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Old 04-29-09, 04:01 PM   #40
AC_Hacker
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Default We look under the hood to see what's going on... (conclusion)

Let's take advantage of the fact that the cover is off and watch what the unit does under power...

Make sure that the cover is back on the compressor, and that no screwdrivers or wrenches are in or on the AC unit. If you have a watt-meter, this might be a useful time to measure the power consumption of the unit.

I let mine run for a couple of hours and here's what it looks like.


watts vs minutes

If we look at the evaporator end of the cap-tube, we should see frost forming.


early-frost

After it has run awhile, the compressor's heat begins to build and we see that the frost on the evaporator line has decreases a bit.


later-frost.jpg

I have included here an interesting chart that shows various refrigerants, and when they were discovered.


Refrigerants

There's more to learn about the innards of an AC unit, but this should do it for now.

This is the conclusion of "We look under the hood to see what's going on".

I hope this has been useful for you, and has not only given you a bit of knowledge but has fortified your gumption to continue on with some interesting and useful AC hacking.

Best Regards,

-AC_Hacker

(* Next post: What Can We Do With This Thing? *)
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Last edited by AC_Hacker; 06-07-09 at 03:38 PM.. Reason: In-Line Images
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