Advise on a Copeland

[Robearbam]

I have this R-22 unit, very old in an old city. It's in a residence. It looks to have a exchanger for the hot gas which then the water from this exchanger goes to a cooling tower. I figured this exchanger does all the hot gas cooling and then the water is pumped through the tower to keep it cool via a coil and a fan. I don't see any refrig lines going to the tower. The water pump is in the basement. I'm normally an in house tech and don't get a chance to see other equipment much so this is new to me. I have sucessfully drained all the water from all plumbing. My question is.....should I pump this thing down for the winter? The comp, evap and exchanger are all together in the house. I'm not sure if this thing has a heater on it or not, I didn't look. This whole thing is in a closet and just the metal front panels must weigh 50 Lbs or so....unbelievable! I'm sure many of you have experienced this before so......thanks for any advise.

[Brian_UK]

What is it that you want to know?

Having drained the condenser cooling water system I hope that you have isolated the unit to stop it running.

[Robearbam]

The unit is electrically off. I am just a bit concerned about liquid migration as this thing sits over the winter months. On a unit of several hundred tons pump down over the winter is imperative especially with the compressors sitting in an unheated area. This thing is on such a small scale and located indoors....is it necessary to do the same thing? That is my question.

[johnyfreon]

if the evaporator and compressor are at the same temperature you dont need to pump it down.

[taz24]

It depends on the size and how you intend to start it back up. Pumpdown is done mainly for two reasons. One is to keep the suction pressure low for comp startup and the other is more for good housekeeping. If we keep the liquid in the receiver for storage then we know where it is and that it should be contained safely. If you drain down the water to stop it freezing in the winter you may get refrigerant migrateing in the cool weather to the coldest point but as long as it warms up again in the spring it should not be an issue.
Cheers taz.

[Robearbam]

Okay...this is what I needed to know. The guy that took care of this thing since inception is gone. I don't mind doing what he did if it's required. I like to use my own judgement on whatever equipment I work on but I do like other opinions also. Thanks forum!