mach 1 phase changer failure...

[jsugalski]

I just want to bump this thread and keep it current, I'm a noob to such technology and also new to this forum, I actually have a phase change prometeia I got off ebay 4 years ago or so and never used other than to test and it worked fine the few times I just randomly turned it on to check it out...however today I dug it out to consider using it on my rig...I got it to -51 degrees no problem...till it started beeping loudly at me and the digital readout was flashing some sort of error symbol...it is a mach 1 unit that was modded with a switch to turn it on and off manually I believe. Anyway I shut it off restarted it within 10 seconds or so and it got down to -45 and stayed there and so I figured it may be working but wasn't quite right...then I turn it back on half hour or so later and now on several attempts it gets to 12 degrees or so and that is IT...you can get it down to 6 degrees if you wait for several minutes and I hadn't felt the condensor before but now it's so hot to the touch after a couple minutes you can barely hold your hand on it for more than a second or two...any ideas what is ailing the unit and as far as fixing it goes...I have no idea where to even start.

[Brian_UK]

Please only post your query once.

[jsugalski]

Please only post your query once.

Darn, and I thought I had some sort of reply lol, anyway sorry Brian, only did this one after realizing this was a better spot for it, and I have no idea how to remove the other one so I just reposted it in the area better suited for the subject matter as well as a forum that is much more viewed. Unfortunately it seems the OC section isn't all that visited anymore...

[chillin out]

Cond too hot to touch = cond not getting cooled.

Does the fan work?
Is the fan going the correct direction?
Is the fan blade on the right way?

Upload a photo of your rig.

Chillin:):)

[jsugalski]

Cond too hot to touch = cond not getting cooled.

Does the fan work?
Is the fan going the correct direction?
Is the fan blade on the right way?

Upload a photo of your rig.

Chillin:):)

I assume the photo would be just to check it out for unless you have xray vision it wouldn't be for diagnostic purposes:). Seriously though when I get a good camera to actually take a picture I will, the fan is blowing into the radiator as it should, I never changed it and unfortunately it's almost impossible to get any screwdriver in such a tight space so I could use the fan on my pc rig which I'd like to do for now...but the few times I turned it on just to use it it's been fine, down to about -54 degrees I think...anyway now it just labors to get to 12'ish degrees and gets really hot and nothing about the unit has changed, it beeped, had the error flash on the LED screen, and since then it's just not worked...just not sure where to even start with it, should I bring it to someone? And who do you bring such a thing to anyway who won't overcharge me, is it worth a noob like me trying to perhaps fix it if there's a way to do so, and obviously I need to know what to do first to do so lol... Anyway what you say makes sense, something mechanically happened that caused it to go from cooling to -50 to not even below zero and the condensor just turns into an oven...sigh, this stinks.

[Gary]

Start with a thorough cleaning of the condenser (radiator). The fan doesn't do any good if the air can't get through a dirty condenser.

[Yuri B.]

Hello.
From a description of the Mach

The metal brackets are rigid enough to support the weight of a fully loaded Athlon64 SLI motherboard so that minimal flexing of the cold arm head occurs. The cold head arm stiffens up when the phase change cooler is working, so it's generally a good idea not to flex it much during that time.
Am 90% sure it has developed a refrigerant leakage just somewhere there - in that "cold arm head". So, you need a refrigeration engineer with his tools to try to fix it somehow. Don't run it now as the compressor will burn out.

[Gary]

Since the condenser is running hot, I am 90% sure that it has not developed a leak.

The other 10% questions whether the OP knows which part is the condenser, much less how hot is hot.

[Yuri B.]

Sorry,I intended to add "If all is clean and properly turning" to my post as a beginning.

[jsugalski]

thanks guys, I am wincing a bit at the not flexing the arm while it's running part, for I have certainly flexed the hose considering it's meant to be flexed and needs to be to attach itself to the cpu...so admittedly I could see that as a possibility, especially after it was on and then shut off I flexed the hose and noticed how stiff it was...but oddly it just doesn't totally make sense to me that while it was running I did not touch it at all, and it cooled itself fine and then suddenly just beeped and now you turn it on and it cools hardly at all...just would seem to me unless it was more of a gush than a leak it wouldn't change that quickly, but merely a guess, I'm thinking of cutting the mesh on the outside of the hoses and checking them out and seeing how they look, maybe it is just a leak...either way I appreciate the help and the posts and anything else you can think of let me know, I'd much rather waste my time fiddling with it than spending money for someone to do something I can do myself that's for sure.

[Gary]

If you cut the mesh on the outside of the hose, you are going to end up spending lots of money... don't do it.

[jsugalski]

If you cut the mesh on the outside of the hose, you are going to end up spending lots of money... don't do it.

well this is just the mesh that is loosely encapsulating the hoses to the evaporator head itself, unless I hit the hoses themselves not sure why it would matter, it's not even tightly woven enough to hold air or anything so not sure what it's exact use even is, regardless I'm not because the hoses are encapsulated in foam so I'd have to go through that as well...however I turned it on again and it did remind me of one thing I noticed briefly and wondered if I was imagining it, I could SMELL something at certain moments as it was running...so I'm assuming it's the gas itself I smell so if that's the case it's most definitely a leak I would think, and I assume that gas is none to good for me so definitely not running it again...it appears as though I have to find someone local for a fix.

[Gary]

Did you clean the condenser yet?

[jsugalski]

Did you clean the condenser yet?

no, I will but I have to pull the front of the unit off to even get to it, however I re-read my former statements and this OP as you called me lol was incorrect, true operator error in the sense of mislabeling anyway, the condensor was NOT what was hot, but the compressor itself...IT was what was hot, quite hot to the touch so your 10% could be the issue due to my mislabeling the machines' parts. I will still clean the condensor and check it out for it can't hurt, but the smell of the gas was of great concern and obviously gives credence to the idea of a leak somewhere...so anyway does that correction change your hunch of the condensor being at fault?

[Gary]

Got any idea what refrigerant smells like?

[jsugalski]

Got any idea what refrigerant smells like?

no, can't say I've smelled 134A before, but it does have a "gas" smell to it and it was only during it running did I smell it...so I can for sure tell you that the unit was causing the smell, it wasn't a burning of an engine smell or from something being hot as it was, it was a different smell, sorry I admit I have nothing I can use to describe it, how would you describe it's smell? Does it have a particular smell? Trust me, I'd be happy to find it's something other than a leak that requires fixing of lines or worse a bad compressor...I'm just putting out there my observations on what happens when it runs...however for tonight I have a pregnant dog to watch who just is starting into labor...so doubt I'll get to cleaning the condensor tonight.