ooh, first time in here ...

[Nick_H]

.. its not as bad as I thought it would be, although the carpets a bit dated and that wall paper needs to go.

Anyway my question, before I return to the opulently flocked walls and deep chesterfields of the mobo forum..

I have a Waeco cooling unit in the fly coolbox, and I want to relocate it. It has an integrated compressor, but there isn't room to relocate it in one piece, so I wanted to split the compressor and house it in the ceiling void, which means running new refrigerant pipes between the two. Is this something I could do myself, or do I need a contractor to avoid killing the ozone layer?

Nice pot plant by the way, is it real?

 

[Lakesailor]

Cor, you're posh if you have a special box for keeping flies cool.

We just let ours out of the window.

 

[jorgen]

Sorry to say, but you need a contractor. Firstly because it's illegal to let the gas out. It should be reclaimed into a bottle. Secondly, you need to get the system vacuum pumped and loaded with new gas. Probably nothing you have the tools for. (and no - the vacuum cleaner wont do it.)

 

[LittleShip]

You see............... first visit and already they accept you, why else would Lakey ask about the fly cooler?

It's just like the Lounge really but with spanners?

Second answer was the best, try and ignore 1 + 3

Tom

 

[Searush]

Happy birthday, Tom, like the cake, can I have a piece?

 

[Talbot]

Biggest problem may be the refrigerant used in the system - if it is a relatively new system, you may be ok, but some older ones use a refrigerant that is now illegal, and the new gases dont really like the old system.

If buying a replacement system, normally places like penguin sell the pipes with gas inside and special connectors that are supposed to allow the system to be connected without loss of refrigerant.

The most important point about your system is siting the cooler/pump somewhere where it has access to a plentifull supply of cool air.

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

Don't panic , if you have the patent connectors you can also get extension pipes which are pre-loaded with refrigerant. But on the other hand, get a man to do it!

 

[roly_voya]

Undaunted is right, you do need specialist equipment if the lines between the compressor and the box are to short. If its a modern unit you may be able to send it to a dealer like Penguin and get them to fit new longer lines. Its probably going to be cheaper to replace it than get a refigerant engeneer to come on board and alter it!!

 

[Searush]

Alternatively, you could simply stop drinking Lager & white wine & switch to Beer & red wine which need to be at room temp.

 

[Heckler]

Its relatively easy to do if you are handy with tools. compressor should have quick connects connecting to the cool box, check. also check to see what gas is in it, should have R something written on the compressor somewhere, you can buy filling hoses, gas etc on ebay, you can buy the extended pipes or make them from copper pipe with silver soldered connections. connect every thing up and bleed from joint to joint to blow the air out as you connect. when its all connected get the filling hose connected to the little bottle of refrigerant and put some into the system till ithe pressure guage shows ok (it comes with the filling hose) you dont need to empty and vacuum and the little bit that comes out when you blow the air out wont hurt anyone, (think china, freon 12 still legal, 3 billion of them!!)
plus who is going to police you doing your little job?
Stu

 

[Nick_H]

It says the refrigerant is CFC free, does that mean I can just let it all go? Then I could fit it all back as I want it, and just get an engineer to test and charge it?

 

[Billjratt]

Waeco units don't (iirc) have self-seal connectors. It should have a label indicating which gas is inside -34 seems to come to mind as the later non-nasty gas. In order to extend the plumbing, it's likely the connectors would be discarded. A plumber who is able to create a leakproof high pressure circuit is probably going to also be able to evacuate (vacuum pump to get rid of H2O) and recharge the system using the same gas - compatibility required with the original oil in the pump. hey presto - high level cool bevvy.

 

[tobble]

[ QUOTE ]
It says the refrigerant is CFC free, does that mean I can just let it all go?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really - most other refrigerants such as HFC's are potent greenhouse gasses (around 10000 time more powerful than CO2) (which applies to CFC's and HCFC's too).

<turns and runs>

 

[captainslarty]

Just let it all out, get a fridge bod to refill it.. tell him it leaked.. no worries..

 

[Lakesailor]

I can here the Forum Police jack-boots crunching down the corridor as we speak.

That's what I'd do though. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Heckler]

dont need to lose any, the quick connects will let you separate the compressor tray from the evaporator, then get some copper lines made up or buy some ready filled and put in place, as long as you silver solder matching quick connects on you can do as i said previously. by the way, my vacuum pump when needed is an old fridge compressor, modified with soldered on 1/4" bsp pigtails ( the old industry std connectors)
Stu