Older chiller - service q's

[TurboGuru]

I recently aquired an Aquanetics AFC-1 1/6th HP chiller built 07/92. The company is out of business and I have not been able to find a service manual for this unit. The chiller seems to work in all respects except for the fact that the output water is barely colder than the input water.

I have access to a vacuum pump and gauges for automotive/ residential HVAC service but an wary about peforming any service to this chiller without knowing what type of refrigerant/oil it came with originally and it's system capacity. I would like to clean and recharge this unit and see if that fixes the issue.

Anyone with HVAC or chiller service experiance is encouraged to give input.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[TurboGuru]

Bump for knowledge!

 

[Pyrrhus]

As I understand it from the AC techs there is a spec that needs to be known to refill a chiller, Aperture size or superfreeze or something like that, essentially only the manufacturer would know it and I have never been able to get an AC tech to refill or repair a chiller.

 

[29reef]

Theres some blends that you can use, I suggest you get the brand and model number of the compressor and then contact a HVAC shop with that information. You might be able to track down the type that way.

Id just take a guess that its 134 or r22 just as a stab in the dark.

 

[justinm0424]

I have a current usa 1/3hp chiller and am having similar problems. I emailed them asking for their specsheres what they said. Maybe you'rs is similar.

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.

 

[TurboGuru]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15642926#post15642926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinm0424
I have a current usa 1/3hp chiller and am having similar problems. I emailed them asking for their specsheres what they said. Maybe you'rs is similar.

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.

Thanks for the info. Mine might be a little less, but it gives me a good reference. I appreciate it!

 

[ordy1]

Most of these small compressor's had R-22 as the refrigerant but I ran across an article for an AFc 2 that claimed R-134a. Anything that small needs a critical charge.

Check the bottom of the casing, under or to the sides of the compressor and see if there is any oil residue. A sure sign of a refrigerant leak is oil in the vicinity.

Check the condenser coil. See if you need to spray it down with some soapy water and rinse carefully, insuring you don't soak the electrical stuff.

Chances are you sprung a leak. You can try using the gauges and reading off of the R-134a scale (if it is in fact R-134a and not R-22 which I think it might be.)and charging by Temperature/Pressure reading on the gauge manifold. The leak might be small enough to get you through the year but, if you don't fix the leak, you'll have to dump more refer into the unit.

BTW: R-22 is being phased out. It's gonna get really expensive really soon. Just like they did when they phased out R-12. It's probably R-134a and it will say it on the name tag located on the compressor. It will also tell you how much refrigerant to add. Good luck.