CPS FX1234 - Recovery Process; Vacuum Process; Charge Process

THEORY OF OPERATION
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FX Series Refrigerant Management Centers feature a touch screen graphical user interface that makes operation a breeze. In this section, we
will cover each operation and what the machine is actually doing. While the screen provides much of this information during operation, the
descriptions below will offer more detail than can be displayed.
Recovery
Select “Recovery” if you want to recover and recycle refrigerant currently in the vehicle prior to opening the system for repair. This process
will begin by checking the refrigerant in the vehicle system. If the refrigerant is at least 98% pure R1234yf, recovery will commence automati-
cally. If the refrigerant is less than 98% pure, the recovery function will not be allowed and the machine will vent the hoses to prevent internal
contamination of the machine and storage tank. Note: DO not connect service hoses to refrigerant source until instructed to do so.
The recovery process creates a vacuum on the vehicle system, pulling the refrigerant into a distillation chamber. The chamber has a coil inside
that is heated by compressor outlet gas. This process distills the refrigerant (turns it to gas) and separates liquids and debris from the refriger-
ant. The refrigerant passes through the chamber and compressor and is condensed into a liquid before coming to rest in the internal storage
tank.
The process ends when the machine detects that the system is void of refrigerant. The machine will display the amount recovered throughout
the process and at the end. The ending amount may be printed by pressing the icon visible on the Home screen after recovery is com-
pleted.
Vacuum
Select “Vacuum” if the vehicle system is void of refrigerant and is ready to be recharged. Evacuating the vehicle utilizes the FX Series’ 6 CFM
vacuum pump to pull air and boil moisture from the AC system. A specic vacuum time may be selected, or one of the preset times may be
used. If a vacuum time of 15 minutes or greater is selected, vacuuming will be followed by a 2 minute leak test (vacuum decay test).
Charge
Select “Charge” to rell the vehicle system to its designed capacity. Enter the desired charge amount. An A/C Database feature is built into the
FX1234, but will not have data available until 2016.
The charging sequence begins with a 10-minute vacuum leak test. This is an SAE requirement in SAE J2843 (R1234yf systems only). If the
system passes the vacuum leak test, the machine will charge the system to 15% of the selected charge. At this time, an electronic leak detector
meeting SAE J2913 for R1234yf is used to leak test the evaporator(s). After performing the leak test, the user will select the appropriate answers
to the displayed questions and proceed with charging. The FX1234 will continue allowing the remaining 85% of the charge. The FX1234 is
equipped with a heat blanket to assist in completing charging, but if the FX1234 cannot complete a charge due to pressure equalization, it will
notify the user to close the high side coupler and start the vehicle. This process will quickly complete the charge.