressure guage.

 

[AcroporAddict]

What pump are you using to circulate water thru it? Do you have it enclosed in a cabinet with adequate ventilation?

Chillers need continuous fresh air circulation to move the heat they take from the water away from their cooling coils, otherwise they won't work well at all.

Some people actually think chillers have built in pumps.
Dave

 

[justinm0424]

It uses 134A and i've serviced car's air conditioning before and have a few different kinds of auto kits. I was just wondering if anyone knew how much pressure should be on the high and low side and if they knew if there was a port on it. I believe there is some type of port on the low side which I will try to refill after I return from vacation.

I'm using some large viaaqua pump to provide flow throughout the chiller which should be pumping about 400 gph which is a little low for the chiller recommedations but should be fine.

The chiller is sitting next to my tank. I just setup my sump and have it planned to dump the cold water into my fuge area which overflows into my return. Also there is only a 6" gap between the back side and the wall which 10" is recommended. I put both the pump and return into the 5gal area of the fuge compartment to leaktest the setup and ran water through it for a few hours before starting the chiller. Also, I lifted the chiller on both sides rocking back and forth to aaure all air pockets were removed. The chiller did have a small crack in one of the modular hole slots but when i took it offline a couple years back I plugged the holes and glued them shut to makesure there's no leaks. This is the main reason for using a smaller pump for throughput. I ran the chiller for about a hour and the water still felt the same temp so i moved the intake pump into the return and left the chiller running for about another hour without any change throughout the tank temp.

Does anyone know the pressure I should use for Current chillers or even any other types of 134a chillers?

I'm just going to assume that it's the same pressure for car systems. I don't want to have to deal with a service tech comming out and saying they dont know what to do so I'll prob just scrap the chiller and keep my a/c on low which seems to work.

Is there anyother components that go bad on these units that affect the cooling system?

It sounds fine and seems to be running without a problem which only leads me to expect low on refridgerant.

 

[justinm0424]

Also, The chiller doesn't seem to be getting hot or anything which is what I'm expecting the main reason for being out of refridgerant but still running. Do these systems have a sensor that prevents them from running if low on refridgerant?

Thank you all!

 

[DarG]

It sounds like it's very low on refrigerant or has none at all. Running it that way is bad for the compressor if I remember right. There is no safety shut off for the compressor if the refrigerant is low, that I am aware of anyway.

Contact Current, they can supply the pressure specs. There is a charge port.

 

[justinm0424]

Here's the response from Current USA. I'm going figure out where the ports are and test them.

Thanks for writing. Measure the temperature of the air going in versus what is coming out. If the temperature is less that 20 degrees warmer coming out it may be a refrigerant issue. The unit holds 6.75oz of R134 and your pressures should be 165 psi on the high side and 26-28 on the low side, depending on the ambient temperature. Please let us know if you have any questions

 

[DarG]

There you go. I had the pressures but on an old computer saved in email draft that I didnt tranfer to the newer computer. Anyway, that why I knew that they would have the pressure specs.

I think it's most likely that the refrigerant is very low. May as well charge it and see what happens. Hopefully it's a very slow leak.