My column in the Jan. 14 issue of The NEWS dealt with causes for compressor overheating and high compressor-discharge temperatures. Compressor overheating is often referred to as the HVACR industry’s most serious field problem. Causes for compressor overheating were listed into four main categories, and then broken down into their causes. The four main categories were high condensing pressures, low suction pressures, high compression ratios, and high compressor (total) superheat.
Causes for high condensing pressures can include dirty condenser coils, burned out condenser fan motor, broken condenser fan belts, undersized condenser coils, overcharge of refrigerant, non-condensables in the system, high ambient temperature, re-circulated air over the condenser, and mixed or wrong refrigerant.