Storage Room

[tbone1004]

Interesting. Do you have any reading materials on the subject?

read up on ozone cracking and what it does to elastomers

 

[Rred]

Not quite right. If it has an electric motor with brushes and a commutator ring, old style, yes that produces ozone when and if it sparks. But stationary refrigeration equipment, including home fridges, has long used a sealed compressor unit, where the entire motor assembly is enclosed in a metal pressure shell, so there is no concern about the refrigerant gas leaking out past a rotary shaft seal. Unlike the compressor in cars, which typically has a graphite-on-felt shaft seal, very much like a big o-ring.

The sealed compressors eliminate any chance of a leak like that, which is why fridges can go 20 years without any problem and cars rarely do.

But these days? Actually, since the lunar rover in '69 ? There are "brushless" motors that do not create any sparks or ozone. And require no periodic brush replacement. They are smaller, more efficient, and not much more expensive these days, partly because of the higher efficiency they give the entire appliance.

So...lightning bolts and Jacob's Ladder in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory? Yes, ozone there. Modern sealed compressor assembly? No way it can get in or out, even if they use brushes.

 

[Lorenzoid]

How about, say, a washing machine motor? Furnace motor?

 

[Rred]

How about them? That's way OT from dehumidifiers in a closet.

 

[Lorenzoid]

How about them? That's way OT from dehumidifiers in a closet.

True. You seem to know a lot about motors, and the longstanding advice--perhaps dated, perhaps even more myth than reality--has been not to store dive gear around things with motors. I should start another thread if I'm interested.

 

[BRT]

If it has an electric motor, it produces ozone, as far as I'm aware. Maybe some modern motors don't, but old fridges certainly do. That's why it has long been said that if you have a chest freezer in your garage, it's best not to store scuba gear there.

I'm pretty sure that hermetic compressors do not produce ozone. No contact between oxygen and an electrical discharge. Pretty much all small refer units, including very old ones, and most large ones are hermetic. Check out ozone generators to see how they do that.