why don't you apply for pro membership!
.
3d heat pump installed today. all went well. was able to get SH and SC to about 15 on both, although suction press. was around 85 which i thougt to be a little high??? my question is in school we put a wet rag around the service valves while soldering next to them, and we actually poured a little water on the rag periodically to keep from damaging the seals in the valve. So i've done this on my few installs. today i had a hard time stopping a pin hole leak on the bottom of suction line with the rag on it. I finally sealed the leak with no wet rag because i couldn't get the line hot enough with it, so i was wandering is it necessary to use a wet rage to protect service valves?
td55
why don't you apply for pro membership!
.
No, not necessary. A good idea to try and keep it cool as possible tho'. Technique will come with practice.....
a heat sink is necessary and it doesnt have to be rags, you can also use gel. Experience will help this. I always braze the bottom first so that the rising heat will help to braze when I reach the top....just my $.02
Last edited by air2spare; 07-24-2008 at 07:40 PM.
i'm going to apply, i have applilcation and i just need to make a copy of my EPA certificatin to send in, thanks and yea im getting better on my technique. i guess it's like soldering IC chips - get it done quickly as possible.
td55
has anyone every damaged a valve from soldering?? and what happened if so, whats the consequences?
td55
iv'e never had it happen to me, but i know its possible. when i broke out in residential ,condensers didn't come precharged, so you always had to wonder if there was damage. these days i'm sure you would know pretty quick when your lineset started to flood.
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I've seen it done. Once in 20 yrs. Maybe like an eclipse. Rare I'd say, unless you got a really hot hand. No, really, not me. It'll blow the charge in the unit which might mess up your Monday, but cool to watch. ... Then you'll have to replace the valve. Your boss might not be lovin' it......
Other than that, no big deal............
If you over heat the valve. You'll know it, teh vlave will be hard to open.
Over heat it more yet, and it won't seat if you have to close it.
I think you ned to get it real real hot to blow the charge.
King valves has teflon seals in them and if you get them to hot they will not seal and reff. will leak out the top of the valve.
Try a product called Thermal Trap. It comes in a tube like tooth paste and works really well !
thanks for the info. now for the second question. the larger lines require more heat so how do "you" adjust for more heat? a bigger tip, more oxygen, more acet and oxy, larger flame??????
td55
I use the wet rag. Wrap it tightly around the valve body, be sure it is not in a place where the water will run down the pipe you are brazing. Do not forget to remove the schraders and caps before brazing, and flow a trickle of N2 through the line while you are brazing to avoid oxidation inside the lines. Makes a compressor last longer...
As far as the suction line and liquid line; I 'strengthen' the flame on my oxy/acetylene torch just a little (add both fuel and O2) when I shift from the LL to the SL. Key for me is prep: thoroughly clean (welding sandpaper until shiny) both parts before you put then together, and they will braze quickly.
Practice will give you the skill you need to do a quality job of brazing line-sets to coils and condensers. Remember to protect the TXV when you braze the coil...
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I admit it I damaged valve a few weeks ago first time in 18 years has this happened to me. Come to think of it this was the only time I did it. After soldering and putting vacuum pump on and all that good stuff when I went to open liquid line valve which was the one I was repairing freon was spitting out of top of valve like crazy. I was pretty ticked off well in worst words than that. Took 3 days to order valve no one around here that sold ICP equipment had any. BTW we have like 5-6 ICP distributors in this area. I also take the valve stems out when soldering and now use wet rags. Correction not soldering I braze.
My Instructor was demonstrating brazing with a captain hook. he destroyed the valve. In fact I think he might of caught the condenser on fire.
are you removing the schreader cores?