Thank you man for this video. I’ve learned some new things. On my way to adjust a TXV at a beer cooler. I’ve replaced compressor for that cooler a few days ago and after watching your video I definitely know that TXV needs some adjustments.
I was taught adjusting the superheat is the LAST thing you want to do. But, if you have nailed down the charge and pressures, dry refrigerant (no non-condensables), both coils are clean, airflow is correct at both coils and box temp is not super high, then you test the TXV function by immersing the bulb in hot and then cold water to see if the TXV is bound or not, if not bound (stuck), then you can adjust TXV. Books says 1/4 turn at a time, so to see you reefing on that stem like that made me take notice!! Lol!! But...I get it, when you charge $150/Hr, you don't have time to play around. I got good information from the video. Thanks.
mundrubjet That is the completely wrong way to check a txv, if you want to know the correct way watch the HVAC School video with Brian Orr. That’s what I was once told too but have since realized how foolish that was
Man yeah awesome video, a lot of this type of stuff I’ve learned for trial and error, it’s nice to see guys who know what they are doing make a video and post it. Thanks
Thanks for teaching Jim. I will pay more attention to the delta t across the coil. Since it was a good day in the land, one would hope you landed a case of your favorite beer on the house!
Jim great video. Quick question. If I was to take my superheat with saturated pressure and convert to temperature minus my outlet temp, will it give the same 15F of superheat? I never seen this method but it looks easy and accurate. Thanks for taking the time to pass on the knowledge.
Good work Jim. Mist guys wouldnt even check to TD. They would have just gassed it up and left and not fixed the leaking cores either just stuck new caps on them. Good thorough job
On a AC system if you adjust your TXV superheat then do you have to measure subcooling and adjust your charge? Then once you adjust your charge won't that effect your superheat so how do you not get stuck in a loop of ajustments?
So with capillary system, you can tell if the refrigerant charge is correct by checking the superheat. What is the best way with a txv? Also when you went and checked the sight glass after getting the desired superheat were you getting any liquid back or was it all good?
you should have your own school jim the classes would be booked solid 5grand per student corp would pay you i think i see your next call good luck jim you are the man i mean teacher professor
@MARK. He's fine right where he is, HERE, available to all of us. Giving back the way someone probably did to him some time ago. No need for that idea of classes.
Nice video. I was working on a walk in beer cooler that had 2 evaporators and both had the same issues. Both txvs and near by piping had a bunch of ice, the drain pans we're also frozen solid. The actual coils were not icing up though and the space was conditioning. I noticed someone set the tstat to 29° and thought that caused it to form the ice. After thawing the unit out I checked super heat and subcooling by the condenser which seemed normal. Would it be possible that both txvs on the condensers need to be adjusted? Thanks.
Hi jim you have great vids .Jim im working on a walkin cooler 404a. Fairly new I inherited this warrenty job when i bought this ac business. Not good at refrigeration. What are the pressures on 404a with a box thats 45 degrees. I have 2 evaps and 2 condensers with pump down solenoids my pressure are 45psi and 180 head cutin 70 and cut out 20 thanks for any info
Very informative video Jim. What would be the evap. temp as well the SH for a freezer. AC evap. 45 SH 10 to 12 Walking cooler evap.20 and SH 15 Freezer with 404A Evap. ? and SH ? Thanks
I replaced a bad TXV on a 4 ton R22 A/C coil. I weighed in the charge. Parker said to adjust the txv even though i got the same one i replaced it with. My initial start up i was low on pressure. Not much load. Should i check my superheat at the end of the coil? I usually check it at the condenser. Some folks told me not to touch the txv and just add gas to get my superheat subcooling. HELP?
Before adjusting the txv, did you check your subcooling and found out if you have good refrigerant level?.... I really hope that the new techs out there don't play this guessing game, sorry if I'm harsh but I prefer new guys learn the right way. Also all you need to carry with you is a small stubby gauge, a 6" hose and a thermometer to properly check superheat, if you don't want to carry your whole manifold.
@Stephen Brawner i got 14 years of supermarkets refrigeration experience, worked at Costco, walmart, Target,, Ralph's, facilities among others, plus 4 years of engineering school. I get your point, but years of experience don't mean anything if you have that many callbacks right? I just don't like that guessing game, not when they're is a whole science behind it.
Depends on the manufacture, but many say to trap all horizontal lines, some will say for "X" ft of rise, etc. It is best to check with each manufacture, trapping is a means of controlling oil back to the compressor
I think it's a location thing. I see more people with smans around Atlanta where I am. I've met people just recently that have smans and they've never even heard of testo. But it seems more guys use Testo's on UA-cam.
sad hvacman I bought an SMAN4 last year, it is a good gauge set, it's just large and bulky, the testo 550 is more compact easier to climb ladders with, I bought three testo 550's last year and the testo 550 bluetooth this year. I'm not impressed with the blue tooth version, or the Imanifold , too many features that you don't need to get the job done and get on to the next call. Customers don't care, they pay for temperature results.
