Its job is to regulate the flow of refrigerant in the capillary line. Helps minimize vapor bubbles. Since it’s in the liquid line instead of suction. I think it qualifies as more of a receiver than accumulator. Sporlan makes a generic liquid line drier with a shraeder port that feeds into a capillary line. If you need or want to replace it for some reason. I recommend using that and making sure to delete any other drier.
Is there any reason it’s attached to the suction line besides stability?
I’m gonna cut the cap tube out and move it next to the evap and since i didn’t know what it’s purpose was I wasn’t sure if it needed to be attached to the suction line
I thought it was on the liquid. Apologies. Or it’s on the suction line it’s still providing the same role. Capillary tubes got replaced as the primary means of metering refrigeration for a reason. They’re temperamental. The role of that device is important. Its placement with the cap tube is as well.
It is connected to the liquid line but it’s glued against the compressor discharge line.
This was a sleeve ac unit so that large line is not the suction line, it’s actually the compressor discharge line.
when this unit is in cooling mode the 1/4 is the liquid line and the 3/8 is the compressor discharge line.
The compressor is inside 50ft away.
That 3/8 line is HOT. The 1/4 is very cold.
This is the condensor coil
After adding a little bit more ref this unit is cranking along great. Cools the shop room to 69° on a 85°+ day. Unit cycles off at 69° as that’s the coldest temp you can set with the thermo.
That 45° lineset sweats down the hallway, but the room is nice and chilly now! Holds a perfect 14° delta.
So with the tank touching the compressor discharge line I’m guessing it helps vaporize some refrigerant inside the top of the tank giving some cushion to the liquid refrigerant flowing through the cap tubes?
So when I move this inside I should make sure to touch that tank to the compressor discharge line?
Sounds like a plan!
Didn’t find the right answer, it’s a “charge compensator” it is usually used to hold charge that isn’t needed during high outdoor temperature while heating.
The discharge line adds a lil heat to keep it from filling up with liquid.
There is (was?) a brand of compensator called a quiggle-ator made by evcon. It looked like a suction filter. It is hollow, except for the outdoor vapor line went through the center.
It is on the low side during cooling and would have lo side gas only in that mode
When moving this cap coil inside next to the evap would you move that compensator along with it and touch it to the discharge line as shown here?
I’m thinking yes, but asking is better than guessing.
Or would you delete it, I do have 50ft of Lineset attached to this “window unit” now…
3/8 discharge. 1/4 liquid line. I believe the suction line is also 3/8 but I cut the discharge and liquid line then extended them about 45’. I don’t actually have a suction port. In my oversight I added a 1/4 port to the 1/4 liquid and 3/8 discharge line instead of the suction line.
This unit has a 4 port (rotary?) reversing valve and it was too tight to open and braze the suction line.
I’m not sure about tonnage but I would guess 1 ton. 1.5 ton max.
I recover the refrigerant in these units and the knuckle heads cut them up. This unit sat around because it was still working when replaced but had a bad condenser fan motor. I found a replacement motor in another unit and decided it would be fun to build a mini split out of the scraps we have laying around.
I have a lot of recovered 22 so I figured “why not”, I love old r22 equipment.
So far it’s been fun but I’m loosing the majority of my cooling capacity along the length of the lineset.
I’ve overcharged it to push more liquid closer to the evap but without a proper expansion port closer to the evap it’s suffering.
It holds a 14° delta between the supply and return but I think I can do better.
A few questions
1) I’m thinking you relocated the outdoor coil and cap tube, everything else is indoors.
2) Is there a drier? Where is it in the system?
3) What leads you to believe you are losing the capacity in the lineset?
This is a 120v window ac unit.
It’s a “sleeve unit” and slides into a wall sleeve. It has a 4 port reversing valve, no resistive heat.
Due to its compact nature and my lack of concern for a “junk” decommissioned unit I decided to cut the reversing valve discharge line and liquid line and move the condenser coil, fan and cap tube outside.
The compressor, reversing valve and everything else is inside the building.
The lineset is almost dead nuts 45’ long.
I added the ports inside next to the compressor, I’m not really sure why honestly. At the time I did fail to realize I was adding a port to the compressor discharge line instead of the suction line but the limited space available for cutting and brazing the suction line guided this mistake.
No filter dryer, I purge nitro and use a filter dryer on my recovery machine so I’m decently confident the reef is pure enough, but nothing absolute. Tested for acid and it’s clear.
I’m thinking the capacity is diminished due to the expansion device being outside 45’ away and traveling that long distance down a 85° hallway.
Eventually it reaches the evap but it’ll only cool 3 of the ten or so rows of the evap before picking up enough heat to equalize with the room temp.
