ComStar International has made several announcements related to hydrocarbon refrigerants. ComStar said that it and its China JV company will begin offering compressors for HC-441a; Energy Star testing of R-441a for residential refrigerators is ongoing; and ComStar is licensed as the exclusive U.S. manufacturer and distributor of R-441a.

Emerson Climate Technologies Inc. has announced its entrance into the European refrigerated trailer market segment through collaboration with Carrier Transicold, a unit of Carrier Corp. Emerson’s Copeland Scroll compressor is part of the new Vector™ 1550 trailer refrigeration unit by Carrier.

Bob has been sent on a service call where the customer is complaining about her power bill. She thinks that the heat pump may be the problem. Her power bill is much higher than last year. She explained this to Bob and he started by asking a question, “Does the auxiliary heat light come on very often on your thermostat?”

As a host of pressures - from demanding consumers to stringent regulations to rising energy costs - continue to bear down on the industry, compressor manufacturers are reiterating that energy efficiency is the best response to these issues.

While repairing refrigeration equipment, technicians sometimes come up with unique methods of solving problems. Many of these are used again and again and become known as “tricks of the trade.” When a bunch of technicians get together, they oftentimes enjoy sharing new tricks they learned or developed recently. It’s like a badge of honor.

My Feb. 7 column focused on ice flake machine troubleshooting. I will have more to say on that specific topic in my April 4 column. For this column, I want to take a look at amperage as it relates to HVACR compressors.

Emerson Climate Technologies Inc. recently acknowledged its top-performing wholesalers for outstanding sales performance in 2010. Exceptional wholesalers were presented awards in four different sales categories: Peak Performance, Summit, Signature, and Center Stage. The awards were handed out during the company’s annual National Wholesaler Conference, which was held in Tucson, Ariz.

Bob got a call from the dispatcher to go to an office building that has a 3-ton heat pump compressor that has been shutting off after startup. The fan would continue to run. The building maintenance man said that he had observed the shutting down of the compressor several times.

Nearly 55,000 people ambled through the Las Vegas Convention Center during three days of non-stop activity at the industry’s largest trade show. A typical Wednesday at the expo is usually considered a light day for foot traffic. But even on the last day of the show, attendees were drawn to the 1,800-plus exhibitors’ booths displaying the latest HVACR products.

When multiple compressors are piped together with a common suction and discharge header - such as with the arrangement of a parallel rack configuration - oil return to each compressor is a major concern. Typical oil recirculation rates are dependent on three factors.