Refrigerator compressor failure, basics of the refrigeration cycle

Refrigerator badge on freezer door

A week or two ago, our 10-year-old Maytag Performa PTB1753GRW apartment refrigerator's compressor started buzzing noticeably. The refrigerator still seems to cool/freeze. However, the compressor seems on its last legs. It also produces a rather irritating buzzing noise.

Model PTB1753GRW, Serial 15723408CC

Make & model label inside refrigerator freezer compartment

Examining the refrigerator shows these details.

A note taped to the back of the refrigerator:

Details of the most recent compressor service

It reads as follows, with my thoughts:

• 134a: 3.49 oz 
• 134a refers to refrigerant R-134a (1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane), which manufacturers began using "in the early 1990s as a replacement for the more environmentally harmful R-12"
• OIL: 9.63 oz
• All compressors contain oil to lubricate the moving parts
• CHARGE # 1
• Presumably to document how many times technicians have serviced the compressor
• BOARD # 103
• Most likely refers to the board model used to control the internal refrigeration cycle
• 2 / 17 / 03 13:35:29
• Date and time of first charge...this represents 11 years, 8 months, 9 days ago, as of this writing

COMPRESSOR

Removing the refrigerator rear panel reveals the following compressor equipment:

Compressor manufacturer label

The compressor, left, and fan, right

The label on the compressor reads as follows, with my thoughts:

• Embraco EGZ 70HLP
• Embraco represents the manufacturer, headquartered in Brazil
• Wikipedia entry
• The word "embraco" seems to represent an acronym of the corporate name: EMpresa BRAsileira de COompressores S.A.
• EGZ 70HLP represents the model of the compressor...see page 27 of the Embraco 2003 product line catalog
• EG = Basic prefix for all models of the EG COMPRESSOR DENOMINATION (no further information to gain)
• Z = Efficiency level: Z = 5th generation
• The next number = "Compressor capacity in BTH/HR – 60Hz – ASHRAE check point divided by 10" : so 70 seems to indicate compressor capacity of 7 BTH/hour, or how much heat it can remove (?)
• The next letter indicates the refrigerant: H = "R-134a"
• The next letter indicates the Application: L = "LBP (-35ºC to -10ºC ( -31ºF to +14ºF ))"...that is, the evaporating temperature range...LBP = "Low Back Pressure" and applications = refrigerators, frozen food cabinets, frozen food display cases, display windows, etc.
• The final letter indicates the Electrical equipment: P = "P - PTC + Run Capacitor (optional)"...PTC seems to mean "Positive Temperature Coefficient" relay (details)
• THERMALLY PROTECTED
• It seems insulated (?)
• 10 LRA
• LRA = Locked Rotor Amps. The prefix 10 indicates the "amperage the motor will pull while trying to make the rotor spin inside the stator, if the rotor is locked up."
• R 134a 1 PH
• Refrigerant
• 115-127V 60Hz
• This seems to represent the electrical input tolerances
• JOINVILLE-SC MADE IN BRAZIL
• This seems to represent the factory location: Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil
• 513700109 FAB 1 18/DEC/02 KA2YKPU5
• Seems like internal serial number and manufacture date

BASICS OF THE REFRIGERATION CYCLE

OK, so I spent some time attempting to get my head wrapped around the basic concepts of the refrigeration cycle.

It seems to involve several primary variables of the refrigerant:

• Pressure
• Temperature
• State of matter (that is, liquid, gas, or mixtures of the two during transitions)

It seems to involve several key insights about how to manipulate these variables of the refrigerant to get desired effects:

