mystery discharge

Hi,

If it were refrigerant in a high enough concentration and you entered the space where the plant was you would probably feel woozy. My exposure to it has left me with the impression it is a kind of sickly sweet and chemical taste ( Freon 12 and 24)

Look all over your AC system, if there was a major gas escape there will be Oil traces around where it escaped from.

Whacking the compressor with a 2 x 4 will not do much to it if it is actually seized from inaction.

Hi,

Probably a similar number to me, especially starter motors.

I wasn't saying it is a bad technique as such. It is a good way to de stress yourself whilst not doing much to free the jammed gear.

The most important thing to figure out is why the compressors froze, one I can understand but two at the same time kind of leads to a common fault.

How are the condensers? By this I mean have they been pressure tested?

It is possible while the system was stopped water got in and then got pumped around when the system first started causing a lock of the compressors.(Hydraulicing)?

Just so your aware you can replace just the compressor unit itself without havinig to go through Cruise aire. They are generic compressors brand labelled. Any residential/commercial a/c guy can buy it at the wholesaler and replace it. If you go the "marine" route they want to replace everything at double or triple the price.

Hi,

I made a typo in a previous post, It should have read Freon 12 and 22.

As far as I am aware there was never a commercially available refrigerant called Freon 24

Hi,

That is a given but what anyone who has had such a major failure of the system needs to do before fitting new parts is work out why the old ones failed.

A fridge Compressor is a pretty reliable and robust thing, for two to fail suddenly tends to lead to an outside force being involved not just a dodgy compressor unless they have consecutive serial numbers and were made on the same Friday afternoon/Monday Morning

I would agree with you fully. I'm simply stating that at the end of the day these are all generic units made by 2-3 manufactures and brand labeled with their own controls.

i was once chipping ice out of one of those small fridge with the ice box inside the fridge compartment.

i was using a knife or something and i put a hole in that ice box part and got a face full of gas and a gas discharge sound like the one described.

it smelled very different and i did feel a bit woozy for a while.

I earned the Darwin Award that day.

and paid $800 for a new fridge.

btw sometimes that the 2x4 method does work....

refrigeration guy

Dave if you ever need a second opinion I use a guy in Mamaroneck whom I highly recommend.

I don't want to play "Chicken Little" here but if the evaporator blew out make sure you check the chill water loop for oil contamination. If the boat uses any plastic piping in the loop the oil can lead to a chain of fitting failures.

If there is any refrigeration oil at all in the loop and you have plastic fittings, discuss the event with your insurance rep. I had a similar incident a few years ago that created a huge repair problem. It is not just the oil but the loop pressure took a huge high pressure spike when the evaporator line blew out, this lead to stress cracking that allowed rapid attack by the chemicals in the oil.

If you are lucky it was just a hermetic seal where a power lead enters the compressor can. You should be able to see oil someplace on the unit. If it made it to the atmosphere like you said then there will be oil showing where it escaped the system.

Martin Brekne
Oceanair, Inc.
914-381-3023

I have used him the last 20 years, excellent guy.

Hi,

I wouldn't worry about that last photo.

We are using a black version of that that doesn't have the Marineair Symbol on it for the ECR AC on a boat less than 12 months old.