Refrigerant Management Stations

[Technician]

Hello members,

Please advise if possible, I have a SUN QTECH III - PRO Refrigerant Management Station and a ECOTECHNICS LND 10 - TRK - 1200 ICE STATION.

I have found after using both Refrigerant Management Stations that when recovering R134a refrigerant that each station does not recover any oil!

I have tried this in both manual and automatic modes on both stations and can't seem to grasp why I cannot recover oil!!

Can anyone please advise me.

Thank you.

[Tom Greenleaf]

Welcome: Not familiar with that machine would defer to it's instructions on how it can be used to do what? Recovery of refrigerant TMK isn't meant to pick up oils which wouldn't boil to a vapor under vacuum and don't. You get some, sometimes. Some equipment higher end they I would own might sort out impure gases or air such that your 134a is good again without moisture at least for re-use.

It's been discussed and not solved if you can remove moisture from desiccant in systems or moisture from PAG hygroscopic oils (absorbs water like brake fluid is intended to do not for A/C use just an example) remains most no.

If you want oil out - all of it that's flushing out a system and tossing parts that can't be flushed but would have some or a lot of oil like accumulators, receiver driers, most condensers and for compressors believed good just run thru new oil till clear.

If this machine claims to remove oil from a system as part of it's job I would expect it to add a flush and do area by area once refrigerant is removed. Never heard of that all in one type equipment but there might be such a thing?

[Technician]

Thanks Tom, been doing some research now I found the service manuals to these RMSs, it seems according to the instructions that the operator must tell the RMS that the oil is to be recovered 'Automatically', rather than manually, then the RMS will measure the quantity removed and add back after vacuum the quantity removed. What the manual does not say is what would happen if no oil is recovered! I assume the RMS will prompt the operator via the LCD. I'll need to put another vehicle on and see what happens!

[Tom Greenleaf]

First off don't know this thing at all by maker - sorry on that. Just think though what a system is if any charge and oil, perhaps a working one you need to remove A/C items and just put stuff back to do something else.

Now know that oil is circulating thru in a loop thru the whole system. Start say from compressor on around and back to it. 1. Compressor need oil you run a system it's sucking in the refrigerant from the low port on it, compressed it then on to the condenser complete with mists of oil thru that out to either a receiver/drier or will pass thru an orifice tube to expand then a liquid gas back to a vapor still full of oil misting along the liquid evaporates as it passes thru evaporator at (hopefully) just finishes evaporating liquid to gaseous for fight there back thru an accumulator on CCOT systems or just back to be compressed all over again. Oil will set low when you shut the system down wherever it is. Inside hoses, low in condenser, any mufflers, some in the receiver dryer if that type, some at bottom of evaporator, accumulator if that type and some depends on location of compressor and last used will be inside compressor a little or more.

Now tell me how oil other than what is near the port you are hooked up to can it find "ALL" that oil? It plain can't. Some will be nearby and caught by the machine separated from the gas being recovered. That you should know if any or how much if just removing and replacing gas for any reason needed not even A/C as said. Oil doesn't evaporate in a vacuum? So what is blowing it thru to get more?

There's something I just don't understand other than it will count what might come out or not depending upon your request - that's it. It's not and couldn't be just removing both all oil and refrigerant so you could get it all - no way. Oil soaks desiccant and doesn't come out.

If you thought this was a machine to change oil in a system it doesn't work that way. You toss certain parts you could never get all oil or junk out of if fixing a failure.

It's somehow this is adding a flush separate that out back on to recovery fine but flush would wreck some items you would be tossing so I'm misunderstanding something about this machine and think you might be to?

OIl amount in a system remains unknown unless you take item all out and capture it, measure that if you drilled holes in things, blow thru what you can - condensers don't cooperate well or at all.

Would be nice but know for real what the thing really does which unless maybe for a non automotive something don't see how it could work,