Recovery from Stolen Line-sets?

[mccoolair@yahoo]

What-to-do, What-to-do!? I walked into a real mess where 80' of linesets were stolen from 3 supermarket refrig. systems. The problem I am faced with is another refrig. man was there before me and got one system going. My concern is; the oil in the sightglass is about 7/8's full and I am wondering if there is possibly liquid refrigerant underneath the oil making it appear high in the glass, or did the other guy before me add too much oil into the system figuring it lost some in the stolen lines. How can I distinguish between too much oil and liquid under the oil. Would it be a good decision to just change the oil and start all over, I don't know how much moisture got into the present oil?

[wambat]

What-to-do, What-to-do!? I walked into a real mess where 80' of linesets were stolen from 3 supermarket refrig. systems. The problem I am faced with is another refrig. man was there before me and got one system going. My concern is; the oil in the sightglass is about 7/8's full and I am wondering if there is possibly liquid refrigerant underneath the oil making it appear high in the glass, or did the other guy before me add too much oil into the system figuring it lost some in the stolen lines. How can I distinguish between too much oil and liquid under the oil. Would it be a good decision to just change the oil and start all over, I don't know how much moisture got into the present oil?

You can start by noticeing the oil level then front seating the suction service valve and lowering the crankcase pressure wilst watching the oil foaming action, after a while open the service valve and see if you lost an extreme amount of oil. If so, you can say you have or are getting too much refrigerant in the crankcase. I would watch it but be not to concerned unless you lose a lot of oil or cover the sight glass completely

[mccoolair@yahoo]

These are Chandler/Heatcraft refer systems, high-temp., they have the electronic oil pressure detection modules. This particular unit is not tripping but oil level is way up there. What might be some of the symptoms and consequences of too much oil?

[Renato RR]

If the sistem is overchare with oil you will have strong vibration from compressor.Also normal level of oil for sight glass is 1/4 to 3/4.

Hope it helps,
Renato