I've heard the same complaint from friends and coworkers, that the smans are too bulky. I own several testo manifolds and I love them. I think fieldpiece could also use some durability improvements across the board with all their instruments. They make good stuff, it just needs to be tougher.
Mark Pasieka the liquid refrigerant is like dry fingernail polish remover, it dilutes the compressor's oil, changing the viscosity (lubrication factor). It would be like if you put paint thinner in your car engine's oil, the engine would bind up or the piston rods would break.
Hey jim nice video's put i would love to know what your super heat, and pressures are doing while your adjusting the txv is hard to know if your over, under, or on the money with charge. Do you ever have to adjusy your charge once your temperature 15 degrees difference is perfect?? if the question is stupid it might be because I'm only an AC Tech LOL.
Jim, I am really confused with the way you are adjusting the expansion valve to change the TD of the evaporator but you also say that you are adjusting the superheat in the same breath. I know that there is a relation between the TD and S-heat and I know that superheat and evaporator TD are related but isn’t superheat the refrigerant saturation pressure temperature difference between the refrigerant in the measure line and the actual temperature measure of the line. I you checked the superheat at the condenser on the roof with gages and temperature probes would the SH agree with the final 15 degree TD that you adjusted the expansion valve . I have nothing but admiration with all of your videos and I am really learning a lot from them but I am confused and I want to understand. Can you kind of see how I might be confused? Thanks alg
Al Garcia Al you are correct about superheat, I should call the setting the TD, the valve stem adjustment in the literature is called the superheat setting.
You are correct on the understanding of SH, unfortunately Jim is not adjusting SH. This could cause mistakes at the job. Also, SH is something I very rarely adjust on a box, repeat "Rarely". But, my position also allows me to take more time at the site to find the cause to the effect, a luxury not offered to all.
If this is an old install then surely a tev adjustment isn't the way forward? Short of refrigerant sounds more likely. If new then slap the install engineer 😉
Kieran Craddock I see your point, but still the txv adjustments are needed. If low, all Refrigerant must be removed and fresh added. Since you don’t know the exact pounds needed or if the txv was adjusted on day one, you have to adjust it again. But good point.
Hello Jim, Good effort on the video. However.. You are not adjusting the superheat. You are adjusting the flow, and to the detriment of the system. You should not have frost on all the tubes, you should have frost on the first third of the tubes. Superheat works by boiling off the liquid in the first third, then the latent heat is absorbed into the vapor in the final two thirds. If you have frost on all the tubes, then you have liquid in the lines, and you will soon smash your compressor rods.. Superheat is achieved using Manifold gauges and a simple thermometer at the suction line. Loving your effort, it's nice, but your advice will destruct peoples chillers. I hope I'm not offending you.
Am i correct in thinking to adjust the superheat on a TXV system you need to add or remove refrigerant by checking your subcooling at the condenser ? Im confused as to what the point of adjusting the TXV is ? Why would you need to adjust the flow if not to adjust the superheat ?
you need to either have more refrigerant flow or less to adjust super heat. If the SH is too high you need more liquid refrigerant to enter the evaporator therefore a TXV adjustment is needed. Its not always that simple there are lots of factors that can effect the SH leaving the evap.
Simon Horswell You said superheat is absorbed by the liquid and latent heat is absorbed by the vapor that’s totally false. Latent heat is absorbed by liquid to turn it to vapor then that vapor is superheated by absorbing heat from the surrounding.
hardcooling usually you don't find that out until after you change a compressor, if you are lucky you'll catch it before you loose another compressor. thanks for commenting
Omg..... I've been checking and adjusting superheat all together wrong for 30 years.... I had no. Idea you could base a critical adjustment solely on temperature... Someone had better inform Copeland and maybe even sporlan!!!!!!!
what do you call proper technique? hussman refrigeration corp recommended this years ago. some of the old heads still use it to this day its a tried and true method.
I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand? For anyone that installs heatcraft evaporators it comes with an install manual it shows this as an alternative way of adjusting superheat. For a man like Jim that is a true veteran in the business, I'll bet his technics work. Much respect Jim. I just had the pleasure of working with a guy with over 40 yrs of experience and I can tell you that not everything was text book but it worked.
Umm, where's the pressure measurement? Did Jim ascend into the pantheon of gods where he can close his weary eyes and "See" pressure without a guage? Thought super-heat was a measurement acquired with temperature AND pressure measurements. Guess every book published about this trade, and Sporlans own literature is wrong lol
Jim's way is acceptable way of measuring superheat. Just takes the guesswork out of it. Actually there is not any difference between converting pressure to saturated temperature and Jim's way of measuring saturated temperature directly. Hussman manuals use this method.