• A change in refrigerant pressure changes the refrigerant temperature:
• High pressure to low pressure = cools the refrigerant state of matter
• Low pressure to high pressure = heats the refrigerant state of matter
• A change in refrigerant temperature changes the refrigerant state of matter:
• Decreasing the temperature = changes from gas to liquid (note: perhaps only partially)
• Increasing the temperature = changes from liquid to gas (note: perhaps only partially)
• States of matter grant different refrigerant temperature ranges:
• Gas state of matter allows for super-heating it well above ambient temperature of the environment
• Liquid state of matter allows for sub-cooling it well below ambient temperature of the environment
• During a state of matter transition, heat goes in or goes out
• Refrigeration cycle occurs when a system uses the above insights repetitively in two ways:
1. Sub-cool the refrigerant
2. Move the sub-cooled refrigerant through the desired area to cool

In a modern refrigerator, this seems to involve four components:

1. Condenser: 
• Changes high-pressure, super-heated gas into lower-pressure, lower-temperature liquid
• Super-heated means a temperature well above the ambient temperature
• This step occurs after the refrigerant exits the compressor
• This readies the refrigerant for the expansion device in step #2
2. Expansion device: 
• Changes lower-pressure, lower-temperature liquid into low-pressure, sub-cooled liquid 
• Sub-cooled means a temperature well below the ambient temperature
• This step occurs after the refrigerant exist the condenser
• This readies the refrigerant for the evaporator in step #3
3. Evaporator: 
• Changes low-pressure, sub-cooled liquid into higher-pressure, higher-temperature gas
• This step removes the heat from the area to cool
• The refrigerant's increase in pressure and temperature, and its change of state of matter from liquid to gas, occurs as it absorbs heat from the area to cool
• During this step, the refrigerant boils as it absorbs heat, changing it from a liquid into a gas
• This prepares the way for the compressor in step #4
4. Compressor: 
• Changes higher-pressure, higher-temperature gas into high-pressure, super-heated gas
• This returns the cycle to the starting point in step #1, above
• The compressor may only compress refrigerant while in exists as a gas state of matter

So, to recap:

1. Sub-cool the refrigerant -- steps #4, #1, and #3
2. Move the sub-cooled refrigerant through the desired area to cool -- step #2

There is something I do not quite understand, yet: saturated mix, gas & liquid refrigerant, condensing at the same temperature...when it becomes a liquid, it sub-cools lower than the condensing temperature...I believe the principle = during a state of matter transition, the temperature and pressure remains the same, but heat comes in or goes out, changing the state of matter.

Cycle overview

Condensers
1963 United States Air Force training video (oy, the sexism and stereotypes, but solid on the rest)

Social site for renters to communicate (?)

Living in an apartment and wondering if a social site existed to facilitate meeting and communicating with the people around me.

For example: templates for introductions, sharing contact info, profiles.

My first attempts at searching for such a thing met with no luck.

Seat replacement

We chose the Bemis/Church "Bemis 652CHSL000 GEN21 Series High Density Molded Wood Round Toilet Seat with Chrome WhisperClose Hinges, White"

Not surprising how people love them...we have had one for some time and it just works and looks great.

Cap City Squeeze Juice Bar - Salad Shaker

My first, to-date, salad shaker:

• Balsemic vinegar
• Mixed greens
• Gorgonzola cheese
• Quinoa
• Grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• Cucumber
• Apple
• Strawberry

Verdict: just what I needed that day

Tom Killian Cards

Beautiful stuff:

Web site

Food notes - Honey, Pie

Chess pie...which contains something called mace, a spice similar to nutmeg.

Basswood/linden flower honey (called Lyn in the eastern Kentucky mountains, or genus Tilia)...blooms I believe in the spring in the mountains of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia:

• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/ilg-international-trading-inc (Staten Island company, Ukraine honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/neshanic-valley-beekeepers-llc (New Jersey company, Michigan honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/honey-bees-r-us-apiaries (Florida company, New York honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/gooserock-farm (New Jersey company & honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/delta-food-international-inc (California company, Chinese honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/euro-american-brands-llc (New Jersey company, Germany honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/ames-farm (Minnesota company & honey)
• http://www.honey.com/honey-locator/profile/drapers-super-bee-apiaries-inc (Pennylvania company & honey)
• Companies via: http://www.honey.com/honey-locator
• http://www.kybeeco.com/
• http://beeraw.com/basswood-honey.html - New York honey
• http://louisvillelocalmarket.com/products/hosey-s-local-raw-kentucky-honey
• http://www.ksbabeekeeping.org/
• http://www.mtnstatehoney.com/page4.php

Note: I ended up purchasing a small jar of basswood honey from a store in Wisconsin.

