Reclaim Units

[borodave1973]

Hi I am currently looking to get a couple of new reclaim units just wondered if any one could reccomend any as we had a Javac one but that gave up the ghost pretty quickley! Been running a couple of promax ones for a while now and they seem pretty good....
Cheers for any help

[Daikin=Overated]

I personally would always opt for a compressor-less reclaim myself. Often refered to as oil-free I believe??
Utilising an electric motor instead of a compressor/mini fridge circuit-these tend to be rock solid!

Another advantage of this type of system is compatability with many types of refigerant.

I guess it depends on typically how much gas your going to be reclaiming really. If it's light/commercial then most should cope, it's when you call on some of these brands to reclaim heavy commercial VRV's etc, they tend to go bang.

I can't remember the manufacturer of mine, but it's pretty old now and still going strong, having taken the usual amount of abuse in the back of the van!

Cheers.

[Inverter man]

Although I've used others in the past, I've found Promax to be reliable if looked after and have 2 of my own, you can at least get spare parts for the Promax if you need to rebuild as necessary.

[Grizzly]

Hi I am currently looking to get a couple of new reclaim units just wondered if any one could recommend any as we had a Javac one but that gave up the ghost pretty quickly! Been running a couple of promax ones for a while now and they seem pretty good....
Cheers for any help
Hi Dave.
I have been using the promax versions for a good few years. For the last 2 or 3 I have been using the
RG54110A (ALWAYS 110V). Which as the name implies is suitable for 410a. I don't know what quantities a large vrv holds?
But we regularly reclaim 60 - 80 kg or larger systems. Many of my colleagues on the marine side will recover 250 / 260kg systems.
One observation I will make is that despite what anyone says about their recovery machine and it's ability to recover liquid, (Oil-less or not!)
It pays to throttle the Input (Suction) side of the unit, at least until the Suction Pressure has dropped sufficiently. To allow the valve to be fully open, without the threat of liquid returning.
Sorry if that sounds condescending , but you would be surprised the number of engineers that destroy these units through being misinformed or just impatient!
When used with care and thought they have / are proving to be very reliable.
Stating the obvious to many I know but it is always best practise and quicker to pump down a system first, To get as much refrigerant as you can into its liquid form liquid as recovering liquid is much faster than in it's gas form.
( added for those that may not know this and not aimed at anyone in particular)
I hope this has been some help and good luck with your quest.
Grizzly

[neil74]

we tend to use the promax rg54110a, we all have them and there pretty relaiable but l've heard that the cpc cr700e are pretty good and are quicker than the promax, l'm going to try one next time when my promax gives up!!!

[The Viking]

Personally, I favour the CPS' little yellow ones..
Liquid or vapour, they'll handle it.
But saying that, we did get a batch about a year ago which had the fans eating through the plastic casing, all replaced under warranty and they now seem to work OK.

Also remember, all reclaim units will work the fastest if you are able to use the unit to suck gas from the reclaim cylinder in to the system and let that gas push liquid from the system back in to the cylinder.

[nike123]

Also remember, all reclaim units will work the fastest if you are able to use the unit to suck gas from the reclaim cylinder in to the system and let that gas push liquid from the system back in to the cylinder.

That is called Push-Pull evacuation. You need to have cylinder with two valves.

Look at this article!;)

http://tinyurl.com/24up2s

[paul_h]

Where I work we had heaps of r410a reclaimers (so all about 2-3 years old).
We had a promax 410, and two cps units (one of the round type, one new small rectangular type)
I bought myself an inficon, it's a lot better than all the CPS and promax units we had there. Way better construction, and the valves don't leak.
The valves on the promax leaked, the bolts holding it together all vibrated out too. The round CPS broke inside a year old, the rectangular CPS was falling apart since it was made so bad(plastic body, self tappers falling out).
I bought the inficon because it was the cheapest, but from my experience it is also the best. Has the most solid construction and the best reliability to date.

[dsp]

I agree paul the Inficon is a good product.
But the push pull system is a must for everyone to learn.
dsp

[Inverter man]

Tried a new CPC, it lasted an hr, that put me off so went back to Promax, also Promax has a liquid setting on the suction valve to prevent slugging.

