Freon, Thermostat and Line Noise ??
I appreciate all of the input. I pulled a vacuum on it this weekend and put a little, and I mean a little, R-12 in it. Within a couple of hours the surface temp on the evaporator was 18 degrees. After 5 hours the compressor was cycling on / off 50/50 and the box temp. was down to 42 degrees. The evaporator surface was "tacky" to the touch due to a very thin frost layer. Outside temp. was about 100 degrees on Saturday.I still have a couple of questions.....What is the best way to dispense 3.5 oz. of R-12 without overcharging? Is there some trick to this or do you just carefully meter it in by holding the can of freon in your hand and judging by weight? That's all I did.Also, if the compressor cycles on and off with the box temp. at 42 degrees on the coldest setting with the outside temp hovering around 100, is that acceptable performance? I'm think that the thermostat is shutting the compressor off before it is reaching the coldest possible set point. I was hoping to get the box down to a true 40 degrees, maybe even 38. If the thermostat is set to the coldest setting, shouldn't the compressor keep on running? Shouldn't the maximum setting be lower than 42 degrees?One last thing, I hear a little gurgling and "groaning" sound in the refrigerant lines when the compressor is running. They aren't vibrating or rattling, it actually sounds like the gas itself inside the lines that is making the ghostly noise as it moves in and out of the evaporator. Any ideas?I really appreciate the help from this forum. Thank you again for the input.It's cold, now I'd like to fine tune it.Jack