On Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 12:02:25 PM UTC-4, Neon John wrote:
On Fri, 4 Aug 2017 10:04:11 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:
I'm at a loss unless its just no longer working. The only other thing I can
think of is that the humidity has been really high for the last couple days.
(High for Yuma anyway.) On-line weather says we are sitting around 46%.
This is our "monsoon" season. The rest of the year we tend to run 8-15%..
Maybe this cheap dryer just isn't up to handling that much humidity.
Is the suction line to the dryer's compressor sweating? IF so then
the dryer is working.
My thinking is that it is overwhelmed by the amount of moisture that
was introduced into the system.
Does your compressor have an automatic moisture drain valve? If not
the period of continuous running probably collected an amount of
liquid water in the tank. That would cause air saturated with water
to flow from the compressor.
You need to check out the compressor and then let the dryer recover.
Unless there is a check valve in the dryer outlet, the dryer is slowly
trying to dry the downstream air system too.
The auto-drain you mentioned, is that on the compressor or dryer. If
not on the dryer, then how does the dryer dispose of moisture? That
would be worth looking into to see if it's working.
Do you have a downstream valve on the air line? If so then I'd shut
it and let the dryer dry out itself and the line leading up to the
valve. If no valve, then cap the line.
Once water quits coming out of the dryer, arrange for a small flow
into the outbound system. Barely crack the valve or unscrew the cap
to let a little air leak. Does the outbound moisture separate stay
dry? If so, then the dryer was overloaded. If not then the dryer
will require looking into.
Once I got the cover off the dryer, my first step would be to feel the
compressor's inlet and outlet lines. The inlet line should be cool.
If the dryer is simply overloaded, the outlet line will be very hot.
Next, check to make sure the condenser is clear and the fan is
properly running. The line coming out of the condenser should be
warm, just above room temperature. If it is hot then the unit is
probably low on refrigerant.
Where to go after this depends on what you observe. Does the unit
have refrigeration access ports? Do you have a set of gauges? I
doubt that a hermetically sealed unit is low in refrigerant but it
happens sometimes.
Tell me what you observe, especially temperatures around the system,
and we'll go from there.
John
John DeArmond
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.tnduction.com
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
See website for email address
All good advice, but very time-consuming. If it were me, I'd do it this way:
1) check that the refrigeration is working - suction line cold, discharge line hot. If gauges are available and there's a place to hook them up, go for it.
2) drain existing water out of compressor tank and dryer and whatever water traps there are.
3) hook up a "big enough" tank of nitrogen, argon or whatever is handy to the compressor tank. Set gas regulator for 100 psi or so.
4) purge the entire system. Open valves all over the place, perhaps one or a few at a time.
5) Done.
Of course, if the air lines don't all slope back to the compressor, there could be water trapped at the low spots. In that case, the same procedure would apply, but you need to purge more aggressively. I have done this to blow standing oil out of refrigeration systems.