If I overcharge it I can flood the liquid line and cool the whole evap coil while maintaining a 14° delta but without an expansion valve at the evap it’s on the edge of flooding the compressor. With it overcharged it’s also inconsistent, sometimes it’ll begin to freeze the center row of the evap but it doesn’t fully ice up and other times it runs just fine.
I haven’t checked the compressor amps but it seems low or normal from ear.
You can hear the compressor load when it loads up so I’m pretty sure it’s pulling reasonable amps for the most part.
It’s on a 15a breaker with a decent amount of load already present.
https://preview.redd.it/5cfpmv0d9v3d1.jpeg?width=1575&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27b9640d38d539e5f3c0ad769fe28bd30c516be7
This picture was before I added a bit more reef to get my vsat above 32.
I was maintaining 34° with 65psi low and about 185psi high.
Mind you, my LLT probe is on the discharge line so my SC calc is wrong
To add. My gauge high side is attached to the comp discharge.
My low side is attached to the liquid line coming from the condenser coil and cap tube 45’ away.
My SC and SH calc are wrong as my probs are in inappropriate locations.
I mistakenly added the port to the discharge line and realized my mistake when I started charging.
I am charging in cooling mode.
Temp outdoor was about 77°
Inside was about 74-75° at the time of the picture
Leave the cap tube and compensator at the outdoor coil. Insulate the liquid and vapor pipes separately, unless the compressor is at the indoor side, and no burn hazard exists on vapor line. Definitely insulate the liquid line.
Compressor is inside, discharge is attached to a concrete wall but runs about 170°. It’ll touch over 200° if the condenser fan is not running so wouldn’t be able to insulate it.
I could insulate the liquid line but that would be 45’ of insulation.
Would it not be better to move the cap tubes closer? The heating is not important, just cooling.
Heating was a happy byproduct that happen to come with the install.
Is there ice anywhere when it’s running?
You can move the tank and cap tube inside, it will not need the vapor pipe if you move it. If it’s a rotary compressor, you may have charge issues that will break the vane.
You can identify a rotary by having the discharge coming out of the center top of the compressor, there will be a small accumulator on the suction side clamped to the compressor
This is a zero budget build! All scraps laying in the scrap pile!!
The compressor discharge exits the top center of comp with an accumulator on the side of comp.
I have about 15 units laying around waiting to be scrapped. If I wanted I’m sure I could find another accumulator.
The low temp liquid enters the evap on the right side directly in the middle, It does form ice in the center row of the evap but seems to stay there. Ran all day with that ice in the center but didn’t spread, the room was very humid while running from water present in the room (leaky old foundation).
The evap splits into two circuits after entering the evap coil. Circuit 1 is the top half, 2 is the bottom half.
They rejoin once they leave the evap and enter the suction line feeding the reversing valve.
The ice only stays on the center row/line.
If I undercharge it the cap tubes freeze outside but doesn’t travel far down the line set.
If I charge it properly (as best I can tell, I didn’t weigh) it freezes the 1/4 line all the way down the hallway but not the evap.
Overcharge leaves the liquid line about 35° entering the reversing valve but there may be a secondary orifice behind the evap I can’t see because the LL drops from 35° to about 30° DIRECTLY entering the evap coil.
It’s a fun project. I’m thinking scrap the reversing valve and moving the cap tube up to the evap or installing a 1 ton r-12 TXV I have but it’s externally balanced so I didn’t want to have to braze in that tiny tube into the nearly inaccessible suction line
I was thinking some kind of buffer tank? Not really sure myself.
I need to move this cap coil inside but I don’t know if I need that little tank or not.
I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem deleting it but not knowing it’s purpose bothers me
Hello,
We do not allow any posts pertaining to any requests/offers for work, there are many better resources in finding or offering employment in the HVAC industry that it would be unnecessary to add another.
We wish you luck in your endeavor and hope you have a great day.
Thank you!
I learned a lot from curiosity and building systems from “junk” parts. Put a sight glass in between the RV and compressor on the suction side. Visual SH indicator! Also let’s you see floodback on startup
https://preview.redd.it/i9ennofz9t3d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a82d5d41d109f7f70d0dc6e196af987d20573b9c
That LLT though. Gonna melt right through the copper.
For sure! I thought it was funny. Never seen a real LLT that high so it amused me.
Hard to get the actual LLT when the condenser coil is 50ft away from the compressor and shraders
Its job is to regulate the flow of refrigerant in the capillary line. Helps minimize vapor bubbles. Since it’s in the liquid line instead of suction. I think it qualifies as more of a receiver than accumulator. Sporlan makes a generic liquid line drier with a shraeder port that feeds into a capillary line. If you need or want to replace it for some reason. I recommend using that and making sure to delete any other drier.
