CHICAGO — For the ninth straight year, Danfoss Inc. introduced new products for members of the trade press at a breakfast it hosted Tuesday morning at the Chicago Marriott Downtown. Included in the presentation was a live demonstration of the company’s new bi-metal valve connections.

“Don’t burn your profits,” was the message from presenter Brigitte Busch, who showed onlookers that she could change a valve without being injured from brazing heat. “OEMs do not have to face the expense of field replacements needed when valves fail due to unseen damage done by brazing heat.”

According to Danfoss, its bi-metal valve connections do not require an abundant amount of heat during brazing. They also retain brazing heat in the connection rather than conducting it to the valve body and power element, where it can cause hidden damage. First offered of its TU series of smaller stainless steel expansion valves, Danfoss said it now makes bi-metal connections available on larger brass-bodied valves for air-conditioning applications, and on a range of solenoid valves.

In other announcements:

Danfoss Graham introduced its VLT BACLink Portal, designed to provide connectivity of the VLT 28000 and VLT 6000 drive families to BACnet networks;

Company representative Mike Taala talked about the Danfoss 8000 Series commercial thermostat features separate “heat and cool” settings and range limitation of maximum and minimum heat and cool set points and can be used with remote sensors, said Taala.

Ohio contractor Dan Foley, of Foley Mechanical, discussed the company’s Zone Control Panel and how it has helped his business.

Company representative Suk Lee introduced a series of compressors for R-134a, with a new electronic module, enabling them to be powered directly from solar panels, with or without batteries. According to Lee, these new compressors are suited to any application where a traditional power source is not readily available.

Lee also noted the broadening of its offering of type SC compressors for 115V and 230V at 60 Hz, adding 16 new models to its commercial line of fractional horsepower hermetic compressors. Approved for use with R-134a and R-404A/507, these compressors are suited to commercial applications such as vending machines, bottle coolers, ice machines, food and beverage merchandisers, and scientific equipment in all commercial refrigeration temperature ranges, said Lee.