Cleaning up old compressor deck & components, have a few questions

[brasskey]

I'm finally finishing up putting my CSS-12-96 back together.  I just need to get the compressor setup back in.  I have it out and will paint the deck, compressor, condensor, and evaporator cover.  

What's the best way to clean the condensor?  It's caked with dirt and debris.  I've seen posts about sandblasting it, but I don't have one.  Can I shoot it with a light water spray (as long as I have the fan motor out and compressor wiring covered)?

Also, before I took the compressor out, everything was working fine.  Since I have it all out and taken apart to paint, should I go ahead and replace the evaporator and condensor fans or is that just a waste of money since they were working?  Thanks.

[johnieG]

I generally power wash the entire deck & replace both fan motors as they're cheap enough, and install a new wiring harness, if you can salvage the cardboard fan shroud, fine, if it's ratty looking, the deck will live without it, ( or get a replacement) you don't have to sand blast, a wire wheel & an electric drill can remove the majority of the loose paint/light rust & scale (if any), a flexible wet/dry sanding sponge (medium grit) works nicely for those hard to get to contours & curved surfaces. 

Then prime any bare spots with a rust inhibiting paint, wait the recommended time before top coating with a nice semi-gloss black on the compressor & brackets & deck plate ( just don't paint over your compressors wiring terminals, use a little masking tape)  oh any make sure the condensers fins are dry or blow them out with air before you paint it, hit it with the paint from two angles left/right to prevent a "shadow" on the fins, I like to use Hammertone silver on the evaporator coil covers ( don't paint evap' fins themselves, it wont stick well & it will flake off.)    I also like to polish the copper lines.

It's can be quite a bit of work to detail the Refrigeration deck, but it looks awesome when you finally wrap up a machine you've worked so hard to restore!

[mznb1u]

After extensive research (reading johnie's post), I think the easiest way to get all that work done is to send it to Johnie and pay him to do the work.   

  Tim

[brasskey]

Thanks for the tips Johnie. I'll post some pictures when I'm finished.

[brasskey]

I took the condensor and evaporator motors out.  They seem the same, but a quick look at the details on the motors show slight differences.  Is there a motor that will work for both of these or do I need to get a separate condensor and evaporator motor?  I looked on a few on the sponsor sites, but it's not completely clear (for a newbie) which ones I need.  Can someone please clarify? Also, the motors I found on sponsor sites don't seem to have the special weather-proof plug on the terminal end.  Do these need to be bought separately and wired? Thanks.


Evaporator fan motor (yellow dot)
115V
60/50 Hz
0.4A
4W




Condensor fan motor (red dot)
115V
60/50 Hz
0.53A
3.5W

[Creighton]

Can't help on the first part of your question. Unless the machine is going to be in service outdoors you don't need heavy duty wiring (weather proof).
Creighton

[BrianS]

A 4 watt motor should work fine for both of your fans. They are not expensive and well worth changing out now rather than having to dig back into your compressor deck 6 months down the road.  One thing to make sure of is that you get a new motor with the same rotation as your existing motors.  Yours are stamped CW.  This means a clockwise rotation and should be from the perspective looking at the motor from the rear where the wires come out.  This is the Lead End.  Looking at it from the front is the Shaft End.  Your new motor should designate CWLE.  I would plug it in and verify its rotation and which end it is referencing. 

[briandr1]

IF you have a johnston supply store up there they will have the motors about 35 bucks a piece.

[johnieG]

Typically the evap' fans motor is a 6-watt and the condenser fan-motor is a 9 watt, the bigger the fan blades diameter, the more power/watts you need to spin it, if you undersize the motor, it will "slip" (slow down & never get up to running speed) then it will quickly overheat & burn out or burn up.)  so stick with the original motors wattage, it's not worth saving a whole $2.00 per motor. and yes, do pay attention to the rotation marked on the info plate of the motors, CW=clockwise, CCW= counter-clockwise.

So basically, the bigger/heavier the fan blade the higher the wattage of the motor. believe me, the manufactures sized them for the minimum cost vs motor size.

[brasskey]

Typically the evap' fans motor is a 6-watt and the condenser fan-motor is a 9 watt, the bigger the fan blades diameter, the more power/watts you need to spin it, if you undersize the motor, it will "slip" (slow down & never get up to running speed) then it will quickly overheat & burn out or burn up.)  so stick with the original motors wattage, it's not worth saving a whole $2.00 per motor. and yes, do pay attention to the rotation marked on the info plate of the motors, CW=clockwise, CCW= counter-clockwise.

So basically, the bigger/heavier the fan blade the higher the wattage of the motor. believe me, the manufactures sized them for the minimum cost vs motor size.

Thank you for all the help everyone.  My evaporator and condenser fans are 4W and 3.5W, respectively (not 6W and 9W). Should I upgrade them to 6W and 9W?  Below are what I was able to find that was comparable.  It seems as though these older motors (exact specs) are no longer made.  In bold are the slight changes with the new ones I found.  Will these work?


Evaporator motor
Current motor ---> Replacement motor
115V  --->  115V
60/50 Hz  --->  60/50 Hz
0.4A  --->  0.42A
4W  --->  6W
CWLE  --->  CWLE


Condensor motor
Current motor ---> Replacement motor
115V  --->  115V
60/50 Hz  --->  60/50 Hz
0.53A  --->  0.55A
3.5W  --->  9W
CWLE  --->  CWLE

[johnieG]

They will work fine so long as the mounting holes are in the same location as the OEM* units.  just don't use a 32 watt in place of a 9 watt motor it will sound like a Cessna taking off! 


*= Original Equipment Manufactures

[Creighton]

Very good information here. Jim/ JohnieG maybe a stay on top ?
Thanks!
Creighton

[brasskey]

They will work fine so long as the mounting holes are in the same location as the OEM* units.  just don't use a 32 watt in place of a 9 watt motor it will sound like a Cessna taking off! 


*= Original Equipment Manufactures

Thanks again Johnie.  I have the unit painted and the motors ordered.  I'll post some pictures soon.

[brasskey]

So I received the motors today but I think I messed up. The pictures of the motors on amazon were a general cast iron motor but I didn't pay attention to the description and I ended up with the aluminum ones. Will that matter? Do I need to return them for the cast iron ones?

Also, I know I don't need these connectors, but I thought I'd try to find these so I don't need to replace the female ends also.  Anyone know where I can get these?

[johnieG]

Aluminum cases wont mater at all, & The plug is an OEM style made by he Lyall corp. ( now it's been bought by some other company) I had a real tough time at finding the male cord ends to slice onto the motors so I could have a "plug & play" into my replacement harnesses, but the bottom line is you don't need them, cut & splice & heat-shrink away.

[brasskey]

I can't find my pictures of the compressor unit out of the shell before I cleaned it up, but I'm sure everyone has seen plenty of those.  I still need to clean up the wiring and polish some more copper.  Thanks for all the help everyone.  It made things much easier for me when restoring my first unit.

[tkaz]

Awesome work!  Its so much easier to get the rest of the machine cleaned out once the deck is out, and even though most people don't see the compressor, it's great to open up the door and have that thing sparkling!   Kind of like having a clean straight engine in an old muscle car

[johnieG]

Nice Job! It looks great!