[old gas bottle]

i use yellow jacket now,have found the after sales very good if it does break, there rep goes to the wholesaler to mend it and not had a bill yet, we have a r1000 twin cylinder one in a metal case with ceramic pistons wich are needed for pumping virgin refrigerant, very good machine,fast and copes with anything,thats the one to have but there a bit heavy for up a ladder but thats when a 20ft charging hose comes in:D

[quiksilva]

Think ive had about 15 differant types of reclaim unit with varying results over the last few years, As im mostly doing large chiller work ive seen which makes tend to last and those that dont. Highlights include a javac that vibrated so much across a comms room floor that it fell through a missing floor tile some 6 ft away from where it was placed when we had a tea break!
Last 3 units ive used were Promax: Great on liquid but noticable fall in performance during vapour recovery which seemed to get worse over a couple of months, Mastercool: very quiet similar performance to promax but better on vapour pull and finally Yellow jacket XLT which is quiet and so far good on both liquid and vapour, I particulary like the cpr valve which auto throttles the intake so no danger of slugging.
Personally ive not found any of the small recovery units much cop for working on larger systems especially when its summer ,You dont save that much in weight or money and the time they take to finish a job compared with a full size unit is too long as you end up constantly having to sub cool the bottles as their condensor coils tend to be too small

Andy

[andy c]

We use the Promax brand, and save loads on costs by purchasing and importing them from the states. Even after paying the import duty, they work out at about £250-£300. We have six of these and been using them for about three years now, and they have been reliable.
They are 110v / 60Hz but operate fine over here. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[old gas bottle]

quicksilver ! if you do the big chillers like we do a good few,take a look at polar pumps range, there a bit old hat as far as technoligy goes meaning there not oil less but the larger ones shift a massive amount of gas, we have had one for years now and its done hundreds of hours, 3/8 hoses on them,think that gives you an idea,;)

[quiksilva]

Blimey! Just had a look at their site, in the event of a compressor failure you could just pipe the reclaim unit in its place as its that big :D Still 200kg an hour means id be in the pub by lunchtime....

[declan simmonds]

hello ive used a promax unit for about 8 years its been really good, when buying a recovery unit you just have to look at the kgs per hour of recovery and the promax wins hands down i hope you choose wisley as its annoy waiting recovery.
cheers declan

[Andy AC]

I've been using a Javac XTR that I got off ebay for 200 quid about 4 years ago, never had a problem with it - a bit noisy though, and no auto shut off.

Andy

[get the gauges]

I've got a Yellow Jacket R60a it was £600+vat it does suck well. But one problem is that when it gets down to a half vacuum it switches off on an L/P switch but when the pressure rises enough to make the switch it starts against a high pressure and trips it's in-built breaker,which looks like something that won't be in circuit much longer.:eek:

[Grizzly]

I've got a Yellow Jacket R60a it was £600+vat it does suck well. But one problem is that when it gets down to a half vacuum it switches off on an L/P switch but when the pressure rises enough to make the switch it starts against a high pressure and trips it's in-built breaker,which looks like something that won't be in circuit much longer.:eek:

This is where I show my ignorance again, but why are you trying to recover to a Vacuum or half vacuum?
Grizzly

[nike123]

That is not ignorance, that is right question to ask.

[HVACGod]

Van Steenburgh® Engineering
http://www.vansteenburghengr.com/

Appion®
http://appioninc.com/products/g5features.html

PROMax®, as has been pointed out is very good and for smaller applications so is the Bacharach® Stinger™. The two linked above are among the best available.

[get the gauges]

This is where I show my ignorance again, but why are you trying to recover to a Vacuum or half vacuum?
Grizzly


That is not ignorance, that is right question to ask.


Oh no they've got me in a corner!

Thats what yellow jacket do, i assume it's got something with the fact that although it says 0 psi on the gauges that's psig not psia so there's still 1 atmosphere of refrigerant in the system thats a whole lot of gas i suppose if your on a big system.And most people reclaim below atmosphere as it keeps evaporating out the oil and liquid pockets.But if anyone can educate me i'm all ears.
Although mind you my beautiful reclaim hasn't seen much action(only bought it coz i liked the look of it) as the hundreds of kgs i've reclaimed in supermarket shutdowns has been push pulled using the system compressor, any knackered comps just get the service valves shut before changing. I ain't got time for all that game. :)

[nike123]

Oh no they've got me in a corner!

Thats what yellow jacket do, i assume it's got something with the fact that although it says 0 psi on the gauges that's psig not psia so there's still 1 atmosphere of refrigerant in the system thats a whole lot of gas i suppose if your on a big system.And most people reclaim below atmosphere as it keeps evaporating out the oil and liquid pockets.But if anyone can educate me i'm all ears.


