superheat and subcooling

Superheat, Subcooling, and Saturation – What Do They Mean?

These measurements can help technicians troubleshoot refrigeration systems

October 29, 2022

Understanding what the terms superheat, subcooling, and saturation mean can be helpful when troubleshooting an air conditioning or refrigeration system.

Proper Superheat Can Protect Compressor From Damage

Technicians should make sure that liquid refrigerant is not entering the compressor

John Tomczyk

September 28, 2022

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One of the worst enemies of a compressor is liquid refrigerant, so technicians should make sure the refrigeration system has proper superheat in order to protect the compressor from damage that can occur from flooding or slugging.

Evaporator Determines Refrigeration System Efficiency

A cold evaporator can still result in warm refrigerated space temperatures

John Tomczyk

June 8, 2022

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An evaporator can be cold but inactive, causing warm refrigerated space temperatures.

A technician checks the refrigerant pressure in an air conditioning condenser.

Properly Interpreting Liquid Subcooling in the Condenser

High subcooling can indicate several different problems in the system

John Tomczyk

July 26, 2021

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This article will compare subcooling amounts in a refrigeration system for three scenarios: an overcharge of refrigerant, a dirty condenser, and air in the system.

A Beginning HVAC Tech’s Guide for Understanding Superheat

Its oftentimes the most confusing measurement taken in the field

Nicole Krawcke

April 8, 2019

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Much like subcooling, understanding and calculating superheat can be somewhat difficult for newbie technicians.

Finding HVAC Techs to Properly Diagnose TXVs Is Necessary but Problematic

HVACR professionals discuss the importance of understanding how the system works

Angela D. Harris

February 4, 2019

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In one of its sections on TXVs, the book points out that “this component is widely used for nearly all types of air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The advantage of the TXV is its ability to automatically adjust to match the load, as it is designed to sense changes in the refrigeration load and respond to them.”

Blue Mountain Consulting Inc.: Calculation App

September 24, 2018

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The app can compute target superheat for systems with fixed orifice expansion devices. The results may optionally be carried over to another page where actual superheat for specific refrigerants can be computed to determine if the system is charged correctly.

Btu Buddy 184: Charging for Subcooling Efficiency

Bill Johnson

July 23, 2018

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Bob and Tim are driving to a new customer site where there is a complaint of the building not maintaining the correct temperature. The system is a 50-ton air cooled chiller mounted on the roof. The weather is very hot, 97°F, and the indoor conditions are 78°F. The thermostat is set for 75°, and it is late afternoon.

Why and How to Adjust a TXV/TEV

Bryan Orr

July 23, 2018

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For the quick, cut to the chase version, turning the adjustment on the bottom of an adjustable valve clockwise equals higher superheat while turning it counterclockwise equals lower superheat. However, before you start messing with the adjustment, I suggest you read on.

Defining, Understanding, and Applying Proper Subcooling

Beginning technicians often have difficulty understanding and calculating subcooling

Nicole Krawcke

July 10, 2017

3 Comments

Subcooling can be a somewhat difficult topic for new technicians starting out in the industry. In fact, few topics garner as many questions from green techs than subcooling does.