hi I agree totally with the thinking in this email . Right on I want to share something , and it may grate against “ experts “in ac but I realized long ago they are humans and form opinions at the factory and in the field that then make it into service manuals , warnings , folklore etc etc . Opinions are not always knowledge (!!) I am an engineer who really tries to understand , not listen to things unless they really make sense or are technically sound in the basic science . That little soap box is needed for what follows . So i have installed maybe 8 mini splits , two of them , the first 2, lost refrigerant over say a year or more . They run higher than car ac , maybe 500 psi . They use copper flare joints you have to make .I noticed some accessory aftermarket commercial “ line sets “ ( sold with one end flared ) that are made here ( not Japan) had obviously been flared by an animal , —- leading into later suspicion I had used a home depot line flare tool that drives a cone down the centerline of the tubing like a brake flare . Looking carefully ,,and more important, thinking about it , this moves the cone in longitudinally — it will put scratches in the copper at a microscopic level axially aligned with your flare cone ( bad news) It turns out the really good tool , made by rigid , the cone is positioned slightly off center on an offset arm and on a bearing so it rolls around the cone expanding the copper out at one point at a time . That IS important . Any scratches would tend to be long and spiral (?) and probably stop and start ( you cannot see this , — if you can see it , your flare is junk . ) As this connection is behind the unit hung on the wall and the lines are cut to length , redoing it is a very huge pia , 2 person job , ( will it leak again?? ) also adding refrigerant ,,gauges all that huge hassle like James describes . I ‘d rather think about it for a hour than do it three times , a day each time So I got right tool , big $ but — used on ebay 50$ . Best 50 i ever spent ; a refrigerant sniffer is also cheap now , and a good check . So mini split instructions say put refrigerant oil on flare ( thinking has to be? to fill micro scratches? ) but also warnings about no sealers , will ruin the ac etc . That struck me as BS as pressure is outward , and commercial ac flare sealers are made . I looked into them they are essentially very thick sticky oil . Better .. yes. Some are a plastic goo , too To my way of thinking it is still oil and if a micro scratch to outside world exists the pressure will push the oil along it . A matter of time . Gamble.. So long ago ( hard to believe 60 years literally ) I wired boilers , chillers etc for plumbers / gas fitters etc they swore by Rectorseal # 5 . it is crude ok, — ?100- 150 year old product , very heavy oil ( horrors not refrigeration oil) with a fine particle suspension of ? extremely fine sand or powder like material stirred in . I have used it all the time on auto stuff as it does not harden . Flat out it works and one can figure out why . I think it fills all micro scratches in pioe threads ( it’s original use) but would do so also in machined surfaces like the described situation of a flange under high pressure . I do not think it can be pushed out along a scratch due to particles .It will clog any tiny fissures because of what it is. It will not hurt todays O rings . Competing blue “ teflon “ thread seal products from Asia are junk , or kinder , unproven And as the push IS out at 200-500 psi it is not getting into AC ( hello? how? ) The suction line cannot exceed - 14 psi atmospheric , so no issue . And care applying it obviously . exactly right Good news for me is now zero loss of refrigerant since doing this , much to the chagrin of AC techs who believe tooth fairy stories in folklore and on little bottles Thinking more , a slightly rough surface finish ( machining ) filled this way with non traveling non hardening yet flexible filler is to my mind much better than a mirror finish you try to get scratch free and use no filler . A gasket finish spec is a similar situation And this thinking applies to factory flare joints too . You mileage may vary … but you won’t need refrigerant from joint leaks , ever, if done even reasonably correctly . And you will know why … adds confidence to your job jg . PS unlike Permatex ( both kinds) cleans right off , ( that stuff never worked for me , huge mess) silicone rtv can be flaky , whether it “ binds” or not to surface and thin films of it seem weak . ( admittedly opinion!) but rtv good for low pressure gaps etc . like oil pans rear axle covers etc Weatherstrip adhesive also very good if not coming apart , it has a surprisingly high temp rating , 3M even it calls it gasket material , but not thought of that way . It has a place . But let it set up a few days .. On Aug 29, 2024, at 9:09 PM, Kevin deGraauw <kdegraauw@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: -- For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chrysler 300 Club International" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chrysler-300-club-international+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/chrysler-300-club-international/A9DCF617-9C1B-4EAE-8D65-EBCAE6258A29%40gradyresearch.com. |
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