What is Hermetically Sealed Compressor?

In hermetically sealed compressor, the compressor and the motor are enclosed in the welded steel casing and the two are connected by a common shaft. This makes the whole compressor and the motor a single compact and portable unit that can be handled easily. The hermetically sealed compressor is very different from the traditional open type of compressors in which the compressor and the motor are different entities and the compressor is connected to the motor by coupling or belt.

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The advantages of the hermetically sealed unit (elimination of pulleys, belts and other coupling methods, elimination of a source of refrigerant leaks) are offset somewhat by the inaccessibility for repair and generally lower capacity

In hermetic compressors, the motor and the compressor are enclosed in the same housing to prevent refrigerant leakage. The housing has welded connections for refrigerant inlet and outlet and for power input socket. As a result of this, there is virtually no possibility of refrigerant leakage from the compressor. All motors reject a part of the power supplied to it due to eddy currents and friction, that is, inefficiencies. Similarly the compressor also gets heated-up due to friction and also due to temperature rise of the vapor during compression. In Open type, both the compressor and the motor normally reject heat to the surrounding air for efficient operation. In hermetic compressors heat cannot be rejected to the surrounding air since both are enclosed in a shell. Hence, the cold suction gas is made to flow over the motor and the compressor before entering the compressor. This keeps the motor cool. The motor winding is in direct contact with the refrigerant hence only those refrigerants, which have high dielectric strength, can be used in hermetic compressors. The cooling rate depends upon the flow rate of the refrigerant, its temperature and the thermal properties of the refrigerant. If flow rate is not sufficient and/or if the temperature is not low enough the insulation on the winding of the motor can burn out and short-circuiting may occur. Hence, hermetically sealed compressors give satisfactory and safe performance over a very narrow range of design temperature and should not be used for off-design conditions. The COP of the hermetic compressor based systems is lower than that of the open compressor based systems since a part of the refrigeration effect is lost in cooling the motor and the compressor. However, hermetic compressors are almost universally used in small systems such as domestic refrigerators, water coolers, air conditioners etc, where efficiency is not as important as customer convenience (due to absence of continuous maintenance). In addition to this, the use of hermetic compressors is ideal in systems, which use capillary tubes as expansion devices and are critically charged systems. Hermetic compressors are normally not serviceable. They are not very flexible as it is difficult to vary their speed to control the cooling capacity.

Handling Hermetic Compressor Burnouts Using these simple procedures should prevent additional compressor failures and result in a satisfied customer.
A common cause of compressor failures is the burnout of the motor in hermetically sealed compressors. This failure is generally the result of a reduction in the dielectric integrity (resistance) of the motor winding insulations. In air conditioning systems, when excessively high temperatures occur in the refrigerant system, the thermal stability point of the refrigerant may be reached. When this happens, the refrigerant may break down and , as HCFC R-22 has Chlorine and Fluorine in its chemical makeup, Hydrochloric and Hydrofluoric acids may be produced. These acids are corrosive and will damage the compressor motor winding insulation. The resulting reduction in insulation resistance will create an increase of electron flow (amperage) through the conductive refrigerant surrounding the motor to ground. Due to this loss of amperage to ground, the amperage requirement of the motor is increased. The more severe the contamination, the greater is the increase in amperage draw. When the amperage draw exceeds the rated load amps of the motor, heat builds up in the motor windings, causing the eventual burnout of the motor. The correct handling of system cleanup and compressor replacement after a burnout is of the utmost importance. Before the prohibition on venting of Chlorinated Halocarbons, R-11 refrigerant was commonly used to flush systems after burnouts. This was very effective because R-11 is a good solvent. Since the prohibition, other system flushing products have been introduced. Great care must be exercised when using these products because they may be trapped in the system and may be difficult to remove. The best method to protect the replacement compressor and insure against additional failures is to install an oversized liquid line filter drier and a properly sized suction line filter drier. Filter drier desiccants clean the refrigerant and oil of acids that may remain in the system. The oil can be tested after some run time of the replacement compressor to verify that no acids are presents. Also, a megohm meter can be used to test the dielectric strength of the winding insulation to verify that it is free of contamination. The suction line filter drier should be removed after cleanup is complete and replaced with a suction filter with a bypass feature. If this is not done, the filter drier may become restricted, causing excessive suction line pressure drop. This pressure drop has a direct impact on compressor performance causing an increase in compression ratio, power consumption, and a reduction in system capacity. Using these simple procedures should prevent additional compressor failures and result in a satisfied customer.