UPDATE:

• Unfortunately basswood failed this year here.  All the honey, as little as it was, had a dark amber color.  (Pikeville, KY, eastern Kentucky)
• It was probably black locust honey. There use to be a lot of black locust trees and its a very very clear honey with a great taste.  The trees died. Not many left.  (Campbellsville, KY, central Kentucky)
• However to say it is Basswood Honey would be stretching the truth, just like people that sell pure sourwood honey. A lot of other flora sources would also be in it.
• You should talk with Clay Guthrie at the Dadant Beekeeping Supplies in Frankfort KY. He travels to Eastern KY and Tennessee where Basswood Honey is common. He should be easy to find through his business on the internet.

"Weird Al" sandwich

"...fire-roasted eggplant, some roasted red peppers, diced heirloom tomatoes, some thin-sliced red onions—maybe double up on the onions and have some caramelized onions on top of the sliced onions. A little basil, some arugula, some chopped and marinated mushrooms, maybe a slice of fresh avocado, some alfalfa sprouts, a dose of hummus, a drizzle of pomegranate molasses and put it on a warm toasted French roll lovingly sprinkled with some truffle oil."
(via)

Osaka-Ya

Dawn and I visited Osaka-Ya today:

• Kintoki with condensed milk and sweet red beans (large)
• We purchased a few items:
• Kit Kat matcha green tea flavor
• Kit Kat "Otona no Amasa White Kit Kat" (Adult sweetness line: White Vanilla Chocolate)
• Cherry Hi-Chew
• Chocolate manjū and Coffee manjū
• Anpan

Osaka-Ya has a simple website but I found Yelp pictures better.

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

(via)

Westercon, FantasyCon - 2014 materials

A friend recently returned from Westercon 67 and FastasyCon in Salt Lake City, Utah. He shared materials with me, which, rather than retaining, I am noting here:

• Shadow's Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology ; http://brandonsanderson.com/introducing-the-writing-excuses-anthology/
• Starfall--the online TV series ; http://www.starfalltheseries.tv
• The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma (http://tor-forge.com/author/brianherbert), and, The Dark Between the Stars (http://tor-forge.com/author/kevinjanderson)
• Horror Writers Association ; http://www.horror.org
• Golden Mountain Media ; http://www.goldenmountainmedia.com
• Timpanogos Storytelling Festival ; http://timpfest.org
• Lucky Bat Books ; http://luckybatbooks.com
• Nerdvana, The Podcast ; http://www.nerdvanapodcast.com
• Night's End, by Yasmine Galenorn (http://galenorn.com)
• Move Mountain, by Kirsten Lepore (2013, 11 min) ; http://kirstenlepore.com/Move-Mountain
• Monster Hunter: Nemesis ; http://www.baen.com
• The Chaplain's War ; http://www.baen.com
• Dover Whitecliff ; http://www.doverwhitecliff.com
• Engines of Liberty: Rebel Heart ; by Graham Bradley
• Curiosity Quills: Complimentary Book Voucher ; http://curiosityquills.com/raffle-redemption/ ... number = 201783 (?)
• The Gods of Garran, by Meredith Skye ; http://meredithskye.weebly.com
• Egyptus and Ham, Son of Noah ; http://mmrobinson.com
• Running From the Gods, by D.T. Read ; http://diannthornleyread.com
• The art of Eric Velhagen ; http://ericvelhagen.com
• Monsterheds ; http://www.monsterhedz.com
• CheapCaffeine.net ; a webcomic by Nathan Shumate
• OryCon 36 ; http://www.orycon.org
• Alison Langston Illustration ; http://www.allisonlangston.com
• Anna del C. Dye ; http://www.annadelc.com
• VilleAnne ; http://storybundle.com

Cafe Brasil, Santa Cruz

We visited Cafe Brasil in Santa Cruz over the weekend for lunch. We split a Feijoada Plate: "The traditional Brazilian specialty. A bowl of black bean stew simmered w/ various sausages. Served w/ a side plate w/ rice, farofa, slices of orange and sautéed greens. Plate served w/ rice, farofa, slices of orange& feijoada."

