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Old 02-10-13, 10:46 AM   #4
AC_Hacker
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Quote:
Originally Posted by randen View Post
Most of the components have arrived and are being assembled. A few alterations have been nessisary. The height of the new compressor is about an inch taller and its having a bit of a snowball effect with now the case not being tall enough and the reversing valve position. In true Ecorenovator fashion the new build is also sporting a suction tube heat exchanger. Mikesolar and Jeff have done some work showing some efficiency gain but we'll have to see what happens
The varible frequency drive VFD is taking its time arriving. But until the final strokes are completed on the 5 Ton the little 2 Ton will keep the shop almost warm.

Up grades to the 5 Ton:
scroll type compressor
VFD
Liquid sight glass
new filter/dryer
Suction line HX.

Randen
randen,

Great pix on an awesome project. I attended a solar installer's training conference some years back, and they strongly recommended a different type of pipe insulation for solar installations. Seems the type that is least expensive and most available (the type you have) does not handle the temperature cycling that solar installations are subject to. Their life is short and they become brittle and crumbly after a few years.

The type that was recommended was a black, closed cell, sponge rubber type of insulation. And their primo choice was the rigid fiberglass stuff that is so difficult to install.

I don't know if your application will have the large range of temperature cycling that a solar system would have, but you might keep it in mind. Shouldn't be too hard to change out, if required.

Also, on your suction tube heat exchanger, did you do any kind of quantitative sizing, or was it more of an inventor's intuition?

Lastly, what dimensions (lengths, diameters, etc) did you use on your tubes-in-tube HX?

By the way, I think your copper-in-plastic HX is just brilliant!

(* in pic #2, I see a panel with many buttons... that explains a lot! *)

Best,

-AC
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Last edited by AC_Hacker; 02-10-13 at 10:52 AM..
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