Refrigerant Filter Dryer Exposed
Displaying the insides of a very small Refrigerant filter-dryer canister, the desiccant is called Zeolite, and is made up of Activated Alumina, Silica Gel, Calcium Chloride and Calcium oxide. Although a filter dryer won’t remove all of them, things like Oxygen, moisture, solder flux, Armaflex dust and glue’s will go to work, with the heat, pressure, oil, metals and refrigerant to turn a air conditioner into a big run-away chemistry set! eating lines, motor insulation and valve components! Keep the HVAC system clean!
Tagged with: AC • Acid • AIR • bend • burnout • Canister • Charge • compressor • Conditioner • Cycle • Danfoss • Desiccant • DRYER • Electric • filter • gas • hydrochloric • Hydrofluoric • Lathe • line • Liquid • Moisture • motor • R22 • R410A • Reverse • south
Filed under: air compressor dryer
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More likely to be catalyst pellets.
These ones are actually made in Mexico, I’m not sure if the QC is as high as it is at the Denmark or Germany facilities
yes I have!, looks like silica gel beads to me. apparently they can break down and cause blockages in the system too?
man thats great to know,m do you know if they still make them, so i can be sure not to install that specific brand/type no more.
thanks for the info and the video.
I don’t think their made anymore and I’m not sure on what brands did make them, but I just found out the blocking problem can be avoided by mounting it horizontally. it was because of the beads sitting in the bottom and bouncing on any impulses of gas that caused them to break up
good vid. put the charge in a bucket of water.lol new things are crap.
I cut the dryer open off an old industrial supermarket freezer, millions of little grey balls, I held and squeezed half the contents of the dryer in my hand and my god did my hand get warm, when I let go into bin my hand was very dry too.
It’s fascinating to see a liquid line drier split and exposed. I’ve cut a few of them open and found the dessicant pellets to be in good condition. The fine internal mesh screens were actually obstructed with the oxidation left over from the brazing process.
Good advice to all: Remove liquid line driers that are installed within outdoor units whenever the opportunity arises. Reinstall the replacement drier outside of the outdoor unit.
Good video. Very informative.
there is more surface area to trap particals and moisture given the flow direction is correct on this Danfoss drier.you dont feed filters from the inside were the surface is smallest.
Looks like you got your hands on a Danfoss DML filter drier. The core is composed of 100% Molecular Sieve, which is optimized for moisture adsorption. The DCL type is the one that also has acid adsorption as the core is composed of 80% Molecular Sieve and 20% Activated Alumina. Activated Alumina will contribute to the moisture adsorption but its main function is for acid.
You should be careful handling the core with your bare hands as it can get really hot during moisture adsorption, which is an exothermic reaction. You can try running it under some water and feel how hot it gets.
By the way, the core was assembled correctly. The filter drier is designed so that liquid ?ow velocity is suitably low; the pressure drop is minimal; and the moisture adsorption is optimal.
Good info! thanks!
I tried dunking it in water but didn’t notice any temp change or excessive absorption. its only designed to absorb so many PPM anyway.
yeah I was reading older material on filter-dryers that dosn’t apply to these ones.
I have a few of these and they are very good!.
The core could already be saturated. A core that size will have capacity less than 10 grams of moisture. Note that the process is adsorption (with a “d”) not absorption (with a “b”). Adsorption is a physical process whereas absorption is a more complex chemical process. During adsorption in the filter drier moisture is drawn into the small pores of the molecular sieve via capillary action and held.
Some say that Danfoss filter driers are the best. It would be interesting if you could cut open some other filter driers to compare.
get yourself oxy acetylene torch you rookie limey
Great work ! And thanks for the visuals…I really enjoyed seeing your work.
Love,
kris.
Thanks man nice video …… It looks like a Danfoss DCL xx This is the most common filters we use here in Spain (At least in the north). And again thanks for the video. BB.
How many Filter Dryers have you cut open?
I’ve done a few in the past, but only this one on video
The refrigerant flows around the outside of the charge, and flows out through the indentation in the centre; this way, the dirty or wet refrigerant has a larger surface area to adsorb onto. By having it “reversed” like this, the dessicator will last longer before the surface clogs.
How would installing a one way filter dryer on a heatpump actually contaminate a system ? assuming nothing woult be forced the wrong way blowing debris into the lineset ?
Most older refrigerators have these just before the capillary tube, unless thats part of the cappilary