Thank you for sharing the details of recharging boat freezer. With $34 gadget from Amazon and $15 AC can, all worked out well, saving hundreds of $s.

In your explanation video, merely in passing you said anybody can do it, and my friend, whom I showed the video as 'proof' that a broken fridge need not always be replaced as a whole, kept asking 'but how, how do you top off then?'. Lo and behold, there it is. Clear as day, simple enough for anybody to understand, you showing how to top off a fridge. Thanks for your answer in the other thread, and thanks so much for showing us, boaters, how to do this! Happy sailing!

Double like! I just topped-off my fridge again thanks to this video. I always recommend these Vids to fellow cruisers.

Thank you Mr Handyman and Mrs handy woman U folks are brains Unlimited thank you again.

Thanks Clark, loved this little series. Glad your getting back to full strength again.

Very easy and calm explanation for people that will not do it themselves, but at least they will know what the repair guy or friend is doing.....thanks John

Thanks Clark! Because of your two fridge videos our 20-year old Adler-Barbour cold machine is living up to its name again. Total cost ~$50 😀… I had to buy all the tools.

Have a dead fridge. Now I have some knowledge and will se if resurrection is possible. Thanks! And... happy to see you flying good colours on your skin. You look good. :)

It’s important to charge using the superheat method. You can also check the compressor amperage draw. Some refrigerants are a blend and must be charged using liquid. (Just flip the tank upside down). Brazing in service ports is the way to go. We use piercings valves just to remove gas. Be sure to fully thaw the system before properly checking the charge. Nice to weigh it in if charging up from a vacuum for reference. Add a small amount of dye when charging to find leaks with a UV flashlight for in the future. 👍🏻

Thanks Clark. I love how you simply provide a recipe on how to do something rather than dive deeply into the theory of how it works. Reading a refrigeration book would just blow most peoples mind and even if they came to understand the theory, they still couldn't fix the darn fridge. Great job once again, and salutations from Clearwater, Fl.

I can pretty much do and fix anything on my yacht except, then refrigeration. This series gave me enough info to feel like I can do it. Not even close to being as hard as I imagined. Thanx Clark. You da man !! And thanks to you too Emily. :)

Another great video. Hopefully one day you will do about your air con.

Interesting tip of following the frost line.

Thanks for the wall analogy versus the alternative thermodynamics refrigeration cycle diagram.

Great to see you looking better and of course cool content as usual. My inner 5 yr old also sniggered at the passing gas remark, flatulance jokes are funny the world over ;)

You're an amazing teacher thank you ! this makes me want to make my own diy fridge

Excellent instruction videos Clark and Emily.. Thanks.

Thanks for a great series of videos on refrigeration!

I don't know if you talked much about this (at least I don't remember hearing it in the previous episode) but my understanding of how refrigeration works is based on the phase change of the refrigerant gas. When the gas goes from a liquid to a gas when the pressure is reduced (evaporator) (ie. boils) it takes a lot of energy to do that and that is what sucks the heat out of the cold side. When the compressor squeezes the gas back to a lower volume (higher pressure) and then the condenser gets rid of heat and makes the gas condense down to a liquid again that is where the heat comes out on the hot side. I think this point might be missed by someone with no experience at all with this stuff. My understanding is rudimentary so someone correct me if I have this wrong. My understanding also is that certain gasses are much more efficient at moving heat than others based on the amount of energy it takes to go from liquid to gas. I know they used to use ammonia in household fridges and I guess they still do in some commercial applications but due to the dangers of ammonia they have switched to these fluoro carbons and hydro fluoro carbons etc...

Another great video, so well paced and informative ... thank you for sharing (& I will say again, so glad you are feeling & looking so much better - you had a rough few months between you there)

Great info! Looking forward to seeing if this helps our freezer out

Use scales to measure the weight of charge you put in. And write it on the unit. So the next person can charge it quickly by weight. If it is a pre manufactured system then there should be a weight of charge label on it from the manufacturer. Also in the Uk we have to use quick hose connects , you could add these to your lines . that stop any refrigerant form the lines escaping when we take the lines off. We take off the high side off first. And then purge the line through the gauges back into the low side and then remove the low side. Bit more tricky to do on your two valve gauges though. as you will need to put the open end on your yellow gauge line onto the stub on the back of the gauge. And then open gauge valves on the low and high side to allow the refrigerant to flow through the gauge.

Thanks for taking the time to make this video it’s very helpful.

Nice and gently. Great one! Thnx!