Black bean stew: great. Farofa: dry, felt nervous I might get some down my windpipe, but otherwise tasty.

Whiteboard cleaner

The best?

MB10W Whiteboard Cleaner from Solutions MB

Says some person on the internet.

NameChk

Noting just for reference:

http://namechk.com/

This service checks a given vanity username at dozens of sites.

PPAPI flash plugin in Chromium on Debian

Apparently I am one of the last to hear about Google's decision to end NPAPI plugin support and switch to PPAPI plugin support.

Noticed when Debian stable updated Chromium and flash support started falling apart.

Jarbraltar at Yellowbill cafe bakery

Saw this posted on their sidewalk sign and had to stop in and see. Photo credit to their Facebook page. Espresso and two ounces steamed milk.

Similar to the Gibraltar, but in a mason jar. : o ) An article claims Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco invented the Gibraltar.

Alchemy waiting area reading material

Dawn got her hair professionally styled recently at Alchemy Salon & Spa in Sacramento, for her graduation ceremony. (aside: months ago, we observed the owners hanging the sign over their shop...they seemed enthused and ebullient)

While I waited, I browsed a book, "Hair Heroes," by Michael Gordon. It mentioned some random stylists and I learned a few random facts:

• Jimi Hendrix grew up in a broken home...he rejected the ukulele given by his father for a second-hand electric guitar
• Gene Shacove, the stylist who screenwriter Robert Towne based the movie Shampoo on, really hates Warren Beatty...Beatty picked up the movie and ran with it but Shacove claims Beatty never really gave anything to him...even though he claimed Towne spent months at his salon

The salon featured coasters with two URLs on the bottom:

1. http://irongreymammoth.com/ (now http://www.jairustonel.com/)
2. http://meetthepressgang.com/ (currently not loading as of the writing of this post...but it seems related to https://pipl.com/n/Stefan_Burnett/)

The shop also had a 2006 book called WIG about fashion and hair, which I cannot find a reference to on the Internets.

Caputo tipo 00

The world's best pizza flour?

Google Search

(via)

Capitol Box Art

Applauding this effort: http://capitolboxart.com/

Wedding anniversary notes

We vacationed in Calistoga this weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