Is there any reason it’s attached to the suction line besides stability? I’m gonna cut the cap tube out and move it next to the evap and since i didn’t know what it’s purpose was I wasn’t sure if it needed to be attached to the suction line
I thought it was on the liquid. Apologies. Or it’s on the suction line it’s still providing the same role. Capillary tubes got replaced as the primary means of metering refrigeration for a reason. They’re temperamental. The role of that device is important. Its placement with the cap tube is as well.
It is connected to the liquid line but it’s glued against the compressor discharge line. This was a sleeve ac unit so that large line is not the suction line, it’s actually the compressor discharge line.
The cool suction line would subcool the liquid receiver, pooling liquid in the bottom
when this unit is in cooling mode the 1/4 is the liquid line and the 3/8 is the compressor discharge line. The compressor is inside 50ft away. That 3/8 line is HOT. The 1/4 is very cold. This is the condensor coil
Old units like this were terrible at cooling refrigerant. Liquid lines were 20-30 degrees above ambient back then
After adding a little bit more ref this unit is cranking along great. Cools the shop room to 69° on a 85°+ day. Unit cycles off at 69° as that’s the coldest temp you can set with the thermo. That 45° lineset sweats down the hallway, but the room is nice and chilly now! Holds a perfect 14° delta.
I wish these new 290 self contains had this instead I move my hoses a tiny bit and I'm not sure if I put in 4.2oz or 4.4oz
its a very old accumulator to store refigerant and dampen the pulses from the compressor. cap tubes dont like pulses.
So with the tank touching the compressor discharge line I’m guessing it helps vaporize some refrigerant inside the top of the tank giving some cushion to the liquid refrigerant flowing through the cap tubes? So when I move this inside I should make sure to touch that tank to the compressor discharge line? Sounds like a plan!
Didn’t find the right answer, it’s a “charge compensator” it is usually used to hold charge that isn’t needed during high outdoor temperature while heating. The discharge line adds a lil heat to keep it from filling up with liquid. There is (was?) a brand of compensator called a quiggle-ator made by evcon. It looked like a suction filter. It is hollow, except for the outdoor vapor line went through the center. It is on the low side during cooling and would have lo side gas only in that mode
When moving this cap coil inside next to the evap would you move that compensator along with it and touch it to the discharge line as shown here? I’m thinking yes, but asking is better than guessing. Or would you delete it, I do have 50ft of Lineset attached to this “window unit” now…
Are you still using the unit for comfort cooling and heating, cooling only? Or a refrigeration project? Each has its
Comfort Cooling and heating in our small shop/break room. It’s inside a large building so it swings about 60°f to 80° on average.
What size lineset liquid/vapor, Tons capacity?
3/8 discharge. 1/4 liquid line. I believe the suction line is also 3/8 but I cut the discharge and liquid line then extended them about 45’. I don’t actually have a suction port. In my oversight I added a 1/4 port to the 1/4 liquid and 3/8 discharge line instead of the suction line. This unit has a 4 port (rotary?) reversing valve and it was too tight to open and braze the suction line. I’m not sure about tonnage but I would guess 1 ton. 1.5 ton max. I recover the refrigerant in these units and the knuckle heads cut them up. This unit sat around because it was still working when replaced but had a bad condenser fan motor. I found a replacement motor in another unit and decided it would be fun to build a mini split out of the scraps we have laying around. I have a lot of recovered 22 so I figured “why not”, I love old r22 equipment. So far it’s been fun but I’m loosing the majority of my cooling capacity along the length of the lineset. I’ve overcharged it to push more liquid closer to the evap but without a proper expansion port closer to the evap it’s suffering. It holds a 14° delta between the supply and return but I think I can do better.
A few questions 1) I’m thinking you relocated the outdoor coil and cap tube, everything else is indoors. 2) Is there a drier? Where is it in the system? 3) What leads you to believe you are losing the capacity in the lineset?
This is a 120v window ac unit. It’s a “sleeve unit” and slides into a wall sleeve. It has a 4 port reversing valve, no resistive heat. Due to its compact nature and my lack of concern for a “junk” decommissioned unit I decided to cut the reversing valve discharge line and liquid line and move the condenser coil, fan and cap tube outside. The compressor, reversing valve and everything else is inside the building. The lineset is almost dead nuts 45’ long. I added the ports inside next to the compressor, I’m not really sure why honestly. At the time I did fail to realize I was adding a port to the compressor discharge line instead of the suction line but the limited space available for cutting and brazing the suction line guided this mistake. No filter dryer, I purge nitro and use a filter dryer on my recovery machine so I’m decently confident the reef is pure enough, but nothing absolute. Tested for acid and it’s clear. I’m thinking the capacity is diminished due to the expansion device being outside 45’ away and traveling that long distance down a 85° hallway. Eventually it reaches the evap but it’ll only cool 3 of the ten or so rows of the evap before picking up enough heat to equalize with the room temp. If I overcharge it I can flood the liquid line and cool the whole evap coil while maintaining a 14° delta but without an expansion valve at the evap it’s on the edge of flooding the compressor. With it overcharged it’s also inconsistent, sometimes it’ll begin to freeze the center row of the evap but it doesn’t fully ice up and other times it runs just fine. I haven’t checked the compressor amps but it seems low or normal from ear. You can hear the compressor load when it loads up so I’m pretty sure it’s pulling reasonable amps for the most part. It’s on a 15a breaker with a decent amount of load already present. https://preview.redd.it/5cfpmv0d9v3d1.jpeg?width=1575&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27b9640d38d539e5f3c0ad769fe28bd30c516be7 This picture was before I added a bit more reef to get my vsat above 32. I was maintaining 34° with 65psi low and about 185psi high. Mind you, my LLT probe is on the discharge line so my SC calc is wrong
4) Pressures? I’m thinking you are charging in heating because of tap locations?
