Broken compressor

[Peter_1]

Some pictures, compressor 1 month old.
Not for sensitive peoples.
Freezer applicaton Copeland
Liquid slugging, ***** wash-out.
Afbeelding (5): piston twisted in the cylinder
Afbeelding: right piston is gone.

[Argus]

Certainly a gruesome sight. Was that Coppper plating I saw on the piston head? That would indicate moisture presence to me.....

Certainly looks like a dry set of bearings on the bottom end and the crankshaft.

I have encountered similar failures in air cooled air conditioners that were grossly overcharged. The first the manufacturer knows is a waranty claim.

The scenario goes like this.....

1. Some idiot packs a double or treble charge into the unit. (Remember, packaged A/C has no receiver and operates on a measured charge).
2. In winter months the unit shuts down over a weekend.
3. When the building temperature decays and stabilises, there is likely to be a TD of 15 degrees C or more between the in and out sections.
4. The refrigerant in the indoor section migrates to the outdoor unit.
5. It fills the condenser, overflows and runs down the discharge pipe by gravity.
6. If it overflows the muffler and settles on top of the piston / valve assembly the rapid expansion when the compressor restarts and injects hot gas into this body of static cold liquid will split a piston or connecting rod and sometimes blow a muffler apart.

Far fetched? It happens and the usual explanation is a bad batch of compressors?.. When the real problem is hydraulic damage due to overcharging and bearing failure due to liquid washing.

Seen it many times. Peter.
________
Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 history

[Brian_UK]

Ooops........

[chemi-cool]

sorry about your compressor, peter.

one of the ways to avoid these situations is to keep the system heated at all times.

a 200W heater in the crankcase, and a 170W heater around the liquid saperator.

everything on the pictures is related to liquid entering the compressor.

another helpful thing that I do, is checking that pumpdown realy empty the system.

chemi

[Mark]

Hi peter

What application was the compressor running pack/single unit(CU).etc

Regards Mark

[Peter_1]

Hi peter

What application was the compressor running pack/single unit(CU).etc

Regards Mark

Single unit, remote KUBA condensor on a KUBA SGB evaporator.
Not very nice after some weeks.

[baker]

It will be interesting to see how Trane with their ceramic bearings and TurboCor with their magnetic bearing compressors get on. It would certainly make life easier to not have any oil in the system.

[rbartlett]

a good engineer would have got that running again till the new one arrived ;-)

cheers

richard

[Peter_1]

a good engineer would have got that running again till the new one arrived ;-)

cheers

richard

No problem with that: when I arrived, it was running really smooth, no vibration at all, (very) low discharge temperatures, low discharge pressures, AMPS low, so... why in fact looking at it ?
So.. am i a good engineer now?
It was running this way for some days.

It was due to a sump full of WD40 that it was running that smooth.

Sure I have WD40: a good friend of me is working at the sole Belgium importer of that stuff.
Ever tried this ? Spray WD40 on the thread of a light bulb, screw it in the socket, put in the wall socket and immerse the bulb completely under water. Light will light under water and normally, no safety device will trip at all.
Try at your own risk but that's the way he always impresses customers.

[RogGoetsch]

Sure I have WD40: a good friend of me is working at the sole Belgium importer of that stuff.
Ever tried this ? Spray WD40 on the thread of a light bulb, screw it in the socket, put in the wall socket and immerse the bulb completely under water. Light will light under water and normally, no safety device will trip at all.
Try at your own risk but that's the way he always impresses customers.

A bit off topic here, but I have cleaned up enough gummed-up sliding doors on deli cases, roller tracks on reach-in doors, etc. that I am not a big fan of the stuff. I carry food-grade silicone spray and teflon spray lube, both excellent DRY lubes that will not attract dust and turn into a gummy mess. I carry "liquid wrench" for loosening stuck/rusted screws & bolts and turbine oil for lubricating motors.

But thanks for the info. If I ever need to do some underwater illumination, it sounds like just the thing! Maybe all those people electrocuted by hair dryers in the bath should be giving the things a good spray with ol' WD40 before jumping in the tub!

Rog

[frank]

Spray WD40 on the thread of a light bulb, screw it in the socket, put in the wall socket and immerse the bulb completely under water. Light will light under water and normally, no safety device will trip at all.

Would you have this in QUICKTIME format

[Bones]

INOX, any of you guys other then aussies heard of inox? its based on lanolin and made in australia - i prefer it to a can of wd40, seems thinner and gets into all those nice rusted nuts and bolts good, available in a bottle or pressure spray can like wd40. also great for bearings frees them up a treat compared to wd which makes them feel binding through the tacky oil.

not suitable to sliders etc as Rog approach is still the best for those applications.

[rbartlett]

[QUOTE=Bones]INOX, any of you guys other then aussies heard of inox? its based on lanolin and made in australia -



yes but they were never the same since hutchence topped himself

cheers

richard

[shogun7]

When I was a mechanic and I was troubleshooting an electrical problem I always fixed the problem with WD 40 and never had to replace any defective electric control. Boy thats good stuff LMAO
Roger

[shogun7]

Richard... A little dab il do ya!
Roger

[Mark C]

Some pictures, compressor 1 month old.
Not for sensitive peoples.
Freezer applicaton Copeland
Liquid slugging, ***** wash-out.
Afbeelding (5): piston twisted in the cylinder
Afbeelding: right piston is gone.

Peter.... That is not a compressor you are showing! It is the new Copeland Piston Puzzle Kit Toy, part number #00 (Uh Oh)

[kris]

are you mad!!!!

[kris]

peter,did you buy new parts or stick them back together?

[wesmax]

I have spent the better part of my life working on rinks should I say since 1963 so I have seen many broken compressors in nh3 and R22 ,.I always preferred to work on the NH3 but could do both. I saw the pictures and I do agree the compressor was flooding liguid and washed out the oil or diluted it so bad it no longer would lub the mains or throws anyway it is a problem with some systems. I have installed some suction accumulators which do help but you do have to have good oil return. what systems to you use flooded or txv chillers where you are . I do have to go now but am very interested in this subject so will talk later.

Wes Maxfield

[wesmax]

When I was a mechanic and I was troubleshooting an electrical problem I always fixed the problem with WD 40 and never had to replace any defective electric control. Boy thats good stuff LMAO
Roger

Their is not a service truck in Canada without WD40 it is the greatest stuff in the world it will fix anything but a hangover
and it will even help that. Wes Maxfield