• Colin Hay - what a voice!; we heard "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin" on the May 31 Prairie Home Companion. Link (audio @ 01:30:57)
• Utah Phillips - also Prairie Home Companion, which honored him with one or two songs, including "I Think of You" Link (audio @ 01:13:11)
• The Planetary Dance - on the way to Muir Woods, we passed a bunch of people dancing in a field next to Muir Woods Road, which turned out to represent the 34th Annual Planetary Dance 
• Hotel Room amenities
• iHome HiP42 MP3 Docking Alarm Clock Radio (now discontinued, we both liked the "Bedtime Beats" sounds, the first of which reminded me of a Hayao Miyazaki film and the second which reminded me of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Open Sea Exhibit
• Speakman Anystream shower fixture (link)
• Curved shower curtain rail
• Shower splash guards
• Shower hand rails
• Hookless shower curtain by Focus Product Group (focuspg.com) with a clear horizontal panel near the top (sort of like the Vision at this link)
• Anti-slipmat which seemed glued to the tub floor...seems nicer than rubber ones which need cleaning (?)
• Spa amenities
• Stands for lotion/hair gel/deodorant dispensers
• Container for cotton swabs and disposable razors
• Zero-gravity SO Sound Solutions "Sound Lounger" (link); they had modified the lounger so it mechanically reclined and they provided Beats headphones and a cold compress, plus a comforter to stay cozy
• Castello di Amorosa
• Dawn liked a green lace skirt from the Melody O2 collection
• I tried these red wines:
• Pinot noir (Los Carneros)
• Zingaro (SF Chronicle Gold Medal)
• Sangiovese (SF Chronicle Gold Medal)
• Il Brigante (?)
• and a white one: Gewurztraminer
• The castle impresses...worth a visit to appreciate the attention to detail and planning...we just walked around the grounds
• We met the cat, Sir Lancelot, and also a peacock, and watched the other cat, Lady Guinevere, sheep, goats, and so forth
• Food
• Mishka's Cafe, Davis (link), for coffees--the owner was there on Sunday; it is named after his cat, Mishka
• Muir Woods Cafe (link)--we tried the grilled cheese and tomato soup ("to die for")
• Boskos Trattoria Italian Food, Calistoga (link): I had the "Godfather" (Italian Sausage, Roasted Eggplant, Garlic, Onions & Red Bell Peppers In A Spicy Herb Tomato Sauce On Spaghetti)...Dawn had the Vittorio (Bay Shrimp, Mushrooms And Garlic In An Asiago Cream Sauce On Fettuccine)...we both shared a bottle of Ca Di Rajo Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2012 (link)
• Free continental breakfast at the Calistoga Best Western Stevenson Manor: scrambled eggs, we split a waffle we made in the waffle iron, hardboiled egg, oatmeal, a bagel and cream cheese plus orange juice 
• Yo el Rey Roasting, Calistoga: coffees
• Woodhouse Chocolates, St. Helena
• Sogni Di Dolci: I had the Napoletano (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and oregano) and Dawn had the Club Panino (turkey, pancetta, provolone, tomato, lettuce, mayonaise--which tasted good and spicy, like mustard)

Maker Faire 2014 - San Mateo

Some memories / notes:

• 8x10 digital view camera; Sam Girvin (sgirv *remove this nonsensical phrase* in@stanford.edu)
• Flatbed scanner modified into an easy to focus, extremely high resolution B&W digital 8x10 view camera
• Max image resolution: 1,800 megapixels; limited in practice by lens resolving power and fineness of ground glass
• Key components: 
• Canon Canoscan LiDE 210
• Schneider Symmar-S 210mm f/5.6
• Custom bellows system
• Ground glass plate
• Documentation will be posted initially on PentaxForums.com
• SVVR2 (Silicon Valley Virtual Reality) conference and expo, May 19 & 20; svvr.com
• UC-Santa Cruz Art Department Chair, Jennifer Parker; parker *remove this nonsensical phrase but include the one* 1@ucsc_dot_edu ; Baskin Visual Arts
• Obtanium Works: "One man's junk is another man's vehicle" Shannon & Kathy O'Hare; obtaniumworks.net
• Genevieve Santos: illustrator, wanderluster; kid-at-heart; genevievesantos.com
• Sparki, the easy robot for everyone, arcbotics.com; and Hexy, the low-cost hexapod robot
• Isabelle Kung, illustrator: www.isabellakung.com
• Mars Exploration Program: www.nasa.gov/mars
• Proteins and Peppytides
• Peppytide is a 3D-printed, foldable molecular model (note: part of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
• www.peppytides.com
• Darwin-mini robotis: www.robotis.us
• Novena open source laptop: novena.io; "back us on crowdsupply.com" (ends May 18)
• www.animalinstinctsapparel.com
• Consciousness Hacking: "Is inner-space the next great frontier?" consciousnesshacking.com
• WalkingBeans (Li-An, Yuki) @ sfwalkingbeans.com
• Skeletal Dropkick: www.skeletaldropkick.com : stoneware; monsters; handcrafted for daily use
• Curious Customs: Lamps, lanterns, and nightlights: http://curiouscustoms.com
• Nasa Centennial Challenges: www.nasa.gov/challenges
• RawrzToys.com