How do you deal with a leak in walk in freezer

[Peztoy]

How do you you guys deal with a refrigerant leak in walk in freezer. 10 ft x 20 ft freezer is loaded with product. It's his only freezer. Leak is on the rooftop condenser return bend. How long do guess I've got to bring it back online before the stuff gets questionable?

[DLZ Dan]

Keep the door closed and pump it down. Isolating the damaged part of the system will really cut down evacuation time and you'll be able to get it back online sooner. I usually say it's going to be offline for 4 hours. It's always better to tell the customer it's back up sooner than expected rather than tell them it's gonna be down longer than expected.

[VTP99]

Might be hard to isolate being the condenser that needs repaired. I don't think he is going to get it all in the receiver. Even if he could how would he isolate it from the condenser without a service valve in between the two ?

[jpsmith1cm]

You can get that done quick.


Let them know to keep the door closed, isolate it, pull the charge, braze it up, quick vacuum and let 'et rip.

I like to have everything laid out, hooked up, ready to roll before I start. Manifolds and recovery machine hooked up, vacuum pump hoses ready, everything ready to roll

[zw17]

I would think dropping the temp say 5-10*F an hour or two before the repair would help out too?

I am not much of a refer tech but it makes sense.

[2sac]

We all know they didn't place the service call until the food was already soft anyway.

[VTP99]

Peztoy,
Can you get to the leak ? Or are there non removable covers ?

[hvac wiz 79]

We all know they didn't place the service call until the food was already soft anyway.

Haha so true .. my customers tend to only pull the ice cream except mini marts in gas stations they leave it . . .

[K_Neil]

I would think dropping the temp say 5-10*F an hour or two before the repair would help out too?

I am not much of a refer tech but it makes sense.

Can it pull down when it's low on gas? Adding gas to freeze product might take a lot of time and gas. Customer is understanding type?

[zw17]

Can it pull down when it's low on gas? Adding gas to freeze product might take a lot of time and gas. Customer is understanding type?

Yes it can pull down with less gas.

The gas was already added to get them through until the repair could be made, no customer is going to lose a freezer full of product over a few pounds of gas.

My question is, is there a reason why you would NOT drop the box temp as low as possible before shutting the system down for repair? I would think the lower temps would allow for more repair time or some fudge factor incase things go south with the repair?

[Peztoy]

I'll need to do some cutting around the return bend for room to braze, chop out fins. Lowering cooler temp not a bad idea. Being a freezer I'm concerned about too little time on the vacuum pump. I don't need moisture in the system and a frozen txv orifice.

[VTP99]

I'll need to do some cutting around the return bend for room to braze, chop out fins. Lowering cooler temp not a bad idea. Being a freezer I'm concerned about too little time on the vacuum pump. I don't need moisture in the system and a frozen txv orifice.

Sounds like the leak is at the end sheet. Those can be tricky if it's on the inside.

[cy]

put a 10 cfm Varian vacuum pump on it. this sucka weights 58lb, hardly ever put it out. too heavy unless there's a really good reason.

shown next to Fluke 87V for size comp

[craig1]

Being a freezer I'm concerned about too little time on the vacuum pump. I don't need moisture in the system and a frozen txv orifice.

You don't need to open the system so you don't need the vacuum pump at all?

If the system has valves and ports in the right locations....
use a recovery machine to pump the condenser into the receiver, stop at about 2 psi. Braze the leak. Open the valves. Top up the system. Hand them a bill.

No vacuum pump needed, and down time of less than an hour.

I've fixed leaky condensers a few times like this, and evaps dozens of times (those are really easy since you can use the compressor to pump down.

[crymtide]

You can get that done quick.


Let them know to keep the door closed, isolate it, pull the charge, braze it up, quick vacuum and let 'et rip.

I like to have everything laid out, hooked up, ready to roll before I start. Manifolds and recovery machine hooked up, vacuum pump hoses ready, everything ready to roll

I use a box, tub, or bag filled with ice and surround the the recovery jug with ice to take away the heat of the recovery process. Seems to nearly double the speed of refrigerant recovery.

[jpsmith1cm]

I'll need to do some cutting around the return bend for room to braze, chop out fins. Lowering cooler temp not a bad idea. Being a freezer I'm concerned about too little time on the vacuum pump. I don't need moisture in the system and a frozen txv orifice.

If you're that worried about moisture, stick a new drier in it, too.

[DLZ Dan]

Might be hard to isolate being the condenser that needs repaired. I don't think he is going to get it all in the receiver. Even if he could how would he isolate it from the condenser without a service valve in between the two ?

Yeah, i just read it again..condenser return bend...then the 4 hour prediction would be right.

[Peztoy]

Customer wanted a quote. Now I wait.......less then a week.
It's blowing good bubbles.

[Timber]

Take all the time you need. All that frozen food would take a loooooooooooong time to thaw out, probably a few days.

[PMARS2345]

Timber is right, it takes a long time to thaw. Main thing as others the stated " keep the door closed". I've shut freezers down for 2 hours at a crack with people in and out of door without a problem.