I hate to disagree, but, the first thing that immediately came to mind when the video started was, wow, this looks and sounds so much better than his usual videos. I do prefer your filming with the phone. But, it's your content, and you're the boss. I'm simply a man with an opinion and a preference.

@Browningate

9 күн бұрын

I thought the audio was pretty decent too. If nobody had brought it up, I don't think that I would've even noticed a difference (and that's with listening on a proper 2.1 speaker set).

@qwertykeyboard5901

5 күн бұрын

I film with an iPhone 10.

@Browningate

5 күн бұрын

@@qwertykeyboard5901 I didn't think that was a thing yet.

I know this is not related to the current video but just wanted to say thank you for the wide variety of content on your channel from computers to cooking to cars to the video I'm watching now have a good evening

@kgfgfg1

13 күн бұрын

And the great 80s vibe :)

i love getting uxwbill vids regularly again and this one was kinda relaxing.

My God Man, that's deadly deadly Nitrogen! Good video as always Bill.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

Eighty percent of the air you breathe is nitrogen. 🙂 That said, whenever one is working with nitrogen, refrigerant or welding gases, good ventilation is a must. You can literally drown in refrigerant if there's a big enough leak. Fortunately, this area has plenty of ventilation (which is a nice way of saying it's a fairly crappy old building that's very drafty).

You're like me Bill. Outdated and used to the old days 😂 these modern phones record way better video than they did even 5 years ago. It's crazy how far the tech has come. There really isn't a reason for purchasing a separate camera for video anymore, these phone cameras provide more than what most people need. Glad to see you post! I've been watching your videos since probably 2008 or 2009...Definitely over a decade, regardless!

Really enjoying these videos. I don't mind the phone video at all, the stereo audio is excellent and I'm sure it's a more convenient way to record videos. I assume it's an iPhone, they tend to do a much better job of reliable, stable stereo audio and don't apply excessive noise reduction. If anything it has less preamp noise than the camcorder.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

Thank you for watching. This video came from an iPhone SE 3. I wasn't expecting the audio to turn out because the same hardware in an iPad mini 6 didn't do a very good job. At times it sounded good, and then I guess its software switched to different microphones (or a different arrangement of microphones) and that did odd things to the sound.

Must be one of those nomadic leaks, turns up, causes troubles, and when you go to shift it, they're already gone, having left a big mess behind... :P

Common leak points is at the tube sheet. I find most of my leaks pressurizing up to 400 PSI. Some systems even 550 PSI. When dealing with systems that are mobile or Transported long distances, I do the 550. At those pressures, any leaks will show up. If the dehumidifier was r410a then the higher pressures is what you need to find leaks. All it takes is a little oil to get into a spot and seal it at lower pressures.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

I wanted to take the pressure to at least 400 psi, and my nitrogen regulator wouldn't do it. The pop off valve started to leak. I was able to reach about 350 psi, and thought sure I'd find something by that point. Yes, this was an R-410a system.

I wonder when you brazed the service fitting on to the port if the residual heat may have warmed up that connection? When it cooled down it may resealed? Good video.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

Good question. I don't think it did, because the leak was coming from well into the fins rather than any of the u-bends. Of course, I am assuming no welds were made in the tubing underneath the fins. There certainly shouldn't have been any. That said, the coil's efficiency did surprise me. After just a few seconds of brazing, the whole thing became quite warm. I let it rest for quite some time, as it was almost too hot to touch.

Even though it's really hard to look for the needle in the haystack while finding the clear evidence of the leakage coming from the coil, and who knows where it was and why it was like that. I think it's a manufacturing error, or it could be a sneaky wear-and-tear prematurely to the point that this cannot do its work to exhaust heat and produce cool air for interior, although it's not the compressor is at fault. It is indeed questionable, really hard to think about it, and hard to hear the leakage from right who-knows-where, and it can be a hidden miss. I don't know. It could be the extreme cold temperatures that can cause thin cracks to leak out real bad while operating the dehumidifier. Normally at -22 degrees Fahrenheit, the metals are very brittle to break into pieces very easily even when trying to bend the metals. Who knows the refrigerant liquid is left from the trail in the fins and hard to figure out in the nutshell.