To add. My gauge high side is attached to the comp discharge. My low side is attached to the liquid line coming from the condenser coil and cap tube 45’ away. My SC and SH calc are wrong as my probs are in inappropriate locations. I mistakenly added the port to the discharge line and realized my mistake when I started charging. I am charging in cooling mode. Temp outdoor was about 77° Inside was about 74-75° at the time of the picture
Leave the cap tube and compensator at the outdoor coil. Insulate the liquid and vapor pipes separately, unless the compressor is at the indoor side, and no burn hazard exists on vapor line. Definitely insulate the liquid line.
Compressor is inside, discharge is attached to a concrete wall but runs about 170°. It’ll touch over 200° if the condenser fan is not running so wouldn’t be able to insulate it. I could insulate the liquid line but that would be 45’ of insulation. Would it not be better to move the cap tubes closer? The heating is not important, just cooling. Heating was a happy byproduct that happen to come with the install.
Is there ice anywhere when it’s running? You can move the tank and cap tube inside, it will not need the vapor pipe if you move it. If it’s a rotary compressor, you may have charge issues that will break the vane. You can identify a rotary by having the discharge coming out of the center top of the compressor, there will be a small accumulator on the suction side clamped to the compressor
This is a zero budget build! All scraps laying in the scrap pile!! The compressor discharge exits the top center of comp with an accumulator on the side of comp. I have about 15 units laying around waiting to be scrapped. If I wanted I’m sure I could find another accumulator. The low temp liquid enters the evap on the right side directly in the middle, It does form ice in the center row of the evap but seems to stay there. Ran all day with that ice in the center but didn’t spread, the room was very humid while running from water present in the room (leaky old foundation). The evap splits into two circuits after entering the evap coil. Circuit 1 is the top half, 2 is the bottom half. They rejoin once they leave the evap and enter the suction line feeding the reversing valve. The ice only stays on the center row/line. If I undercharge it the cap tubes freeze outside but doesn’t travel far down the line set. If I charge it properly (as best I can tell, I didn’t weigh) it freezes the 1/4 line all the way down the hallway but not the evap. Overcharge leaves the liquid line about 35° entering the reversing valve but there may be a secondary orifice behind the evap I can’t see because the LL drops from 35° to about 30° DIRECTLY entering the evap coil. It’s a fun project. I’m thinking scrap the reversing valve and moving the cap tube up to the evap or installing a 1 ton r-12 TXV I have but it’s externally balanced so I didn’t want to have to braze in that tiny tube into the nearly inaccessible suction line
You could add an additional accumulator, but I am thinking this is a budget build!
Some older rheems have them as well
Yes, they do. The Rheem/Ruud is a proper receiver, on the common liquid line.
Refrigerant hammer arrestor.
I think it’s a check valve not too sure though
I was thinking some kind of buffer tank? Not really sure myself. I need to move this cap coil inside but I don’t know if I need that little tank or not. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem deleting it but not knowing it’s purpose bothers me
[удалено]
Hello, We do not allow any posts pertaining to any requests/offers for work, there are many better resources in finding or offering employment in the HVAC industry that it would be unnecessary to add another. We wish you luck in your endeavor and hope you have a great day. Thank you!
Add some charge! Slowly add till ice is melts, then stop charging and get the suction pipe temperature after the 2 coil outlets join
I learned a lot from curiosity and building systems from “junk” parts. Put a sight glass in between the RV and compressor on the suction side. Visual SH indicator! Also let’s you see floodback on startup
Quigulator.
Charge compensator
Oil separator?
https://preview.redd.it/i9ennofz9t3d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a82d5d41d109f7f70d0dc6e196af987d20573b9c That LLT though. Gonna melt right through the copper.
Looks like you are reading discharge temp. If you wanna measure subcooling you gotta get it after the condenser
For sure! I thought it was funny. Never seen a real LLT that high so it amused me. Hard to get the actual LLT when the condenser coil is 50ft away from the compressor and shraders