Excellent, practical, useful😊

Very helpful, thanks for sharing!

very nice Video Teaching , thank you again , so Blessed

Yeah, petromax's have been out of stock for a while. Nice vid!

Great info Clark thank you

Thanks, It seems about 1/4 of the boat I bought is refrigeration, non of it working, well the portable engle just needs the cord end fixed, but when it reaches high priority I will review these and dig in

Excellent!

I left a note on on your video about anchors sorry , its about free 12 volt electric power for power .

Very use ful tips and knowledge thanks for the useful video..subbed

Awesome set of Video's Guys... IMO a set of gauges (connected) are the quickest way to diagnose issues albeit pump or pressures eh

Very informative video. Cheerz!!

It occurs to me that currently we have a couple of generations of men (and women) that are knowledgeable and capable. Certainly we don’t know everything about all things but if you had 5-10 in a group, you could build or create most anything. As an OTR truck driver I run into people constantly that not only have no idea about the job they are doing but aren’t mechanically capable in the slightest. I’m somewhat skeptical about the future.

informative video, but looking at your electrical, i would recommend some wire shrink at the minimum.

VG TY!

What happens if you pass gas onto that gas sniffer tool hehe? Jokes aside great video thanks for showing how it's done.

Liked, commented, tried to play through _all_ the ads but everyone must skip the Anthony Morrison scam ;-D Used to automotive a/c @ 30+/200+psi, you said 11-12 and I said "whaat?" LOL

Hi,from uk, Things we humans do to keep our beer cold ! Some people recon prehistoric men found caves to live in .NOPE !!! Another brill episode ,trying to catch up on them , how many are available ?

Good video, thanks but one question, why not pump crash through the condenser from the water tank and let the heat exchange with the sea through the hull, then no problems with dirty water or crap in the condenser 👍

First of all thank you for the this video very helpful. Around 8.20 in the video you mentioned you put the refrigerant back into the tank, how did you do this ??. I know there are recovery machines that can do that but you did not seem to have one. Besides they are bulky and expensive

What pump are you using to run water through the new condenser?

Also if you don't have gauges use an amp probe 😁 my two cents

Thanks again Clark! Very very helpful and hands on! Curious as to why there would not be permanent gauges in the system. (we have oil pressure gauges). The "experts" on the forums say that you need to know the amount of gas needed to recharge or check the simple systems, such as a simple ice box conversion kit and that this method would not work. (makes no sense to me). What do the control units do? It seems so simple..more of an off or on situation. For trouble shooting, could you just by pass the control unit? (BTW I am an engineer so this is fun for me) Glad to see that you are feeling much improved!!!! Will you be staying in the DR for hurricane season? We are nervous in Florida. Hello to Emily too!

Hi Clark watched the fridge series thanks for the information. I'm running a Secop BD80 with the controler (101N0390) and have gone through at least 1 controler every two years mainly through heat. You mentioned a bypass of the controler How would that work? I was wondering whether I could extend the 3 wires and mount the controler away from the compressor any way I enjoy your videos Regards Paul

Great Video, very helpful. A question. for the purpose of just adding refrigerant to a system, is it necessary to connect both the low- and high-pressure gauge hoses?

Hey Clarke. Great videos and much appreciated. I do have one question though. I bought a set up similar to what you use in the video, but the end of the hose that should connect to the Schrader valve is too large. Can you tell me specifically what fitting I need to buy to make the connection to the valve on the compressor. I believe the end of the hose fitting is a 1/4 npt fitting. TIA

Great explanation, however I do not feel comfortable to do that myself, I would call you anytime..., Cheers

Very informative. Thanks. One question, is the type of gas important?

Hi Clark and Emily. I came across your video series on Refrigeration. Very informative. It has helped me heaps with learning our fridge system on our beautiful Jade Akka. Having had both controllers pack up on each system with in 1 week of each other. They were 22 years old. I got 2 of the Secop 101N0212 controllers and all works well. The only thing is that one set of evaporator plates running on the bottom circuit does not work right. I am getting -20 C at the entry point of the 1st plate and on the second double evaporator I am getting only -5 C after a long time running and no frost. The top circuit cools rapidly to all places evenly. -18C. I can only assume that I have a leak as the system was regassed by a tech only months prior. So I'm ready to re-gas and have this question. Which I hope you many know the answer to. My question is this: Is R134a for cars ac the same as for fridges? The reason I ask, is rattling around in my brain is this doubt that I read somewhere that the different oils could damage the compressor and system. The R134a I found on board is a car product that has the wrong attachment. I was going to chop it of and attach my homemade charging adapter. Which I'm ready to do. I thank you for any tips and help. Fair winds and fine weather.

