Recharging a WAECO CU-55 cooler

[PaulHD]

Hi all, has anyone experience of recharging, or topping up, the coolant in the WAECO CU-55 cooler?
Simple job?

 

[arcot]

Hi all, has anyone experience of recharging, or topping up, the coolant in the WAECO CU-55 cooler?
Simple job?

Had my similar unit recha

 

[arcot]

Had a similar unit recharged at a commercial refrigerator repair facility. They had never seen such a small refrigeration unit.

 

[fredrussell]

I think I’m right in saying Waeco used Danfoss compressors in their fridges, which are a pretty standard set up and shouldn’t be a problem for a specialist to recharge.

 

[ChromeDome]

Waeco, since long owned by Swedish Dometic, use Danfoss compressors, now produced for Danfoss by Secop.

Danfoss (Danish) is still around doing advanced engineering.
95 plants in 20 counties and 40.000+ employees.

 

[PaulHD]

Thanks for the input everyone. I think now that's the way to go for sure. I've sourced a local refrigeration engineer and hopefully will have chilled beer once more very soon

 

[lustyd]

Looks to be a BD35F compressor on those units so will be standard r134a coolant which is no longer available to the public in most places (US is an exception for now I believe). Worth double checking as the new units made by Secop can’t use the old refrigerant and vice versa

 

[lustyd]

Had a similar unit recharged at a commercial refrigerator repair facility. They had never seen such a small refrigeration unit.

The new Secop units are even smaller, these BD35 and BD50 have been phased out as r1234yf has replaced r134a but that seems to have encouraged them to modernise the designs a bit

 

[Beneteau381]

Hi all, has anyone experience of recharging, or topping up, the coolant in the WAECO CU-55 cooler?
Simple job?

The question as always is, why does it need charging? Find the leak first?

 

[vas]

in my case, it didn't need recharging, needed the filter replacing and obvs regassing since there were no valves and had to install them.
I vaguely remember the technician (proper commercial refrig installers/repairers) being confused and slightly worried with how little gas it needed. Works fine 2 years after (touch wood!)

V.

 

[Daverw]

With such a small unit I would if possible take it to a local auto garage and ask them to do it, their recharge unit is designed for small system charges and would not charge much to do it, most advertise around £35 for a car which would use more gas than your unit

 

[PaulHD]

Yes, a leak test is a must!! That's the impetus for having a professional take care of the recharging. He tells me that a good leak test should take up to 2 days to complete!! Whether that's the case, I'm not sure. Will it be Helium or Nitrogen used, I'm guessing Helium. Checking eBay I see that both r1234yf and r134a can be purchased and if that's indeed the case I think Ill be sticking with r134a, that being the gas currently in my compressor.
Again, thanks for all the input. I can almost taste that cold beer once again

 

[Daverw]

Leak test on a small system would take 1 hr using OFN, (oxygen free nitrogen) as you’ve got very little pipe work, pump up to about 15 bar and hold, watch the gauge and soap test all the pipe you can see, you cannot just swap the gas from R134a to R1234, different operating properties

 

[superheat6k]

Yes, a leak test is a must!! That's the impetus for having a professional take care of the recharging. He tells me that a good leak test should take up to 2 days to complete!! Whether that's the case, I'm not sure. Will it be Helium or Nitrogen used, I'm guessing Helium. Checking eBay I see that both r1234yf and r134a can be purchased and if that's indeed the case I think Ill be sticking with r134a, that being the gas currently in my compressor.
Again, thanks for all the input. I can almost taste that cold beer once again

Both R134a and R1234YF remain fully available, but you must hold F Gas qualification and be a registered firm to properly purchase either of them.

But as already stated why does the unit require a top up. Too many 'engineers' will simply top up without finding out why it needed a top up in the first place. Think of most leaks as a very slow puncture, so your fridge is fixed and cools your beer so you are very happy, but then after a few weeks the beer is cool rather than cold, then after another few weeks it just stays as it was when you put the beer in the fridge.

Happy to explain the differences between R134a and R1234YF, but from a user's perspective there is not too much.

 

[tilly56]

Hello! I completely understand your situation. I once faced something similar with another commercial refrigerator. Recharging the coolant can indeed be a bit challenging. It's not the easiest DIY task since it involves dealing with refrigerants and making sure the pressure levels are just right. My suggestion would be to get in touch with a professional who's well-versed in handling coolers like the WAECO CU-55. They possess the necessary expertise to recharge the coolant for your commercial refrigerator safely and efficiently, taking care of all the details without any complications.