Oil seperator question

[zapatasblood2]

Broad question maybe but what are good indicators that you might have a bad oil seperator? Any good diagnostic tips for someone new to them? And how difficult are they to change? Thanks

[Juan Madera]

Low oil in the compressor sight glass for one... If it is low, run a defrost cycle and see if oil comes back. Took several thaw cycles to do so with my Vogt Ice machine.

I had one that the filter gauze fell apart on. No worse than a receiver to change out. I did install a sight glass in the oil return line so I could monitor oil flow...

[Galt]

I'm not a fan of oil separators because they are not 100 percent effective some oil still gets by them.

If the system is not piped for oil return it will eventually run out, an oil separator only makes it take longer.

[icemeister]

Broad question maybe but what are good indicators that you might have a bad oil seperator? Any good diagnostic tips for someone new to them? And how difficult are they to change? Thanks

One of the simplest methods of diagnosing an oil separator's performance is to check the oil return line which returns oil back to the compressor. With normal operation one would observe the line temperature at near room temperature for a while and then get hot for a short time. This would indicate that the internal oil return float is functioning properly. A sightglass in the line is helpful to determine if the hot return line is caused by returning oil or by hot gas. Hot gas would indicate the float is stuck open.

Here's a booklet from Henry which summarizes some good information on oil separators, with a diagnostics chart near the end:

S-9130.pdf

[davidadavis]

Oil separators and broken dip tubes in accumulators are tough to catch, mostly because they aren't very common, and you have to be careful since they both will throw some of the same symptoms.

[zapatasblood2]

Thanks for the reponses guys. Im going to check out that PDF icemeister. Looks like good stuff. Im new to oil return systems and just trying to learn as much about it as possible.

[indy2000]

post the make and model separator you have

there are few quick tests that i could give you depending on the setup

[TechmanTerry]

Check out the Sporlan "Oil Level Control System",Bulletin #110-10
Check out the AC&R Components "Oil Separator" bulletin # OSB81-1
Check out RSES/SAM & Eaton Controls "a study of oil separators in refrigeration systems" RSES Section #4.
All a Good Read.

[Juan Madera]

If I condemn a part like an oil separator or accumulator, I then do an "autopsy" to discover the cause of death. Can be very instructive.

[dave1234]

Oil line temp. Cold and sweating - and I'm not joking- a few good whacks with soft blow hammer- you'll be amazed. We all joke about hitting things with hammers but an old timer rack King showed me that. Was amazed how well it worked.

[Red Man]

The type with a coalescer element and the type with a float and needle valve will have different methods for determining failure. Both types are are rebuildable.