INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS and mounting of equipment , including compressor units , oil separators , condensing fan units , and suction accumulators . This took me well into the second day of the competition to finish .
Once the plant was fully built , it was time to pressure test the unit . Unfortunately , mine had a leak — in the smallest , most difficult spot on the whole plant to work on , too ! As soon as all the pressure was evacuated from the unit , I fixed the leak and pressure tested again . No leaks !
I put my system on a vacuum and started doing all the electrics on the unit : the solenoid coils , electronic thermostats , compressor , fans , and so on . Once done , we had to perform a dry electrical test with an expert evaluating it to make sure all electrical wiring is correct according to the wiring diagram .
Once my system reached the required 200-micron vacuum , I broke the vacuum and started up the system . At this point , I was running around like a headless chicken , setting up the thermostats , capacity valve , and TEV to prevent liquid from flooding back to the compressor . Without realising , I had overcharged the system and had to recover some refrigerant into an empty recovery cylinder to get my pressure running better . As I was adjusting the TEV , my time ran out and I was forced to stop , only to realise that I had closed the TEV too much and barely any cooling was taking place . At least I had some hot water from the heat recovery coil .
1-5 : THE DRAWINGS THE COMPETITORS HAD TO WORK FROM AT THE COMPETITION IN ABU DHABI 1 2
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DAY 3 OF THE COMPETITION
This day was all about air-conditioner fault finding and repair . We were given an electrical fault to look for and repair on the system . Within the first five minutes , I noticed that a wire had not been connected to the compressor ’ s starting capacitor , but I thought it too easy to be the fault and continued searching . I stripped the evaporator , checked the PC board , all supplies , and all the wiring connections . Eventually , I just tried to switch it on with the remote , and after setting down the ‘ set temperature ’, the unit started running .
Now it was to look for a piping fault . They had made a kink in the suction line of the unit . We had to recover the refrigerant , cut out the damaged pipe , fabricate a new piece , braze it in , vacuum the system , and charge it up again with the correct charge . I finished just in time to have a two-minute sit down to catch my breath before the final whistle blew .
The past three days had flown right by . All the hours of focus and sweat — all over . The competition had put a level of stress on me that I had never experienced in my life but even so , it was still one of the best experiences of my life .
Once we packed up our workstations and cleaned up , it was time for a group photo and a whole lot of handshakes and goodbyes .
Time to celebrate !
SIGHTSEEING AND CLOSING
The next day we woke up early , exhausted from the night before . We got ready to do some sightseeing , ending up taking a taxi
Tyrone Bunce
There was time for some sightseeing in Abu Dhabi and to experience the local culture .
to the world-famous Ferrari World , host of the fastest rollercoaster in the world . So , I decided my first rollercoaster ride ever to be the fastest .
We spent most of the day browsing around and going on rides before returning to the hotel to prepare for the closing ceremony . Once again , everybody joined in song on the bus and filled the bus with life .
At the closing ceremony , there were some speeches and thanks to go around before commencing with the awards .
Once all the awards were handed out , they had the traditional pass of the WorldSkills flag , this time going to Russia , who will be hosting the next WorldSkills in 2019 .
We all moved to the after party they had organised for us to celebrate the
Tyrone Bunce hard at work on his project .
COLD LINK AFRICA • March | April 2018 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 21
OTTC end of another successful competition . Of course , alcohol was only allowed to be served to those over 21 , so I was very happy to have had my birthday in June .
THE LAST DAY
On our final day in the Middle East , the South African competitors all decided to go to Dubai to visit the famous Dubai Mall . We stopped at the bus station in Dubai