I know copper, in my experience, has done stuff like that, where you fiddle with it and it just kinda either does or doesn’t do the thing.. Granted, I’ve really only seen that on softline stuff.

@uxwbill

12 күн бұрын

The lines running through the evaporator definitely appear to be soft copper. This certainly has been a learning experience. I'd never seen a considerable leak just close itself up like that, but now I know it must be possible. Yesterday afternoon, I brazed up a service valve at one end of the condenser coil and brazed the other end shut. I also picked up a shallow storage container that should hold both coils and enough water to submerge them while pressurized with nitrogen. Not sure when I'll get to all that. I left the evaporator coil submerged in that bucket for about a day. When I went back, I was quite surprised to see all these little whitish blobs all over the aluminum parts of it that were submerged. I'm not at all sure what they were...leavings from galvanic corrosion, maybe?

@bakonfreek

12 күн бұрын

I would expect this to be more related to machining than a condenser or evap just existing, but I do remember someone somewhere saying that they hate machining copper because it’s kind of a gummy metal when it isn’t work hardened. I wouldn’t think that would be entirely literal, but hey, *maybe*. Galvanic droppings, that’s one I haven’t seen yet. Dang aluminum pooped all over the water bin! 🤣

This is really weird. If you still don't find it, you could just go ham with the solder in that area and hope you get it, but I'm clearly clutching at straws here.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

This being an exercise of curiosity, I'm not going to waste any more brazing rod than I already have. Were this something to be repaired for myself or a customer, I'd require that the coil be replaced.

Could it have been that it was leaking from the end U-fitting (or very close to it) and knocking it around somehow closed up a very small pinhole?

@uxwbill

12 күн бұрын

Undoubtedly it was leaking from somewhere nearby. I just don't know how a sizable leak could have closed itself up like that...

What I have done to find leaks was to spray leak detector on the coil and not submerge it in water. The leak detector will foam intensely on the leakage spot. The water trick is more for Tires that leak.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

I didn't want to waste my leak detector spray on something that's ultimately going to the scrap bin.

@kgfgfg1

12 күн бұрын

@@uxwbill ok, but as an experiment this proves the great value of a good leak detector spray 👍

I'm surprised you didn't think of using the old soapy water trick to check for leaks before now

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

This is just plain water. I tried soapy water previously on the coils, lines and compressor: kzread.info/dash/bejne/iqSYzdGGpc6sqqg.html , approximately 11:55.

@JohnSmith-xq1pz

13 күн бұрын

@@uxwbill oops missed that or forgot

sounds like an intermittent leak. a unit like this that's otherwise working would be a candidate for leak sealant as a brazed repair is not worth it or even possible. the newer midea made units, sold under danby and some other brands have aluminum evaporators and hopefully they will hold up better than the copper ones due to less of a corrosion issue. Too bad they continue to have the temp sensor close to the coil and as soon as the fan shuts off, the evaporating moisture on the coil causes it to come right back on. if the sensor is that close the fan must stay on to sample the air properly.

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

Indeed it must be. The leak that "disappeared" was substantial and I can't imagine how it resealed itself or why it never opened up again. I'm of the impression that there has to be a smaller leak that remains to be found, and at the rate I'm going, it may never turn up. For one of the recalled dehumidifiers I found (a Frigidaire made by Midea), I opted to receive a replacement machine instead of a refund check. What they sent seems to be a model that was only ever offered to those who had units subject to the recall and not sold at retail. (This has little bearing on the subject so far. I just found it interesting that they offered what looks to be a special model for this purpose.) More to the point, it's been at least six years and apart from a broken caster, that one still works just fine. I'm not sure what kind of coil it uses. I don't know why they won't move the moisture sensor away from the coil. The short cycling this causes is ridiculous. I see they are finally starting to transition these things to R-32 instead of 400a. I know there's no money in them, but I like working with these small, critically charged systems.

@Jon-hx7pe

13 күн бұрын

@@uxwbill i've read of people moving the sensor outside the unit to stop the short-cycling.

Try hot water and ice cold water. Add some thermal stress

@uxwbill

13 күн бұрын

I tried both. No difference noted so far.