Service manual

REFRIGERATION OPERATION
The refrigeration operation section is divided into three areas: Basic Refrigeration Principle.
Detailed Vending machine Refrigeration cycle, and Parts Description.
BASIC REFRIGERATION PRINCIPLE
What a refrigeration system really accomplishes is the transfer of heat. A refrigeration system
removes the excess heat from a refrigerated area and then transfers it to a condenser where it is
dissipated. As heat is removed, the refrigerated area cools.
In vending machines, large quantities of the heat must be transferred rapidly, economically and
efficiently. This process must be able to withstand continuous repetition, without loss of refrigerant,
over an extended period. The most common system used in the vending industry is the vapor
compression (or simple compression) cycle system. It consists of four basic elements: an
evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, and a pressure reducing restricted (all part of a sealed
system).
The compression system operates at two pressure levels: the low evaporating pressure and the
high condensing pressure. The refrigerant acts as the transport medium, in which heat is moved
from the evaporator to the condenser; at the condenser, the heat is dissipated into the surrounding
air.
The liquid refrigerant changes from a liquid, to a vapor and back to a liquid again. This change of
state allows the refrigerant to absorb, and rapidly discharge, large quantities of heat efficiently.
BASIC VAPOR COMPRESSION SYSTEM CYCLE DESCRIBED:
In the evaporator the liquid refrigerant vaporizes. This change occurs at a temperature enough to
absorb heat from the refrigerated space. The temperature of vaporization is controlled by the
pressure maintained in the evaporator (the higher the pressure, the higher the vaporization point).
The compressor pumps the vapor from the evaporator, through the suction line, and to the
condenser. The compressor takes the low pressure vapor and compresses it, increasing both the
pressure and the temperature. The compressor pumps the vapor at a rate rapid enough to maintain
the ideal pressure. The hot high pressure vapor is forced out of the compressor, into the discharge
line and then into the condenser.
Air is blown through the condenser, allowing heat to transfer from the condenser and into the
passing air. As the heat is removed, the stored refrigerant is condensed into a liquid. The liquid
refrigerant is stored in the lower tube of the condenser. It is there, available to flow through the
restricter tube, back into the evaporator, where the refrigeration cycle is repeated.
S-13