Can you shoot me a link? I fail to understand this method of measuring super-heat. How does it take the guess work out when you're assuming pressure? If there's no pressure measurement does one just assume the coil is at the pressure for the desired saturation temperature? Please help me to see what you guys see, I mean this genuinely. I always like learning new things, so I dont put my foot in my mouth again
@@jakem117 the first step in calculating superheat in the traditional way is to measure pressure and convert it to "temperature" this is the "saturated suction temperature" of the refrigerant in the evaporator. Jim is measuring the saturated suction temperature directly with one thermometer connected to the evaporator inlet about 6 inches downstream of the txv and the other thermometer probe at the evaporator outlet so he does not have to convert pressure to "temperature" the difference in the two probes readings is the superheat. Hope this helps you understand.
Thank you man for this video. I’ve learned some new things. On my way to adjust a TXV at a beer cooler. I’ve replaced compressor for that cooler a few days ago and after watching your video I definitely know that TXV needs some adjustments.
Miss your videos!! Would love to see new ones!! Learned a lot from you in the beginning of my career!!!
I was taught adjusting the superheat is the LAST thing you want to do. But, if you have nailed down the charge and pressures, dry refrigerant (no non-condensables), both coils are clean, airflow is correct at both coils and box temp is not super high, then you test the TXV function by immersing the bulb in hot and then cold water to see if the TXV is bound or not, if not bound (stuck), then you can adjust TXV. Books says 1/4 turn at a time, so to see you reefing on that stem like that made me take notice!! Lol!! But...I get it, when you charge $150/Hr, you don't have time to play around. I got good information from the video. Thanks.
mundrubjet That is the completely wrong way to check a txv, if you want to know the correct way watch the HVAC School video with Brian Orr. That’s what I was once told too but have since realized how foolish that was
Exactly
Jim you need to come back to CT I would love to apprentice with you. Great teacher. Thanks for all your videos.
Mr. Gocka thank you for your comments ,because this video has completely confused everything I've learned
Man yeah awesome video, a lot of this type of stuff I’ve learned for trial and error, it’s nice to see guys who know what they are doing make a video and post it. Thanks
Thanks for teaching Jim. I will pay more attention to the delta t across the coil.
Since it was a good day in the land, one would hope you landed a case of your favorite beer on the house!
A very insightful video. Damn insightful. Thank you.
Jim your videos are awesome 👌
Simon is correct. Need to use the gauges to get the actual superheat.
What was he measuring at the very beginning? And where?
Jim great video. Quick question. If I was to take my superheat with saturated pressure and convert to temperature minus my outlet temp, will it give the same 15F of superheat? I never seen this method but it looks easy and accurate. Thanks for taking the time to pass on the knowledge.
Good work Jim. Mist guys wouldnt even check to TD. They would have just gassed it up and left and not fixed the leaking cores either just stuck new caps on them. Good thorough job
awsom70 thanks
Thanks for helping us understand better
On a AC system if you adjust your TXV superheat then do you have to measure subcooling and adjust your charge? Then once you adjust your charge won't that effect your superheat so how do you not get stuck in a loop of ajustments?
Very nice video! You really do a fine a job explaining the craft. :)
Michael Shank thanks
PERFECTION JOB... 👍👍👍👌👌👌👌💯💯💯💯
Nice work Jim. I got warriors in 6 by the way. Thanks for the videos.
Carlos Caballero they are a good team, the Finals should be a good one this year, hope Krie Irving gets strong. Thanks
If Love and Irving get healthy It should go 7. Great Basketball to come....
Super Work. Hallo from Germany...
very informative video. I learn a lot more now.
Excellent video
Thank you Jim
So with capillary system, you can tell if the refrigerant charge is correct by checking the superheat. What is the best way with a txv? Also when you went and checked the sight glass after getting the desired superheat were you getting any liquid back or was it all good?
you should have your own school jim the classes would be booked solid 5grand per student corp would pay you i think i see your next call good luck jim you are the man i mean teacher professor
@MARK. He's fine right where he is, HERE, available to all of us. Giving back the way someone probably did to him some time ago. No need for that idea of classes.
Good learning
Should I first clear the sight glass then adjust the txv ?
Nice video. I was working on a walk in beer cooler that had 2 evaporators and both had the same issues. Both txvs and near by piping had a bunch of ice, the drain pans we're also frozen solid. The actual coils were not icing up though and the space was conditioning. I noticed someone set the tstat to 29° and thought that caused it to form the ice. After thawing the unit out I checked super heat and subcooling by the condenser which seemed normal. Would it be possible that both txvs on the condensers need to be adjusted? Thanks.
You are great
Jim, Nice Work, I am getting into more refrigeration
Where was he taking the temp? At the evap coil outlet?
