Refrigeration

[snapmom]

A couple of early to mid 30s sets

 

[CRTDI]

A couple of early to mid 30s sets

Outstanding!

 

[jerryd68]

Ammonia? What a dinosaur system that must be! That'd be a factory tour I'd love to take.

I have several reefer wrenches that I've "cross-trained" for other uses. One was my welding tank wrench for some time. The female 1/4" square ratchet with a home-made adaptor gets some use with regular sockets, and the one end has a 9/16" 6 point box end that's perfect of brass fittings on evaps. I was always looking for ways to make more of my tools do multiple jobs to try and keep the weight down in my carry tools as the thing was just so heavy.
I haven't had the heart to cut off a flat of one of those box ends and make a compact flare wrench - but I've thought about it!

Ammonia is a very common refrigerant, best if you ask me! Been in the industry for many years, we use if for everything from space cooling to process freezing, some engine room have in excess of 5k HP in compressors and 50K and over lbs of ammonia on site.

 

[JjKk40]

Bonney Set i picked up which was mostly complete but it came with a Duro ratchet. I added some sockets, the Bonney ratchet, the sliding T, and the extentions.

 

[bonneyman]

From the latest "research" I've come across, ammonia seems like the direction the green reefer people seem to be heading. Everything old becomes new!

An old boss used to work at pearl harbor, and said they had these building sized freezer units. For keeping frozen food for all the pacific fleet! And he had some nice tools. Chrome plated gauge set, and lots of funky bits and bobs. Would have loved to get some of that stuff.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Ammonia! Wow that's interesting. Automotive is going to r1234f. It's pretty acidic and requires special oil to prevent corrosion. Causing alot of evap core failures, particularly on Hondas. Here is a bonney set still in the cardboard box.

 

[JjKk40]

Chrysler has been using r1234yf for a bit now. I still use r12 on my square body s10's tho!

 

[CRTDI]

Ammonia! Wow that's interesting. Automotive is going to r1234f. It's pretty acidic and requires special oil to prevent corrosion. Causing alot of evap core failures, particularly on Hondas. Here is a bonney set still in the cardboard box.

Wow! A reefer set in the original cardboard box. How cool is that?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Apparently even cardboard was made better back then!

 

[bonneyman]

Apparently even cardboard was made better back then!

Yeah, the acid in the paper back then probably retarded mold growth!

Now we get printed receipts with the heat-activated ink that becomes unreadable after 60 days.

 

[CRTDI]

Belzer reefer set.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice one!

 

[bonneyman]

Damn, where did you find that set CRT? In a time capsule?

 

[bmwrd0]

I found this at a tool sale the other day, I was surprised that it was there along with the box on the second day.


Looks almost new


I don't think it has ever been used.


It isn' that old, from looking at the box and the instructions I would say late Seventies or early Eighties. I haven't used one since I was in trade school, but it is definitely going in the AC box.

 

[bonneyman]

Flaring tools never got much use by me, but I wore out swaging tools. Great score bmw!

 

[Provincial]

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a speed wrench that has a 3/8" female drive. It is obviously made by Proto, but is unmarked. 3bay thought he had seen it in a catalog, but I searched through all the Proto catalogs I could find online from 1948 into the mid-60's and didn't see it.

Could it have been a refrigeration tool that was special enough that it wasn't in the regular catalogs? Did Proto sell refrigeration tools? My suspicion is that it was made for someone else, who didn't request markings on the tool. Maybe for a CIA black program to make it hard to trace!

 

[JjKk40]

Maybe for transmission or rear end work possibly for oil drain/fill plugs?

 

[Leviton]

I found this one today. It has no manufacturer name - only MADE IN U.S.A. and what looks like a Snap-On date code for 1976 or 1979.
The square openings (1/4" & 3/16") ratchet and the 6-point hex openings (9/16" and 1/2") are fixed. Overall length is 5 inches.

Online, there are a few models that are partially similar made by Mac. However, they were slightly different in where the ratcheting part was or what the sizes were.

Any thoughts on who might have made this based on what the date code looks like?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I need another flaring kit like I need another hole in my head (see #31, pg 1), but I couldn't resist this one at the flea this morning.

I had to use a body hammer and some backups to straighten out the box a little, but the label is in decent shape, and I think I will leave it as is. One of the anvils was missing a wingnut, but I salvaged one off of one of the orphans I have.

I am not familiar with the model numbers (38766 and 38767) on these bars, and they don't match the model number on the label, but together they match the nine (9) different sizes the label says you can make with the kit. Also, I have never seen a single flaring kit anvil bar with nine (9) dies in it, the box fits two die bars perfectly, these have matching wartime patent numbers (2,278,932, 1942), and numbers that nobody has definitively cracked ("4-1") that seem to nearly always match the production era, which also matches the pre-Zip address.

 

[bonneyman]

Picked up this abused orphan at a surplus place. Superior Pittsburg is not a brand I'm familiar with, but the thing looks solid. A few repairs need to be made but I'm willing to bet it can be brought back to function. Cost me $7 to save it from oblivion.

