Service Tools And Equipment - Komatsu 830E Shop Manual

SERVICE TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

RECOVERY/RECYCLE STATION
Whenever refrigerant must be removed from the sys-
tem, a dual purpose station as shown in Figure 9-3,
performs both recovery and recycle procedures which
follows the new guidelines for handling used refriger-
ant. The recovered refrigerant is recycled to reduce
contaminants, and can then be reused in the same
machine or fleet.
To accomplish this, the recovery/recycle station sepa-
rates the oil from the refrigerant and filters the refriger-
ant multiple times to reduce moisture, acidity, and
particulate matter found in a used refrigerant.
NOTE: To be re-sold, the gas must be "reclaimed"
which leaves it as pure as new, but requires equipment
normally too expensive for all but the largest
refrigeration shops.
Equipment is also available to just remove or extract
the refrigerant. Extraction equipment does not clean
the refrigerant - it is used to recover the refrigerant from
an AC system prior to servicing.
FIGURE 9-3. RECOVERY / RECYCLE STATION
M09010 05/02
Mixing different types of refrigerant will damage
equipment. Dedicate one recovery/recycle station
to each type of refrigerant processing to avoid
equipment damage. DISPOSAL of the gas removed
requires laboratory or manufacturing facilities.
Test equipment is available to confirm the refrigerant in
the system is actually the type intended for the system
and has not been contaminated by a mixture of refrig-
erant types.
Recycling equipment must meet certain standards as
published by the Society of Automotive Engineers and
carry a UL approved label. The basic principals of
operation remain the same for all machines, even if the
details of operation differ somewhat.
LEAK DETECTOR
The electronic detector (Figure 9-4) is very accurate
and safe. It is a small hand-held device with a flexible
probe used to seek refrigerant leaks. A buzzer, alarm
or light will announce the presence of even the small-
est leak.
Some leak detectors are only applicable to one type of
refrigerant. Ensure the leak detector being used
applies to the refrigerant in the system.
FIGURE 9-4. TYPICAL ELECTRONIC LEAK
Air Conditioning System
for HFC 134a Refrigerant
DETECTOR
M9-11