# Evaporator not cold??



## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

The air passing thru the evaporator coil in my cooler is not cold enough. I checked the evaporator temperature and it is about 55 F.

The pipe after the txv valves do get white.

What could be the problem?

Flooded evaporator?

If it would be short on refrigerant, the evaporator would be icying up, right?

it is not a question of evaporator fan airflow because one side has 5 fans and the other has 3 fans with open hole blocked up and there is no difference between the 2 evaporator coil.

Please help me diagnose my problem

Thanks


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## JJboy (Oct 12, 2010)

Seems a restriction at txv valve. You can remove bulb and dip it into a mug of hot water/cold. But you need to have gauges hook up to check pressures. Most like to be a power head problem.


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

JJboy said:


> Seems a restriction at txv valve. You can remove bulb and dip it into a mug of hot water/cold. But you need to have gauges hook up to check pressures. Most like to be a power head problem.


I will check the txv valves but i doubt it is the problem because there is one on each evaporator. So one evaporator should be working fine or guess there is restrictions on both txv valves but i will dip both and see if it changes anything.

What else should i be looking into?

I tried to let the compressor runs without the evap fans for a bit to see if any frost would develop on the evap coil but nothing happened beside the 4 pipes right between the valve and coil icying up.

any ideas what that could be coming from?


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## JJboy (Oct 12, 2010)

Inside there is one TXV valve in the Evaporator and one TXV valve on outside unit (condenser). Which TXV is freezing?


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

JJboy said:


> Inside there is one TXV valve in the Evaporator and one TXV valve on outside unit (condenser). Which TXV is freezing?


 
There is no outside txv valve since we are talkin about a cooler here ( refrigeration)

Inside the cooler, there is 2 evaporator coil. Each one of them have a txv valve. 

the pipes coming out of them are icying up. no ice or frost on evaporator coils and the coils temp is too high. ( aroung 55 F ) 

The suction line is colder than beer can cold though


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## JJboy (Oct 12, 2010)

nicksab said:


> There is no outside txv valve since we are talkin about a cooler here ( refrigeration)
> 
> Inside the cooler, there is 2 evaporator coil. Each one of them have a txv valve.
> 
> ...


Ok, now we know are you talking about. :thumbsup:


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## Master of Cold (Aug 7, 2011)

I don't mean to be a butt here..I just want to know how many times I have to tell you that it is time to bring in a real refrigeration technician?
I believe in your last thread we discussed that you are probably low on refrigerant. There is nothing I can do over the internet to fix this. No magic switch, or setting or anything else short of getting a tech, is going to put this to rest.


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Master of Cold said:


> I don't mean to be a butt here..I just want to know how many times I have to tell you that it is time to bring in a real refrigeration technician?
> I believe in your last thread we discussed that you are probably low on refrigerant. There is nothing I can do over the internet to fix this. No magic switch, or setting or anything else short of getting a tech, is going to put this to rest.


I understand your point here and i am not asking for a magic switch.

I am just trying to see if there is things i should look into before calling the tech. 

I guess i just want to be sure that it is a " low on refrigerant " diagnostic before having an expensive guy come in. ( commercial hvac tech= $ 245 / hour with 2 hour min charge + $ 600 for the jug of R401A ) 

I mean this cooler did go to a 43 F temp before i got it . So I am just trying to understand why it is not going down anymore ( goes to 60F- 62F nothing any lower)


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## Tator1076 (Dec 22, 2009)

If its 410a unit it will be a bad cooling txv or plugged up coil or even filter dryer. If u was low on 410 a it will not freeze up it be out of 410a. 410a is a high pressure freon when a leak anywhere it will leak out all of it in about a day


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## Doc Holliday (Mar 12, 2011)

nicksab said:


> I understand your point here and i am not asking for a magic switch.
> 
> I am just trying to see if there is things i should look into before calling the tech.
> 
> ...


Your only hope is an hvac tech. You should never have "white" lines, before or after a txv.It may be just low enough to frost without freezing up.

I'd pump the system down or better yet recover all refrigerant, nitro test/clean the lines (fix any possible leaks), vacuum and re-charge with new refrigerant. But that's just me.

Is your evaporator clean of debri and is he fan blowing a normal speed? Both suggestions, air flow or lack of it, can lead to icing up.


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## Master of Cold (Aug 7, 2011)

Where do you live? I have never heard of anyone charging that much per hour. Heck, the company I work for gets a lot of calls because Trane charges $125/hour. As soon as that warranty peorid is over so are their customers.


