Musso 5030 Compressor

This post is part of a series of descriptions of the L2 / 5030 / Stella / Pollo ice cream machine.

The Compressor

The compressor in the ice cream machine is an important part of the cooling function. 

In my machine there was some dark sticky stuff in the bottom tray of the machine. This could potentially be oil from the compressor, which is not a good sign. It seems to cool well now, but..

The compressor in my machine is a ACC compressor model GL90TB. This is a compressor that seems also to be used in Electrolux fridges. Full datasheet is available.

Label on Musso 5030 compressor



Picture of new ACC compressor

The refrigerant used has the cryptic notation R134a, which also is known as 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane. It has a boiling point in 1 atm at −26.3 °C.




One webpages is listing a number of substitute compressors for this one:

  • Aspera NEK6170Z  
  • Danfoss/Secop FR10G
  • L'Unite Hermetique/Tecumseh AE4430Y


A nice  video on youtube showing how a compressor works:



Comments

fifirox said…
hi there, no idea if you monitor this site 2+ years later, but anyway...these are really great articles for someone like me who has a bit of confidence with machines of (let's say) non-digital vintage.
I currently have a Musso 5030 L2 Stella (etc..) that was bought used-but-working, and in fact did work once, but now the freezer part is not working, that is the bowl is most definitely not cooling.
I suppose the suspects are the compressor or the condenser, but I wonder if you know any tricks to find out which it might be ? I saw online that it could be a block in the condenser, but I'm not sure how to clear that.
We have a working model too, but I'm loathe to take it apart since it's my wife's prime workhorse for her new gelato business.
Thanks for any guidance you can give.
best regards, Tony Simper
Petrus said…
Hi Tony,

In case you get a bunch of responses from me it is because there seems to be some problem with the reply function that I hope now is working.

Thanks for the feedback on the site, it is very few comments and few hits (one of the least popular page on the whole of internet I think :) ), but I find it a good way to document my trials and get some feedback.

I have not (yet) been working with the refrigator part of the Musso, but I think the refridgeant can slowly diffuse out and one needs to refill it. The previous owner of my machine said he had a service center do that no too long ago. It could of course also be a leak in the system. I think there are refills to get for that gas, but have no experience in how it is made. There are some youtube tutorials for how to do it on cars (aircondition)... :)

Does your compressor make any sound?

Best Regards
/Petrus
fifirox said…
Hi Petrus,
I'm really glad you are still around and monitoring this !!
I shall take off the covers this weekend if I can, and let you know what I find. I shall also take photos of what I'm doing, so if you like we can put them on the blog in addition to yours - it might help other owners like us in the future.
I did find quite a few instances of the compressor for sale on the web, in the UK, for about £100 or less, so if it is that I'm confident it can be replaced if needed. It'd be great if it just needs recharging, i shall look into that too.
If it is the condenser instead, i guess that also might be a common part to replace - I shall see if there is a label on it too.
Thanks for your help in this - we are very relieved that there's someone out there who has some knowledge, so we don't waste £400 on a brick !!
best regards,
Tony
fifirox said…
By the way, I just watched that ACC video about how a compressor works, and it's really useful !!
Petrus said…
Hi Tony,

If you have some additional material it would be a great contribution to the website, the more we can collect the better!

Regards
/Petrus
Unknown said…
Hi again, Petrus,
I did finally start taking the machine apart, and took a couple of videos with the compressor running. I also videoed the compressor running on our good machine.
The bad machine does sound rougher but there is still a sound. I wonder if refrigerant is the issue ?
I shall try to work out what to do next !
Best regards,Tony
fifirox said…
Hi again Petrus,
I just wanted to let you know - I opened the machine up and cleaned all dust, etc from within, especially around the condenser, then ensured all electrical connections were good.
Restarting it, i could see (and feel) that the compressor was actually doing something, in that the hot end was heating and the cold end was cooling. I then put some fresh water in the bowl and that froze pretty quickly.
I then felt brave so put it back together and had my wife make some trial gelato. this eventually froze as normal, but took 30-35 minutes instead of the normal 17 minutes, so it looks like the compressor #might# be low on gas, perhaps ?
What do you think ?
thanks and regards, Tony
Petrus said…
Hi Tony,

I have limited experience with the refrigiant but I would suspect that it could be the cause, I know that they are loosing gas and that my machine has at some point been refilled. As it freezes (but slow) the compressor must still be working. Not sure how a compressor gets degraded but that is also an option I guess..

So not really much help I can provide, I would maybe call a Musso service and see what they say, and how much it is to refill it "professionally". I think it should be possible to DIY but it looks quite advanced. There are some videos online for freezers, that I think may be same procedure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMmbF4PBc2Q

:) I have no idea how much R134 there should be (what pressure there should be) in the machine.


Unknown said…
Hi again Petrus , I just wanted to let you know that I finally got a guy around to look at our Musso, he’s a specialist in fridge and freezer compressors. In his opinion, either the compressor isn’t working optimally (which he thinks is unlikely since these compressors are massively over powerful for this application), or there’s a blockage in the coolant system caused by the coolant solidifying.
He’s proposed to insert a saddle valve in the circuit and attempt to blow through the system to clear it, then re-gas it if we can find the pressure these run at. That would take a couple of hours and cost £100 cash if we went ahead.
Currently we are considering that, or the alternative which is to sell it for spares & repair.
I’ll let you know what we decide to do.
Best regards, Tony