Wonder how well ( or how soft are the plugs ) to handle kinked lineset, or if couple pieces of copper are joined and they never reamed the end if the plugs get shaved a tad or if somewhere on the lineset it goes from 3/4” OD to 5/8” OD then back to 3/4” OD or similar 3/8”OD on both ends but a section ( that you can not see or have access to ) goes to 5/16” OD tubing etc.

Or 45/90 degree elbows?

 

That’s exactly what I was thinking. There’s just too many unknowns on old linesets. It just doesn’t seem worth the risk.

 

Looks like Hilmor may have just bought this out or more likly in the corporate world just weaseled around the patent lol

https://www.trutechtools.com//Pipe-Wiper-Refrigerant-Line-Cleaner--Commercial-Kit_p_10451.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping%20feed&utm_content=free%20google%20shopping%20clicks&gclid=Cj0KCQiAybaRBhDtARIsAIEG3kngOQUNzuG4034aAhTZMUKzuI8DbkBz2GOzoES6f-YRK9F9jDjKKSgaAutKEALw_wcB

$500 though. I mean is that really worth it?

 

I saw this some years ago, but it was some HVAC guy who was in the HVAC industry and had a few of his own inventions and I believe this was very similar to his. Either Hilmor stole his idea as you stated, or they bought him out.

 

I used it back when it was called "Pipe Wiper". Absolute mistake! I used it on only 2 or 3 unit installs and all of them ended in stuck txvs. Prior to and after use of this product, I had 0 txv issues on start up.
The little foam plugs called "piggies" are made of light weight, high density foam. These foam plugs apparently leave small particulates in the piping. That's the only thing I can come up with. I threw all the plugs I had left in the garbage can. I don't know if Hilmor is producing better plugs, but I sure hope so. The Pipe Wiper plugs look like they were cut with a butter knife. That douchebag basically stole my money, and cost me 10x that on the repair costs! I'm glad they stole his product, because he produced trash like this. I used the best one's out of the bunch, made sure there where no pieces hanging off and they still fell apart. You'd be better off shooting a balled up piece of cloth through the tubing. Great idea, horrible quality control. The pics are obviously magnified. I think they're 3/8" plugs. I couldn't tell there were tiny particulates hanging off until I zoomed in on them with a camera.

 

Perfect! I was hoping that someone with experience would comment on this. I'm just not seeing the benefit. The risk of clogs/contamination seems too high. If it's a burnout with black sludge in the lines I would much rather just use a solvent. I think a solvent would actually work better, and the vacuum pump would completely remove it. In my mind, either the plug will be tight and clean semi well but then risk getting stuck, or it'll be too loose to clean at all. And everyone who has ever cleaned a rifle knows that it takes a lot of patches to wipe out the bore. I don't see a dry plug being able to remove that black sludge very well unless it fits so tight that it would get stuck.

I'm honestly kind of surprised HVAC school would feel comfortable promoting this.

 

Is it only me who has never had a issue using existing line without doing anything 🤔

 

Is it only me who has never had a issue using existing line without doing anything [emoji848]

No definitely not…in literally thousands and thousands of changouts done by the residential company I used to work for, not a single line set was flushed and there really was no adverse effects from that.

The only exception is that some of the installers probably did use nitrogen to blow out black burnout sludge if they saw it, but they didn’t ever use solvent or anything else.

Now I’m not saying that protocol was the best, but I sometimes think hvac has been over complicated by pencil pushers and suits.

 

Personally and I know this is unpopular but I like rx11. [emoji2369]

 

Rx11 is a waste of time and money

 

I saw a fellow using this a good while ago and asked some questions. He was a big fan of it, and couldn't say enough good things. I recently saw him working nearby and we had a chat, and I asked if he still used it. He told me his boss nearly had a heart attack when he got one stuck in tubing inside a wall at a church. Turns out, they had to remove some drywall and replace the line. Since most of the manufacturers don't recommend a flush on refer changes, and burnouts are easier to flush with something like R11, then I'm not interested in it. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

See that was my thoughts exactly. It could work 999 times but that 1000th time it gets stuck in a wall…the extreme frustration of that one event just wouldn’t be worth it. You could get into some absolute nightmares with that thing, especially in commercial.

Good lord I’d be afraid to even use the thing once. Can you imagine what the boss would think if you tried to explain why a 100ft commercial linset has to be replaced with a lift overtop of a cluster**** of industrial machines. He’d be like, “why in the **** would you put foam in the lineset???” All the maintenance guys in the shop would murder you lol.

