EcoRenovator - View Single Post - DIY Air-Source Water HP

AC_Hacker · 01-04-12, 12:50 PM

You are going about this thing the right way...

Get as much of the crud out of the HX fins as possible, of course.

I would have to say, however, that I have no confidence in being able to re-position the HX into any other useful position without rupturing the system. There was another poster on the 'Manifesto' thread who said it always worked OK for him. So, I just say, "Good luck."

In the event that you do spring a leak, here are some things to think about:

The heat exchanger that you don't use can be very useful in other projects, that you have not thought of yet, so save it. You will want to prevent debris an bugs from getting inside, so tape up the raw ends.
The cap tube (the little copper coil that is inside your AC, that is about the diameter of spaghetti) is already properly sized to your compressor, and your refrigerant... it will also work with R-290, maybe not so good with R-134a. So take care that you don't break or kink it. It is made from a different kind of copper than the rest of the copper tubing, and is not very malleable. If you re-use your cap tube, the length is VERY important, so salvage the cap tube not at the small diameter, but at the larger diameter tube that it is brazed to.
When the glorious day comes when you do re-assembly of the parts, do not try to use copper water pipe solder, it will not only fail early, it will make it very difficult to use silver/phosphorous-bronze rod that you should use. You will need to use a MAPP gas or equivalent torch to braze, propane works very poorly, acetylene works great if you have it.

No matter how your project goes, you will gain from your experience... best of luck.

-AC_Hacker

01-04-12, 12:50 PM	#2
AC_Hacker Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 4,004 Thanks: 303 Thanked 723 Times in 534 Posts	You are going about this thing the right way... Get as much of the crud out of the HX fins as possible, of course. I would have to say, however, that I have no confidence in being able to re-position the HX into any other useful position without rupturing the system. There was another poster on the 'Manifesto' thread who said it always worked OK for him. So, I just say, "Good luck." In the event that you do spring a leak, here are some things to think about: The heat exchanger that you don't use can be very useful in other projects, that you have not thought of yet, so save it. You will want to prevent debris an bugs from getting inside, so tape up the raw ends. The cap tube (the little copper coil that is inside your AC, that is about the diameter of spaghetti) is already properly sized to your compressor, and your refrigerant... it will also work with R-290, maybe not so good with R-134a. So take care that you don't break or kink it. It is made from a different kind of copper than the rest of the copper tubing, and is not very malleable. If you re-use your cap tube, the length is VERY important, so salvage the cap tube not at the small diameter, but at the larger diameter tube that it is brazed to. When the glorious day comes when you do re-assembly of the parts, do not try to use copper water pipe solder, it will not only fail early, it will make it very difficult to use silver/phosphorous-bronze rod that you should use. You will need to use a MAPP gas or equivalent torch to braze, propane works very poorly, acetylene works great if you have it. No matter how your project goes, you will gain from your experience... best of luck. -AC_Hacker __________________ I'm not an HVAC technician. In fact, I'm barely even a hacker...