If oil foams at start-up due to refrigerant in the oil, what symptom has likely occurred?

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Multiple Choice

If oil foams at start-up due to refrigerant in the oil, what symptom has likely occurred?

Foaming of the oil at startup signals refrigerant has mixed with the oil. When refrigerant is dissolved in the oil under pressure, a sudden drop in pressure at startup causes the refrigerant to flash into gas, forming bubbles that appear as foam. This direct observation points to refrigerant contamination of the oil. The other possibilities don’t fit this specific scenario: no issue would mean nothing abnormal is seen, which isn’t the case here; a color change isn’t the telltale sign of refrigerant in oil; sludging describes degraded oil with deposits, not the foaming from gas in the oil.

Foaming of the oil at startup signals refrigerant has mixed with the oil. When refrigerant is dissolved in the oil under pressure, a sudden drop in pressure at startup causes the refrigerant to flash into gas, forming bubbles that appear as foam. This direct observation points to refrigerant contamination of the oil.

The other possibilities don’t fit this specific scenario: no issue would mean nothing abnormal is seen, which isn’t the case here; a color change isn’t the telltale sign of refrigerant in oil; sludging describes degraded oil with deposits, not the foaming from gas in the oil.

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