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As a Propulsion engineer I've gained an extensive amount of experience working with cryogenic nitrogen and oxygen operating at temperatures as low as 77K. Eventually I became interested in systems that get *really* cold which led me to start a project refurbishing a Cryomech GB15 Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocooler cold head paired with a CP510 helium compressor. GM's have been a workhorse of extremely low temperature scientific applications for decades and the GB15 is capable of achieving temperatures as low as 8.5K or -444 deg F. My end goal is to eventually be able to integrate the cryocooler into a Liquid Oxygen / Liquid Nitrogen generator to support other personal projects (well within it's listed capabilities) but also to prove that this two decade-old unit can still achieve it's minimum design temperature.
A cutaway drawing of the GB15 cold head components
Capacity graph of the refrigerator
Mainbody and cryostat housing
Motor cover and helium inlet/outlet
Near Term Objectives:
Replace CP510 adsorber, clean aeroquip fittings
Replace 25 uF run capacitor
Corrosion removal from GB15 welds and OF Copper surfaces
Clean gas lines for 99.9985% purity He service
Soft goods (o-ring) replacement
Leak check system to 250 PSIG
High/low helium pressure ports and motor connection
Top view of the valve plate
Connector wiring
1st stage and 2nd stage weldment (in need of corrosion treatment)
Bottom view of valve plate and vacuum ports
Vacuum port
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