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Old 01-21-2017, 01:07 AM
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MadMan MadMan is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MIPS View Post
Also, does anyone here know their refrigerants?
I have a number of older devices including this machine that use the now banned R22 but after 30 or 40 years their charge levels are getting pretty low. You can still find small cans to recharge appliances but it's really, really expensive. The modern substitute is RS-44/R424A. It can be added to purged or partially filled R22 systems and you don't have to retrofit anything to use the equipment again.

Problem is that while I can find most other refrigerants and small can form for one or two use recharging I can only find RS-44 in the giant tank format which is really expensive and I'd never need that much refrigerant.
I kindof know my refrigerants. Are you in Cali? R22 isn't banned in Illinois, or a lot of states. At any rate, it's still a fairly small system, you could just recharge it with R134A. It's cheap and plentiful. It might not work 100%, but better than nothing. You could also use propane, or 'R12 substitute' (aka propane). Again, it'll work. And no, it is not dangerous.

There's a lot of BS about compatibility issues between R22 and R134, and obviously you don't want to mix them, but a good long vacuum will leech the remaining old refrigerant out of the oil in the system.

Once, like a dumbass, I punctured the line on a window AC unit I was cleaning. It used R22. I had some R22, but I didn't feel like hooking it up to the machine. So I researched this stuff, and then just charged the thing with R134. Still going strong 3 years later.

Although, I should mention, aren't vending machine refrigeration systems sealed systems? You know, like modern postwar refrigerators? They almost never leak (not even after 40 years) unless they've been damaged. If they are sealed, any performance issues are most likely gonna be either a filthy condenser or a just-plain-worn-out compressor. Or maybe a fan or something.

But yeah, R134 or propane. Or just buy some R22 somewhere else. (It's a little pricey though.)

Last edited by MadMan; 01-21-2017 at 01:12 AM.
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