Published 2024-10-31

Do you occasionally find yourself vacuuming refrigeration systems? Then you know how much time it takes, not least to monitor the processes. In this article, we describe how a connected, fully automatic vacuum pump makes your job easier and more efficient when vacuuming heat pumps.

– The smart vacuum pump testo 565i offers a unique solution for vacuuming heat pumps and cooling systems, says Pelle Pedersen, product specialist at Nordtec.

Vacuum suction of larger plants can take many hours, followed by holding tests to determine how tight the system is. All this is solved by Testo’s unique pump – with minimal work for the refrigeration technician.

Smooth duo for vacuum suction

When purchasing the testo 565i, it is a good idea to supplement it with the testo 552i vacuum meter. The combination of these two measuring products is a smart solution for several reasons.

Firstly, it doesn’t matter if your other equipment, such as pressure gauge racks, is from Testo or any other manufacturer. The vacuum pump and the vacuum gauge are all you need to perform vacuum suction. For others, it is easy to assemble, get started and perform vacuum suction. The pump takes care of both vacuum suction and hold tests without the involvement of the refrigeration technician. The vacuum meter is wireless and easy to install. And last but not least, you manage and have an overview of the entire process on your mobile (we will return to this later in the text).

– If you have a digital pressure gauge from Testo and want to connect it, you can of course do so. But it is not necessary. Everything can easily be done on your own mobile phone,” says Pelle Pedersen.

How to use the vacuum pump

So how does the testo 565i work? Well, here’s how to make vacuuming easy and efficient:

1. Connect the pump to the cooling or heating system
2. Mounting the testo 552i vacuum meter on the system
3. Open the testo Smart app* on your mobile
4. Start the pump and vacuum gauge
5. Connect both to the testo Smart app
6. Select target value and maximum value in your mobile
7. Select number of hold tests in the same mobile view
8. Click on start and the vacuum is on!

* The app is available on both Apple Store and Google Play. It is free to download and use.

Automatically starts a hold test

– It is not more difficult than that. The refrigeration technician can then devote himself to other tasks while the vacuum extraction is in progress,” says Pelle Pedersen.

When the desired vacuum value is measured by the vacuum gauge, the pump automatically starts a hold test. If the vacuum level remains unchanged, the whole process is terminated. Otherwise, the pump performs further vacuuming of the system, followed by a new hold test.

Once the pump determines that the system is free of impurities and maintains the correct vacuum level, the refrigeration technician will receive a notification on the testo Smart app on their mobile phone (or on the pressure gauge rack, if one is used) and can charge refrigerant.

Monitoring and reporting on your mobile

More and more refrigeration engineers are discovering the benefits of the Testo smart vacuum pump.

– It saves me a lot of time. You just set the vacuum value and press start on your phone and the pump does the rest,” says Emil Öien at Kyl & Industriteknik i Väst AB.

William Giorgi, one of the partners at the same refrigeration company, agrees.

– The fact that we can follow vacuum suction in the mobile makes it easy for us to keep track of processes without having to be at the pump itself, says William and adds:
– We also get easy access to reports with clear graphs directly in the mobile. This convenient report function also saves us a lot of time.

Can handle flammable refrigerants

As well as effectively removing all impurities in cooling and heating systems, the testo 565i is a robust, highly safe and reliable vacuum pump. It is compatible with flammable refrigerants of classes A3 and A2L. And the pump has an integrated non-return valve, which contributes to safe operation and prevents vacuum loss even in the event of a power failure.

Published 2024-04-09

Cooling technician William Giorgi regularly reviews systems and associated technologies to ensure the right climate in cleanrooms and warehouses at medtech company Wellspect HealthCare. An important part of the job going forward is to create sustainable cooling solutions.

William runs Kyl & Industriteknik i Väst AB together with Johnny Olofsson and two employed refrigeration technicians, Josefine and Emil. The quartet works with a range of repeat clients where they are “the centerpiece of a property or process”, as William puts it.

– Our aim is to have a wide range of knowledge that makes us a long-term partner. We are familiar with all refrigerants and work with ventilation, control technology and heating systems. That is, everything around a cooling machine,” says William Giorgi.

Assignments range from installing and commissioning new cooling systems in various spaces to modernizing and streamlining existing cooling systems. A major customer is Wellspect HealthCare in Gothenburg, which offers proprietary products and services in incontinence care. The assignment there consists of technical property management with a focus on cooling. William and his colleagues are responsible for maintaining the company’s cleanroom validation by ensuring the correct temperature, humidity and pressure are maintained in these environments.

Cooling for air treatment in cleanrooms
– “Our job is to ensure optimal cooling for air treatment processes through continuous, transparent monitoring and servicing of refrigerants, ventilation and humidification,” says William.

Kyl & Industriteknik also monitors the climate in a large warehouse where catheters are stored. Data loggers are deployed up at the ceiling and down at the floor in several different places to detect any temperature differences in the warehouse. The dataloggers are Celsicom T600s that store all temperature values in the cloud, which means that William can get the current values on his mobile at any time and quickly troubleshoot and fix any problem.

For the majority of other tasks, William uses manometer stands, sensors, air flow meters, multimeters and other measuring instruments from Testo. He appreciates the quality and simplicity of, for example, the testo 558s pressure gauge rack.

Durable, smart measuring instruments
– It works flawlessly in all situations – even outdoors in really tough weather conditions. I also like the ability to connect wireless SmartProbes sensors to the manometer stand. In other words, the measuring equipment makes things a lot easier and allows me to do all the cooling jobs more efficiently. Another thing I like is that Testo continuously comes up with updates that improve the measuring instruments, says William and adds:

– I also appreciate the proximity to Nordtec. If I have a technical question, I can always reach a product expert and get a quick answer. They know the ropes. From time to time I also get to test new tools that might be interesting to acquire in the future. For example, I was able to test the testo 560i digital refrigerant scale, which offers a very smart solution for charging refrigerant.

A lot is happening in the field of refrigeration, which means that William and his colleagues must constantly keep their eyes open for new regulations and new refrigeration technology. An amended F-Gas Regulation, which aims to phase out fluorinated greenhouse gases, is driving the shift to natural refrigerants. The aim is to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is a term for gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

“Exciting transition journey”
A significant part of the job at Wellspect HealthCare is to jointly drive the transition to environmentally friendly refrigeration technology by replacing the refrigeration plant with ammonia. Of course, William is happy about this change because it creates more work for him and his colleagues in the industry.

– As we move to natural refrigerants such as ammonia, hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide, there are additional safety requirements as some of these refrigerants are flammable and toxic,” says William, concluding:

– We have started an exciting transition towards more sustainable cooling systems and environmentally friendly refrigerants.