There’s literally nothing you could say to convince the boss that you’re not an ass hat [emoji23]

 

Interesting tool. I have the same concerns as others - getting stuck in lineset and having to open up walls etc. Maybe they could come up with a version where the plug has a cord attached - so if it gets stuck maybe it can be pulled out?

 

I can't picture anything that would trap it so firmly that it couldn't be blown back the way it came without the line set being damaged enough that it needs replaced anyway because of the kink or whatever.
At the same time I think they are a gimmick and if I feel like I need something more than nitrogen it will be refrigerant or rx11.

 

I've come across badly kinked lines which happened during install the installers never fixed - so I guess you never know what the condition of the lines are especially where concealed. As for getting stuck and not being able to blow it backwards - again no idea but prefer not to try and find out the hard way.

 

This was the newest video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NgT8Jo9JCrY?&ab_channel=LuxuryCeleB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20w3bBlASsA&ab_channel=HVACSchool

They had a normal size full video of the first one, but I cannot find it.

 

Howdy, just saw this post. I must add my experience.
I also have the original pipe wiper kit. I needed it only 3 times. Each time I did the flush and followed up with wiper.
No issues have accured on those 3 jobs.
I will continue to use the flush plus the wiper if I don't pull the lineset.
You or someone else, will run into contaminates in the system , if you dont.
I am satisfied with the original product.

 

I have no clue what everybody's problem on here is but the pipe wiper is by far the best tool I have! I've NEVER had a problem with it and use FAR less flush. It's paid for itself many times over. My guess is that there's a bunch of amateurs commenting on this. I've NEVER had a stuck plug or any problem with them coming apart. And for those of you that said you don't flush at all...I'm glad I'm not your customer. Not flushing a lineset is just plain subpar poor workmanship. You shouldn't even be in business if you have no more respect for your customer than that.

 

Have you ever wondered why manufacturers don't recommend flush?

 

Have you ever gauged up to a system and still got a whiff of that caustic crap even after you know you blew an entire 40cuft bottle of nitro and pulled a sub 100 micron vacuum and held below 250 microns for 30 minutes?

 

If you feel like you’re doing the customer right by ramrodding a pig through it then go for it but IMHO it’s just not worth it. Rx11 is garbage and doesn’t belong anywhere near the inside of a refrigeration system.

I’ve got systems I have installed going on 20 years (when I was a dumb 16 year old) without pipe wiping or flushing. My company has some commercial systems still running 60+ years today and a few residential systems from the early 70s that still do the job. That’s well before the Montreal protocol and you just purged the lines with gas and let it rip.

Now I fully understand that they make equipment designed to fail now and we are to be much more delicate with them but don’t try to blame that on the guys out there doing the work, blame it on the penny pushers at the manufacture that are making garbage equipment.

 

As a general rule, we are reluctant to wholesale approve any new tool, or service idea that comes along. Think about digital gauges, zoomlock, and stay brite 8. This is a good thing, as it causes everyone to carefully consider all aspects before adopting change. Also, one or two anecdotal success stories does not represent success as a whole anymore than good advertising. Only extended use in the field will prove success. A hard nut to Crack with resistance to change.
Having said that, I'm not comfortable with pushing plugs thru linset. It's largely not needed. If you're talking r22 to r410a, then most manufactures recommend a thorough blow out with N2 and move on. Some other refrigerant might call for rx11. Both of these seem far more reasonable to me, and represent what we have been doing.
There are also too many people making needless "inventions" such as magnet switch holder and flame fod cleaner brush, that I see this as along those lines. A solution looking for a problem.

 

The jack is kinda cool.
But first you need to invent a way to get the screws 🪛 out ! :gah:
https://youtu.be/BbRhgyHKwRI

 

The jack is kinda cool.
But first you need to invent a way to get the screws �� out ! :gah:
https://youtu.be/BbRhgyHKwRI

I just use strapping it works fine and fits in the tool bag. Last thing I need is another gadget to haul around.

 

Captain gadget 😁

 

I take it you're not pulling mice through line sets either 🙂

 

I take it you're not pulling mice through line sets either ��

Nope. Never even heard of this gizmo and it seems like a stupid idea.

 

I don't know how I have lived so long without it 😆

 

But why after hundreds of installations using old line sets and no issues.

 

There is always the suction line dryer option [emoji848]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk