Noisey oil seperator

[Fridgy Dave]

I had a large Bitzer oil separator on a Bitzer rack making a metallic
knocking noise internally I wondered what caused this noise?

[cold.man]

hi fridgy dave

sounds as it may be the filters inside the oil sep mate.
have you checked the filters?

[Fridgy Dave]

Filters?? How do you access the filters I am aware of the oil filter but if there are strainers inside the seperator I wouldn't know how to access them

[cold.man]

if you can access the filters there should be bolt heads ontop of the sep
if you have never changed oil sep filters before you need sombody to show you really.
if you dont depressurise the sep you will end up with hot oil all over yourself let alone the pressure behind the plate if you remove it whilst full of pressure.
is there a make and model on the oil sep?
is the oil sep made by bitzer or is it another type such as temprite?

[Fridgy Dave]

This oil seperator isn't the type you describe but a sealed tank on the side of the rack the model number on it is B36-033

[Plank!]

I had one do this on an R22 plant some years ago.
Sound level at compressors 96dB
Sound level at seperator 112dB

Never did find out what caused it, sealed vertical seperator, with some really annoying internal resonance.
That one was a bitzer too.

[750 Valve]

The Bitzer oil seps used in Australia are not like any other used commonly overseas (removable cartridge type), they are a design harking back to the William H Evans days who used to import Bitzer comps and put together units designed for our ambients.

They are a very simple design and work very well, give Bitzer Sydney a ring and ask them to email you a drawing of the internals. Sounds like one of the steel sleeves has snapped a weld, the only way to repair it is to replace it. If the rack is new it should be covered under warranty.

[CraigF]

aaah, dropping the old separators!!

One guy taught me a quick way which involved a breaker bar...