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The chiller ended up being a reclamation project. I purchased it used for a decent price (which is part of the reason I ended up with a 1/4 HP unit instead of the 1/3 HP recommended for this size tank). It tested out fine when I received it, but while wrestling it into place in the garage equipment room, I managed to break the line that carries refrigerant to the drop-in coil. The hissing of the escaping coolant was the sound of money escaping into the air.
It turns out that the coolant line, which is covered with a rubberized sheath, is copper tubing, which can only be bent a few times before it fatiques and cracks. The outer copper tubing is actually the coolant return line. The pressurized coolant is carried to the end of the coil by a cocktail-straw sized copper tubing that is threaded through the outer tubing. I removed the rubber sheath and found that the outer tubing was cracked in two places. I took the Dremel tool to it and cut off the tube inside the compressor casing. I also cut through the inner tubing at that spot. I then cut off just the outer casing near the drop-in coil, being careful not to cut the inner tubing. I figured that the smaller tubing must have been threaded into the stainless steel tubing before it was bent into a coil shape. I later confirmed this in a conversation with the guy who used to build the chillers for CSL.
Armed with a Bernzomatic torch, some plumbing solder, and copper tubing from the hardware store, I spliced a new outer tube onto the coil, using a slightly larger size tubing for the splice. I sweat-soldered this together with the torch. The compressor end was a little more tricky because I had to splice both the inner and outer tubing. I threaded the splice tubing on the outer tube and pushed it back to one side. I left about a one inch gap in the outer tubing to give me room to splice the inner tube. I then slid the splice over the gap and soldered that.
I then took the chiller to work, where we have refrigerant and gauges. I was a bit concerned about the splices because I had soldered them, not brazed them as the manufacturer originally did. Some Internet research reassured me that the kind of joints I had soldered would be more than strong enough. Still, it was with no small trepidation that I charged the compressor. There were no leaks, though, and the chiller has been working like a charm ever since. I only wish I had taken pictures during the surgery.
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