I attached my low pressure line from a device similar to what you are using from Harbor Freight tools. Even after about 40 minutes the pressure never went lower than 55 psi while running the compressor. As in the past, the evaporator plate was somewhat cold, but no frost line at all. Any idea on the next step to take. I'm thinking of maybe calling in a tech, if I can find one that is.

Great video! My 17 year old Adler Barbour & BF50 need recharging, but I am having trouble finding gauges that will screw on to the compressor low side port. Do you have a suggestion? Most seem to be for car air conditioning and have quick disconnect fittings. I think the AB BF50 port is a 1/4" Schrader valve fitting. Any ideas where to shop for the right gauges? Again, very informative video!

R134a isn't really meant for freezers it boils at -15 I think r22 boils at like -40 much better for freezers

Hi Clack, thanks for your great videos for DIY boat work. We refrigerator is starting to struggle to keep the temperature low and I consider to top-up the R134a gas in my system. When I am searching for these small canisters with R134a gas, I only get results with R134a Refrigerant Replacement Gas. As I read the descriptions, this is a more environmental replacement gas for R134a. Do you or anybody else know if this can be mixed (added on my R134a system) without emptying the system first?

👍!!!

Great video, I have a 82 trawler, I can't find the thermostat??? The system runs but only reaches 54 in the fridge so I am guessing I need to add gas????

Great video! Had a question, when you take your sled out do you reclaim and if so what gear on your boat for it? Or you just let it into air?

Great video. Do you do anything with the variable speed aspect of the BD35f and BD50f compressors? Most of the mechanical thermostats have a built-in 1.5kΩ resistor that spins the compressor at the max speed of 3,500-rpm. At 0Ω it spins at the minimum speed of 2,000-rpms which gives greater efficiency with lower total cooling similar your wall metaphor for low gas pressure. When I installed my digital thermostat, I put a 1.5kΩ resistor in line with an on/off switch. If the switch is "off" (when on shore power or motoring) I get 3,500-rpms for maximum cooling. If the switch is "on" (when running on battery storage) I get 2,000-rpms for minimum Ah of battery use.

Hi Clark. Good video, but a question please. When you add a water cooler, where/what's the easiest water source and where do you exit warm water......I assume you break into pre existing circuits, but could differ on boats pre existing inventory? Thanks Perry

What do you do about oil in the system? Some gas bottles have oil added, some do not. I typically use non-oil gas but worry about too little oil in the system.

Great vid. Can I apply this exact recharge technique to my marine air conditioner unit? Still use 11-12 psi for a final goal?

You should mention (and maybe you did) tell folks to not use the Freon that has the self sealing fluid in it. Because it can make a clog worse.

Where i can get control module for CU-85 Waeco. I been watching all your videos. You're very good. Thanks I m from puerto Vallarta mexico

Wait! You said in this video that you would explain why 11.7 psi worked for your frig, but you would explain how we would determine the number for our frig at the end of the video, but you never did. Can you explain in a pinned post? Please!!!

A pressure of 11.5-12 what exactly? PSI, mm of Hg? My gauge has both scales on it and they are both withing range.

Do other countries have anything similar to the U.S. 608 EPA certification for air conditioning and refrigeration work?

How much gas to fill an empty system? Ie how many small cans should I have on board?

is it possible to cool the line with my water tank? I mean instead of putting salt water.... I was thinking to use my 500L freshwater tank to circulate in the system to cool it down and warm my water for bath.

I don’t see a place fill the coolant. The access ports seem to be covered?

Off topic but wondering if you plan to do an ep on your communication setup? Curious what you think of backstay insulated as antenna, and if your lightening experience has any input

Seems that in Canada we can only get 1234yf without a licence. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Can I put 1234if in a 134a system? Can I mix the two gases. Thanks!

wondering why not use a txv valve on the evaporator ?

Hi Clack! Mabye you know what to do. There was to much gas in my weaco unit, the returnline was frozen all the way to the compressor en the avaportator stayed to warm, it didnt work under sail. After letting gas out the evaportator temp comes down to 64F. Under sail it only comes down to 23F. According to the amazon gauge, it has between 10 and 11 psi pressure on the low side. The avaporator is fully frozen, but the return line is not. Any idea?

Refrigerant.

I assume your 11.7 was in psi?

Great video thank you 🙏 I have channel about motor boat tech

Liquid in the evaporator? 😱🙄 Come on man

as a fridge engineer this was painful to watch.