Nothing on the internet except a post for sale of another one, they claim it's 1930's or 40's. The gauges are graduated only for R12 and R22 (not even R502 like so many more modern gauges) so it's gotta be before 502 was invented (circa 1952). Also it lacks a hanger and hose storage fittings which are now standard. I'm guessing early 40's is about right as Freon was invented in the 1930's and a simple manifold like this might have been an introductory stab at a portable tester.
Emailed Sherwood Valve as they bought Superior Valve but all they could say was Superior made it ages ago and they have no further info for me. Anybody have further data please let me know.

Gonna clean, repair, and polish the old gal up. Then pressure test. In the event of an EMP attack she might get pressed back into service! lol

 

[bonneyman]

Here's the manifold gauge set all repaired and spiffed up. Ready for testing and work!

 

[joel63]

Nice job.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Great save!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I found this at the flea this morning. It appears to be an adjustable die for a flaring tool, although there's no anvil, and the openings are not countersunk. I have all kinds of tubing/flaring kits (see #31, page 1), including vintage Imperial Brass, but I have never seen one like this. It has what I took to be a built-in cutter, but is probably just a clamp/pincer (jaws are round and don't completely meet), for one thing, as Old Man Roger suggested on the GS thread. And I can't explain the antique mickey mouse wingnuts. Those are Williams logos. Did they source their wingnuts from Williams early on? Or did a PO re-purpose them? More likely the latter. Lastly, you have to take it apart to make the 5/16" opening back to back. That put a kink in a brain cell as I stood there rubikscubing it for a couple three minutes thinking it had to be able to turn and swing. EDIT: Model number 105 FF not turning up anything.

 

[four.cycle]

I'm just going to toss this out without ANY speculative comments:


Duro Chrome 266 Pinch-Off Tool 1935 Duro Chrome catalog pp 61

(* I cannot find a photo image of an example at the moment. I've seen these listed on ebay by very puzzled sellers. *)

NOT speculative: The Williams wing nuts are NOT original.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm thinking you nailed it. Going to scroll though Imperial Brass cats on ITCL later.

 

[four.cycle]

I was not even aware there was a "refrigeration" thread.
I believe the device you have performs the same task.
The thing that puzzles me about both of those is the omission of the 1/8", 3/16", and 7/16" tubing sizes (all of which are available in copper.)
Does the refrigeration/air conditioning industry not use those sizes?
Or.... ?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I believe the device you have performs the same task.

Agreed. I said I think you nailed it. It explains the clamper and why the openings aren't countersunk. I've never seen one before.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

 

[joel63]

Very handy tool. Used it a lot for pinching off process tubes on compressors.

 

[four.cycle]

just out of curiosity, what was the date of that catalog you pulled that snip from?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Ah, I'm getting sloppy in my attributions lately. 1955. From IA/ITCL, of course!

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have to wonder if the practice of simply pinching off lines with refrigerant running through them stopped at some point, which is why I asked. Were the tools (as well as the practice) phased out at some point?

That's probably a question for an HVAC guy, though.

 

[bmwrd0]

It is illegal to vent refrigerant into the open atmosphere. To the tune of 25K per violation. Using a line pinch like this would not seal the system well enough, certainly not enough to risk a fine. It would be much easier to braze the system closed.

 

[RTM]

But back in 1955, it wasn’t as big a deal to vent a little?

woulda never thought re rounding tools tho?

 

[four.cycle]

In 1955, nobody was concerned about refrigerant. Wasn't that right about the same time John Wayne was making a movie where almost half the cast got lung cancer from the radiation? I think we were still pretty clueless about stuff like that then.
Safe to assume, bmwrd0, that this is no longer a practice currently used, and that would explain why these devices disappeared from tool catalogs some time ago, correct?

 

[bonneyman]

I had a technical trainer tell me he used a pinch off tool to facilitate faster expansion valve changes. Never could figure out how he did it. When asked how he got the pinched section back round again he said he didn't - the tube didn't have to be perfectly round to work.

I guess if you had a bunch of units on say an apartment complex with similar issues it could be a time saver.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just upthread (see posts #104-117), back in April, I posted a rather elaborate Imperial Brass pinch-off tool and a short discussion on them ensued, including a 1935 catalog excerpt from 4.c for Duro's model, No. 266. Sure enough, almost as if it was conjured, I just found a nice example at a used tool store. Re-posting 4.c's catalog excerpt as well.

 

[humber2]

I am showing my early Bonney Reefer set which uses M4 extension and M5 sliding T, both these are 9/32 drive.

All the RF.. sockets are driven by the 9/32 end. Five each of varying teeth or square drive to the valve or packing gland.

There is no date or alloy info.

Has anyone got the Catalog # and contents list for me to ascertain its completeness?

TIA

 

[humber2]

Next is a more modern set in 1/4 drive.

The ratchet is RF45A

Some pieces have a tiny triangle symbol on them after Bonney.

Similar question, what is the set # and contents, I see I’m missing the M to M drive adaptor.