Rebuilding 2 copland semi's?

[The MG Pony]

I have two old semihermetic Coplands that where badly abused, so as to pactice I wish to rebuild them my self, they will only be for my and playing with at home and will never see field service so there is no liability issues with me doing it my self!

What should I have on hand for when I start to dismantle them?

Right now last I knew they ran just fine, how every they must be cleaned compleatly as one was used as an air pump, the other was poorly decommissioned and sat for an un-knowen amount of time open to the weather. So all and any rust must be taken off and oil compleatly cleaned out. What should work best for this?

Any help will be greatly apreciated.

Thanking you all in advance :)

[taz24]

I have two old semihermetic Coplands that where badly abused, so as to pactice I wish to rebuild them my self, they will only be for my and playing with at home and will never see field service so there is no liability issues with me doing it my self!

What should I have on hand for when I start to dismantle them?

Right now last I knew they ran just fine, how every they must be cleaned compleatly as one was used as an air pump, the other was poorly decommissioned and sat for an un-knowen amount of time open to the weather. So all and any rust must be taken off and oil compleatly cleaned out. What should work best for this?

Any help will be greatly apreciated.

Thanking you all in advance :)

Treat them with the same respect as you would a car engin and you will be fine. Clean external surfaces and then using a socket set remove all covers. Becareful of the oil, again treat like car oil (In the UK it is a controled waste). Remove the components and lay them out on cardboard in the order you removed them.
Have fun.

Cheers taz.

[The MG Pony]

Ah that simple eh? Thanks, Can't wait to open them sweeties up :D

[taz24]

Ah that simple eh? Thanks, Can't wait to open them sweeties up :D


When you open it the gaskets may stick to both surfaces and damage when pulled off. Dont worry about this and scrape the faces of the head / plate / covers with a scrapper to clean up.

Two thing to be careful of
one is the oil
the other is put some news paper on the table top because partners, wife, mums, girlfriends whoever tend to get upset for some reason when they have to clean the oily scratch marks from the table top.

Cheers taz.

[US Iceman]

Since the gaskets will probably be destroyed in the tear-down process you also need to know one other thing.

Copeland does not sell gasket or rebuild kits any longer. I think the only replacement parts they sell are valve plates, oil pumps, and some external pieces.

So, if you tear this down, putting them back together in a servicable manner may not be expected.

[The MG Pony]

I was going to use engine head gasket material since it is designed for harsh stuff.

[US Iceman]

yes but... Gaskets are not just gaskets. There is a whole lot of science that goes into this, so while they may hold pressure, they might still leak after getting saturated with refrigeration oil.

[The MG Pony]

Ah K, how would I go about geting the data needed to select the correct material?

[US Iceman]

This is only a guess, but try to find a new gasket for say the oil pump or valve plates. Then track down a gasket supply house and see if they can match up the material, then the thinknesses you mighy need.

After that, you just need to be real good at hand cutting gaskets, which is not as easy as it might seem.

You also need to use a torque wrench to check the bolt torques, so when you put the comrpessor back together, the gaskets are toqued down properly.

You should also use a cross-torquing technique to ensure the bolts and gaskets "seat" evenly.

This will probably be a good experience as nothing is better than seeing the compressors from the inside.

Good luck with your little project.;)

[Brian_UK]

When you are taking it down it might be worth while taking photos of each stage as you go.

It will give you a record of what goes where and also might be useful to add to your CV in the future.

[The MG Pony]

Ah very good advice thank you guys, I'll definetaly make a photo jurnal of the venture, I know about cross torquing :) I use that heavily in all my items that need bolts as it ensures even stress distrobution ;)

I can't wait to get started! I'll upload the photos as I go too :)

[Brian_UK]

I can't wait to get started! I'll upload the photos as I go too :)Oh No :eek:

It's going to be like Aunt Nelly's holiday photos :rolleyes:

( Sounds of man running screaming from computer desk........):D

[The MG Pony]

Lmao thanks there! No worries as it'll be a while as I'll have to weit till I get me self a torque wrench! That and find out what gasget material

On the brighter side a heating place gave me the condencing portion of a cheaper Carrier AC model :)

[taz24]

Lmao thanks there! No worries as it'll be a while as I'll have to weit till I get me self a torque wrench! That and find out what gasget material

On the brighter side a heating place gave me the condencing portion of a cheaper Carrier AC model :)


Do you intend to put thease comps back in service or are they just toys to play with. If just for training then gasket are imiterial if you are goinig to use them again then you will need to do a full gasket.
There are lots of compressor remanufactures In the UK that have full gasket sets for all the Prestcold / Copeland range of semi hermetics.
But this is th UK and you are over the pond:) .
If you are intent on useing the comps again then gaskets can be obtained.

Cheers taz.

Ps if you are just training then corn flake box cardboard makes exelent gasket material.
Cut the card to aprox size and the hold in place on the surface and tap gently with the ball part of a ballpein hammer. With practice you will be able to produce an exact copy of the gasket and you do not cut, the gasket material just shears when tapped with the hammer.
taz.

[The MG Pony]

Ok thanks!

For now it is just Practic, practice rebuilding, then going to use them as practice to make semi hermetic systems, so not realy for service but for use in a learning system and then for experimenting so they will need to function in the end.

[Claudio]

for spare parts search in internet for CMP Corporation in Canada, They have many different brand and type of gasket and spare parts