I work on ships as ships crew, In my job I'm pretty much all by myself, Generally I will be the only person on board that knows anything abut the reefer systems, I am mostly self taught by manuals and experience, Every manual or publication I have ever read concerning charging a system specifically states do not charge as a liquid through the suction line, Obvious, Liquids do not compress,

So if a system is a little short I dutifully charge as a vapor through the suction line always with out exception, Works great for smaller systems, But on large systems even with a heat blanket on the bottle it takes forever and a day,

When in Port we do have a service contractor that occasionally comes to the ship to look things over, I asked their guys about a faster way to charge and they all say just charge liquid through the suction line, I thought HUH??? so when off the ship and hanging around the hiring hall I asked some other older more experienced reefer's the same question and I get the same answer,

I have been told that if you just crack open the liquid valve at the bottle it atomizes the liquid and all will be well, I have not tried to check this theory yet, Reason being that almost every new ship I go to the compressors have just been rebuilt due to broken rings and valves,

I do know that Robinair has a fitting that can be used to charge liquid through the suction side, But I am worried to even use that, If I were to screw up the ships AC in the Indian Ocean I would be very unpopular,

I am asking about just topping up a charge that is short, I know that on large installations if a full charge needs to added/replaced that they will use a small pump through the King valve, Or breaking vacuum charging liquid through the king valve on a smaller system and then start the system and finish charging as vapor,

Any tips advice corrections etc would be appreciated,

deu58