Got schooled by a 20-year vet on why I'm ruining compressors

An old timer told me I was pulling vacuum too fast and boiling moisture out of the oil, not the system. He showed me his gauges and how he lets it stabilize for 15 minutes before cranking the pump - now I feel like an idiot for all those callbacks I had last month.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_drew9d ago

Blew out three compressors last year before a supply house guy literally drew me a diagram of why that happens. My vacuum pump has been on a strict "chill out for 20 minutes" protocol since then.

logan2718d ago

Man that's rough but at least you got the lesson before you blew up any more equipment. Sounds like that old timer saved you a ton of headache down the road. @the_drew I feel your pain too, I had a similar wake up call after a bunch of callbacks last winter. I used to just pull down as fast as possible thinking I was being efficient but now I let the pump run at low speed for a good 20 minutes before opening the valve. It's crazy how something that simple makes such a big difference in moisture removal. The worst part is realizing how many compressors I probably killed early before I knew better.