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Master of Cold said:


> Where do you live? I have never heard of anyone charging that much per hour. Heck, the company I work for gets a lot of calls because Trane charges $125/hour. As soon as that warranty peorid is over so are their customers.


 
I live in northern california. That s the price the commercial refrigeration company i called gave me. The regular hvac around here don t service display cooler.


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Tator1076 said:


> If its 410a unit it will be a bad cooling txv or plugged up coil or even filter dryer. If u was low on 410 a it will not freeze up it be out of 410a. 410a is a high pressure freon when a leak anywhere it will leak out all of it in about a day


It s R401A, not 410A but it is kind of the same and yeah it would be empty by now and not even starting up at all.


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## JJboy (Oct 12, 2010)

nicksab said:


> It s R401A, not 410A but it is kind of the same and yeah it would be empty by now and not even starting up at all.


Fix the leak, recharge it. Add some beer for the final test. :thumbup:


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

Could be a restriction, or it could be low on charge. Can't say for sue over the internet without knowing the measurements. R22 and are R410A are both high pressure refrigerants. And a leak doesn't mean they will be empty in a days time.


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## Master of Cold (Aug 7, 2011)

For those scoring at home,
The equipment is a medium temp walk-in cooler. It was converted to R-401a from R-12.

Nick- call around and see what some other companies are charging. That price is astronomical. You should be able to get someone out there in the $70-90/hr range.
I know it hurts to spend the money on it, but otherwise you will have wasted the money on buying the cooler. Also running the unit with a refrigerant problem leads to compressor failure.


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## Tator1076 (Dec 22, 2009)

Just mail us the beer before it goes bad!!!!!!!!!!:thumbup:


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Master of Cold said:


> For those scoring at home,
> The equipment is a medium temp walk-in cooler. It was converted to R-401a from R-12.
> 
> Nick- call around and see what some other companies are charging. That price is astronomical. You should be able to get someone out there in the $70-90/hr range.
> I know it hurts to spend the money on it, but otherwise you will have wasted the money on buying the cooler. Also running the unit with a refrigerant problem leads to compressor failure.


I will call around again but that s where i am at. And yeah that price scared me. If I add a couple hundred more, i could almost have a brand new compressor and cooling system.


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Now that i think about it, it is not a txv valve fault since both evaporator valves are acting the same: icying up before entering the evaporator coil.

so I guess it has either a restriction on the filter/dryer and/or has a leak and is low on charge.


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Tator1076 said:


> Just mail us the beer before it goes bad!!!!!!!!!!:thumbup:


Don t worry about the beer, I am so frustrated with this cooler that i would prob end up drinking all of it. If there is any left, i will mail it


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

beenthere said:


> Could be a restriction, or it could be low on charge. Can't say for sue over the internet without knowing the measurements. R22 and are R410A are both high pressure refrigerants. And a leak doesn't mean they will be empty in a days time.


 
Here are the measurement i got today,

Symptoms: cooler not going lower than 64 F and txv/distributor freezing up

suction line: 6 psi @ 58 F

liquid line: ( after receiver ) 90 psi @ 80 F

Refrigerant is R401A ( according to stiker ) so from the P/T chart,

superheat should be 57 F

subcooling shoud be 6F 

So what s the verdict??

please help me here

thank you


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## JJboy (Oct 12, 2010)

nicksab said:


> Here are the measurement i got today,
> 
> Symptoms: cooler not going lower than 64 F and txv/distributor freezing up
> 
> ...


Where is the PRO?:thumbsup:


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

JJboy said:


> Where is the PRO?:thumbsup:


 
He didn t show up lol:huh:

So what s your point of view on this JJboy?


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

Master of Cold said:


> I don't mean to be a butt here..I just want to know how many times I have to tell you that it is time to bring in a real refrigeration technician?
> I believe in your last thread we discussed that you are probably low on refrigerant. There is nothing I can do over the internet to fix this. No magic switch, or setting or anything else short of getting a tech, is going to put this to rest.


I agree totally:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

JJboy said:


> Where is the PRO?:thumbsup:


 
Never heard of superheat at 57.


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## Master of Cold (Aug 7, 2011)

COLDIRON said:


> Never heard of superheat at 57.


Next time you run into an a/c running at 30 psi, take a superheat reading.


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

master of cold said:


> next time you run into an a/c running at 30 psi, take a superheat reading.


"proper"


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## nicksab (Aug 21, 2011)

Master of Cold said:


> Next time you run into an a/c running at 30 psi, take a superheat reading.


what should be the normal reading for a cooler like mine?

Based on my measurement, what could be the problem?

please help me here


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