Tag: Tech Tips

Sweep Dreams are Made of This

Welcome to the first of a two-part series covering the subject of key refrigeration circuit practices. In this post, I will be discussing the importance of properly using nitrogen when brazing refrigerant lines. The process is called “sweeping” and this is not a new process. What has changed over the years is that POE oil has become the predominate refrigerant oil used throughout the world. One characteristic of POE oil is that it’s an excellent detergent and will literally clean the inside of tubing within the refrigerant circuit. This will become problematic when short cuts are taken during installation.

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Tech Tip: Much Ado About Refrigerant

The topic of refrigerant has been an ongoing saga since we first announced the phase-out of HCFC R-22 in 2010. There have been numerous rumors circulating throughout the years about what would happen to refrigerant and when it would happen. We have lived through a roller coaster of prices with not only R-22, but with R-410A as well. However, it is important to keep in mind that the value of anything in the world is only what you can find someone willing to pay for it. So, here we are in 2019, and I am not sure we have any better grasp on where we are headed than we did nearly ten years ago.

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Tech Tip: Defrosting During The Cold & Understanding The Defrost Cycle

In the depth of winter, the weather outside is frightful and the heat pump is “chugging” away to keep the inside delightful. Without our trusty defrost cycle in these conditions our heat pump would quickly begin to look like Frosty the Snowman…minus the jolly part. There’s nothing jolly about a broken heat pump.

The defrost cycle is what allows for our heat pumps to continue efficient heating operation in cold weather. However, the actual operation of the defrost cycle is often not understood as well as desired. This leads to improper settings as well as misdiagnosis. Let’s dig into the basic concept of a heat pump operating in heat and the defrost cycle that protects it.
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