DCE33A-1WB Scotsman Ice Machine low side pressure?

[JWWebster]

I just took a few more photos. I feel like the bin should have been full by now but an ice cube was on the sensing bar cause the machine is tilted slightly and all the cubes were to that side, so I feel like it probably shut down sometime last night.

[JWWebster]

A few more:

Note the copper sensing bar on the right side of the ice bin has a bin control thermostat probe inside it. As you may know, when the ice cubes touch that bar the machine shuts down. Sweet!

[AJ]

 

[krazytech]

Glad you have ice... how do you know how much gas you added to the system without using a charging cylinder?  how deep of a vaccuum was it in before you added gas?
Don't you still think you have a slow leak? most likely on the low side?

[JWWebster]

You could tell from the warmth of the back side of your hands from the condenser outlet air that the system was low of gas. The water in the tray was cold but not freezing my fingertips so I knew I had freon in there. From working on these in the shop I knew they were fickle so I figured I would add a little tiny bit at a time till I got it out of the negative. It was around negative 10 psi so it had some in there but it was running a negative vacuum. So I barely cracked open the valve on my hose and never let the needle go above 10 PSI. Adding freon fast will cause problems. Overcharging chokes down the compressor and damages reed valves inside them. By slowly adding the freon a tiny bit at a time and listening to the compressor taking note of the tones and various noises you can detect overcharging. It took about 3 beers to get it to hang in there around 5 PSI without going right back down inside the negative or red zone. When it changed tone and began to sing like a central unit does when the freon is right I stopped and waited about five minutes. When it eased back down to around 1 PSI the compressor shut down. Water began flushing the res and a moment later the cubes started dropping. This is not the first one of these I have worked on. Although it has been a few years since I worked on the last one (1995). If this machine had a serious leak their would have been no freon in there whatsoever. Adding an ounce of R134A may make it go for years or die quickly depending on how severe the leak is. We won't know that till she stops making ice again.