AB Oil

[NANOTECH]

The company I'm working for is wanting us to come back in with AB Oil to replace the minerial oil on LT R22 Racks. Would it not be better to use POE ? Pros and Cons choosing one over the other would be great !!

Thanks,

[mspanky]

All the racks I work on were converted to AB many years ago. I think the biggest con against switching to POE is getting ALL the MO out. AB is much more forgiving. A pro would be that R22 is on it's way out and POE will be needed for the replacement refrigerant when the time comes. It's easier to take care of the oil conversion now, instead of both oil and gas later.

[cmclifton]

Seems kinda late in the game to be just now switching out mineral oil no?

I'd think that going to AB now would make the switch to POE later a bit smoother. I feel like MO to AB should be smooth, and then AB to POE should be fairly smooth as well, making the ultimate change to POE smoother overall, but I could be way off base.

[ammoniadog]

change to poe oil. Don't worry about getting out all of the mineral oil. The oils will mix ok, and r22 is compatible with both of them.

[Tommy knocker]

I would do AB now and POE when nessisary. The AB will make the entire system look like a shinny new penny inside. So when you do switch to POE you'll have shinny clean system for that garbage to junk up.

[mspanky]

Don't forget that many valves now have POE specific gaskets. Something else to consider is all the leaks after switching to POE.

[jpsmith1cm]

Switch to POE, then move into the compressor room for a couple weeks.

That stuff will scrub out the system, far better than AB oil ever could.

I'd also expect to do some valve rebuilds as the debris gets scrubbed loose and stuck in pistons, orifices and the like.


I haven't seen leaks after the POE conversion, but the refrigerant conversion

[Tommy knocker]

Switch to POE, then move into the compressor room for a couple weeks.

That stuff will scrub out the system, far better than AB oil ever could.

I'd also expect to do some valve rebuilds as the debris gets scrubbed loose and stuck in pistons, orifices and the like.


I haven't seen leaks after the POE conversion, but the refrigerant conversion

That's not all debtors plugging stuff up. Rebuilt a few economizers coated in what looks like cigarett tar but turned out to be POE not playing well with ANYTHING.

[jpsmith1cm]

That's not all debtors plugging stuff up. Rebuilt a few economizers coated in what looks like cigarett tar but turned out to be POE not playing well with ANYTHING.

I've seen similar stuff come out of mineral oil systems.

Low temp R-22 is H**L on oil

[NANOTECH]

Does copeland have a recommended oil to use when converting to R422 from R22 LT Rack!! ? Seems the best I have heard from the field when doning an oil change prior to the conversion it is best to do a mix of AB and Minerial oil and then when ready to do conversion drain all oil and then switch to the POE !!

[steve wright]

I don't know about Copeland but Genetron R422C says it will work with MO AB or POE lubricants, hence no oil change.

My experience tells me that the AB will have fewer oil return problems in your LT application.