You could reclaim below atmosphere, but you could not make proper vacuum drying with it as well as with compressor in system, because these compressors are not designed for that purpose.
If you have minus reading of pressure, than it is PSIG on that manometer, but you have plenty of vacuum drying from last division on that manometer to 500 microns of vacuum.

[get the gauges]

You could reclaim below atmosphere, but you could not make proper vacuum drying with it as well as with compressor in system, because these compressors are not designed for that purpose.
If you have minus reading of pressure, than it is PSIG on that manometer, but you have plenty of vacuum drying from last division on that manometer to 500 microns of vacuum.

Oh right, well thats what yellow jacket have made the unit to do so there you go . :)

[old gas bottle]

my understanding is that its correct to pull the system into a 20 inch vacum so all of the refrigerant is out of the system and no venting can occur,thats why the lp is set that way, as you know in some cases there is refrigerant left in the compressor oil that gives itself up slower than the rest of the system when pulling it out quickly so by taking it lower into a vacum helps a more complete recovery.

i know what your saying,you do not want air in a system thats only being worked on,well stop it short but any system thats redundant it is the proper way as you save all of the gas and draw air in !:)

[monkey spanners]

I always recover down to a vacuum and if the system is not being scrapped i break the vacuum with ofn, Its going to be vac'ed out later anyway.

The secondhand coldroom i'm putting in at the moment appears to have had its refrigerant recovered by one of those 12" 'hacksaw' recover machines by the previous company......

[Grizzly]

GTG and OGB.
Thanks for the advise appreciated.
I have just been on the Yellow Jacket website and they do indeed describe what you both mention.
That the LP Switch is not a safety switch but used to indicate when recovery is correct.
I did ask if I was showing my ignorance! ( Promax and Oz are my limits)
Incidentally they do seem nice bits of kit. I particularly like the sub-cooling feature.
Cheers Grizzly

[get the gauges]

GTG and OGB.
Thanks for the advise appreciated.
I have just been on the Yellow Jacket website and they do indeed describe what you both mention.
That the LP Switch is not a safety switch but used to indicate when recovery is correct.
I did ask if I was showing my ignorance! ( Promax and Oz are my limits)
Incidentally they do seem nice bits of kit. I particularly like the sub-cooling feature.
Cheers Grizzly

oh there lovely alright it's the best one they do in the uk i believe,i don't think the R100 was available in blighty when i was looking about,in fact i might go out to the van and bring it in to watch the telly with me it's so nice.

[The Viking]

oh there lovely alright it's the best one they do in the uk i believe,i don't think the R100 was available in blighty when i was looking about,in fact i might go out to the van and bring it in to watch the telly with me it's so nice.

Hmm.
This says something.


But I don't know if it's about you Midlands blokes or the quality of the Ladies up there:D:D:D

[old gas bottle]

chaps please belive me when i say the R100 are the ones to have,for a oiless unit there quite good on vapour too, i was involved with yellow jacket field testing smaller units but to me no matter what make they are ,the small common type are all to slow on anything with more than 3kg of gas in, one little fact,as far as i know the motor -pump unit was the same in all of them just a differant case and pipework arrangement.i,am not sure if i,am correct on that one though,:rolleyes:

about two years ago we were involved with the degasing of the fridge mountains of domestic but mainly supermarket units and tried most units on the market,some ended up in the skip after a couple of days !,the only only good machine to survive and do its job quickly was a polar pump machine which is still going strong today after 2 1/2 years of day in day out usage,there bigish and on wheels but can rattle it out pronto,

its all about the right machine for the job you are doing,we have a small machine,R80 yellow jacket for little jobs upto the R100 and the polar unit on the largest,with two smaller polar units for the medium size systems,

the R100 is a bit of a rare speciel joby as this one has ceramic pistons so we can use it for charging chillers up with virgin refrigerant.me fingers hurt now:D

[quiksilva]

the R100 is a bit of a rare speciel joby as this one has ceramic pistons so we can use it for charging chillers up with virgin refrigerant.

On a similar vein i use an old promax minimax purely for this purpose, Whatever reclaim unit i use for pulling out i will use the minimax to charge it back it again hopefully prolonging the life of the "sucker" machine, despite the fact its fairly lame at pulling vapour/liquid from large plant its very good at pulling from a recovery bottle or virgin fridge bottles to speed things along in the charging phase. Ultimately it will be expendable to coin a phrase....

[get the gauges]

Hmm.
This says something.


But I don't know if it's about you Midlands blokes or the quality of the Ladies up there:D:D:D

Oh no I'm not doin' that again,i couldn't hear the telly for the racket!