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Semipro · 01-25-15, 07:43 AM

A follow-up on this post: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/38475-post4.html

A friend, a sort of alter ego, wanted to do the same thing as me. He needed to rearrange some of the mechanical systems in his house including the GSHPs. On the split system that serves his 2nd floor this would require that he break the R-22 lines. He called around to see what it would cost to have an HVAC tech come out and recovery the R-22. He got either total disinterest or absurdly high quotes.

He went to our local trash drop-off site and found an R-22 AC window unit that was being trashed. He fixed its relatively minor electrical problems and modified it to enable its use for freon recovery.

The mods:
- Installed quick taps one on either side of the capillary tube that is used for freon expansion
- Crimped the capillary tube with vise grips to create a near total blockage.
- Connected one refrigeration gauge set to the window unit suction port and the center hose to a port on the house's GSHP to monitor inlet pressure.
- Connected another gauge set to the window unit high side port and the center hose to a nearly empty R-22 tank set in a water bath.
- Started the window unit
- Open the valves on both gauge sets, watching both for excessively high or low pressures. Used the low side gauge set valve to meter how fast freon was pulled from the GSHP into the window unit.
- The WU outlet pressure never went very high, probably because the recovery tank was empty and the WU condenser fan was cooling the freon before it was pumped out.
- No freon was released.
- When the vise grips were removed the window unit started working almost normally again. Apparently, the copper capillary tube was elastic enough to open back up.
- I'm wondering now whether he really needed to clamp off the capillary.

01-25-15, 07:43 AM	#1
Semipro Andy Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: SW VA Posts: 45 Thanks: 6 Thanked 13 Times in 10 Posts	DIY refrigerant recovery system A follow-up on this post: http://ecorenovator.org/forum/38475-post4.html A friend, a sort of alter ego, wanted to do the same thing as me. He needed to rearrange some of the mechanical systems in his house including the GSHPs. On the split system that serves his 2nd floor this would require that he break the R-22 lines. He called around to see what it would cost to have an HVAC tech come out and recovery the R-22. He got either total disinterest or absurdly high quotes. He went to our local trash drop-off site and found an R-22 AC window unit that was being trashed. He fixed its relatively minor electrical problems and modified it to enable its use for freon recovery. The mods: - Installed quick taps one on either side of the capillary tube that is used for freon expansion - Crimped the capillary tube with vise grips to create a near total blockage. - Connected one refrigeration gauge set to the window unit suction port and the center hose to a port on the house's GSHP to monitor inlet pressure. - Connected another gauge set to the window unit high side port and the center hose to a nearly empty R-22 tank set in a water bath. - Started the window unit - Open the valves on both gauge sets, watching both for excessively high or low pressures. Used the low side gauge set valve to meter how fast freon was pulled from the GSHP into the window unit. - The WU outlet pressure never went very high, probably because the recovery tank was empty and the WU condenser fan was cooling the freon before it was pumped out. - No freon was released. - When the vise grips were removed the window unit started working almost normally again. Apparently, the copper capillary tube was elastic enough to open back up. - I'm wondering now whether he really needed to clamp off the capillary.