Update:
Right around Thanksgiving, the unit developed a leak at the top of the compressor. The stock tubing the manufacturer used was rather thin and seems to have vibrated itself apart. You can see the spot that popped in the previous post I made, taking a picture of an access valve I brazed in that had vibrated itself apart in the same way. The tubing below the slip coupling I brazed in failed. What I did this time was made a longer slip coupling that now fits all the way down to the cxr. I left a 1/2 inch piece of the factory tubing for a stub to line up piping, and blobbed on a generous amount of silfos at the cxr shell to increase contact area at that joint. I then lined everything up and slipped my new fitting down into this puddle of silfos. Now there is a flange-type joint at the top of the compressor, so hopefully it will have added strength and rigidity. Down at the reversing valve, I installed some foam between it and the cxr shell and wired them together to reduce any excessive vibrations from occurring in the discharge line that has caused two vibration-related leaks. Re-purge, vacuum, recharge. Unit has been running good since 25 Nov.
The weather got mild again this week, so the unit has not been running anywhere near constantly. Last week, it pretty much kept the gas furnace from running any long cycles. Normally, the gas furnace runs every fifteen minutes when temps go below 45, and more often the colder it gets.
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