Hello all,
I'm making my first post here and hope that the problems that my IVT C7 GSHP (single phase, 240vac, 7kW output) have may be interesting.....not only in the repair of the unit but also the cause.

SCENARIO
1. I installed the IVT Greenline C7E a few weeks back - it is designed for a ground loop of glycol but I plumbed it directly with fell water at 125psi. It is effectively an open loop water source heat pump now....without the auxiliary heat exchanger.
2. Incoming fell water was at 9C, outgoing was 4C. All worked extremely well.
3. Last week the low pressure switch tripped repeatedly and the sight glass went murky yellow in the refridgerant line.
4. With the power off, I noticed bubbling in the sight glass whenever I opened the valve to let the fell water (glycol side) through the plate heat exchanger (PHX). I assume the PHX is leaking between the refridgerant and the fell water.
5. The scroll compressor started to make terrible noises - I shut it off before too much damage could occur, but I assume it is liquid slugging.
6. There is no warranty on this HP as I bought it secondhand, so I have to fix it. I have a 2 stage vacuum pump and refridgerant recovery rig......no gauges yet though. It's R401C, 1.4kg

Two questions:
(i) When recovering R401C does ithave to be discarded?
(ii) Will the compressor oil be contaminated with so much moisture ingress into the LP side?


Thanks in advance