Hi jim you have great vids .Jim im working on a walkin cooler 404a. Fairly new I inherited this warrenty job when i bought this ac business. Not good at refrigeration. What are the pressures on 404a with a box thats 45 degrees. I have 2 evaps and 2 condensers with pump down solenoids my pressure are 45psi and 180 head cutin 70 and cut out 20 thanks for any info
Very informative video Jim.
What would be the evap. temp as well the SH for a freezer.
AC evap. 45 SH 10 to 12
Walking cooler evap.20 and SH 15
Freezer with 404A Evap. ? and SH ?
Thanks
After reviewing the video again, Jim said the deltaT was 10 or 15, not the SH.
I replaced a bad TXV on a 4 ton R22 A/C coil. I weighed in the charge. Parker said to adjust the txv even though i got the same one i replaced it with. My initial start up i was low on pressure. Not much load. Should i check my superheat at the end of the coil? I usually check it at the condenser. Some folks told me not to touch the txv and just add gas to get my superheat subcooling. HELP?
can the same be done on a produce walk in box? or do I want it wet or dry in said box?
Thanks for the video
Pops McCartney thanks
Is this TXV hunting or you install new TXV?
Before adjusting the txv, did you check your subcooling and found out if you have good refrigerant level?.... I really hope that the new techs out there don't play this guessing game, sorry if I'm harsh but I prefer new guys learn the right way. Also all you need to carry with you is a small stubby gauge, a 6" hose and a thermometer to properly check superheat, if you don't want to carry your whole manifold.
@Stephen Brawner i got 14 years of supermarkets refrigeration experience, worked at Costco, walmart, Target,, Ralph's, facilities among others, plus 4 years of engineering school.
I get your point, but years of experience don't mean anything if you have that many callbacks right?
I just don't like that guessing game, not when they're is a whole science behind it.
Love the video .What model thermometer is that ,I would like buy one .Keep up the great videos.
E Campbell Fluke 52 II
counter clockwise from the stem end?
plugged txv change that thing! it was set up fine over time the screen has plugged
so evap temp required is 36 to 38 degrees, so general evap temp should be 18 to 32, what would your cut in/cut out settings be?
Ben Staton they should be the same as the R22 settings, the pressure is similar . This is a pump down system, so cut in at 35 and out at 1-4 , thanks
Great trading video *****
Hi Jim can I use testo 550 for checking the temperature on the suction and liquid line close to the evap
you sure can
When do you use a "P" trap on a refrigeration suction line?
Thanks, Jim C.
Depends on the manufacture, but many say to trap all horizontal lines, some will say for "X" ft of rise, etc. It is best to check with each manufacture, trapping is a means of controlling oil back to the compressor
I think when the condenser is above the walk in cooler then you use P trap, If it is on the floor then you wouldn't need it
Must be the reason my coil keep icing up
It seems that the SMAN gauges aren't used by very many techs. Do you have any thoughts why not?
I think it's a location thing. I see more people with smans around Atlanta where I am. I've met people just recently that have smans and they've never even heard of testo. But it seems more guys use Testo's on UA-cam.
sad hvacman I bought an SMAN4 last year, it is a good gauge set, it's just large and bulky, the testo 550 is more compact easier to climb ladders with, I bought three testo 550's last year and the testo 550 bluetooth this year. I'm not impressed with the blue tooth version, or the Imanifold , too many features that you don't need to get the job done and get on to the next call. Customers don't care, they pay for temperature results.
I've heard the same complaint from friends and coworkers, that the smans are too bulky. I own several testo manifolds and I love them. I think fieldpiece could also use some durability improvements across the board with all their instruments. They make good stuff, it just needs to be tougher.
What happens when the compressor gets liquid back on its suction?.... I hear some clean condenser coils to cool a compressor....
Mark Pasieka the liquid refrigerant is like dry fingernail polish remover, it dilutes the compressor's oil, changing the viscosity (lubrication factor). It would be like if you put paint thinner in your car engine's oil, the engine would bind up or the piston rods would break.
Hey jim nice video's put i would love to know what your super heat,
and pressures are doing while your adjusting the txv is hard to know if your over, under, or on the money with charge.
Do you ever have to adjusy your charge once your temperature 15 degrees difference is perfect??
if the question is stupid it might be because I'm only an AC Tech LOL.
What is the model number for the dual prong temperature reader
Fluke 52 II
Jim,
I am really confused with the way you are adjusting the expansion valve to change the TD of the evaporator but you also say that you are adjusting the superheat in the same breath. I know that there is a relation between the TD and S-heat and I know that superheat and evaporator TD are related but isn’t superheat the refrigerant saturation pressure temperature difference between the refrigerant in the measure line and the actual temperature measure of the line. I you checked the superheat at the condenser on the roof with gages and temperature probes would the SH agree with the final 15 degree TD that you adjusted the expansion valve .
I have nothing but admiration with all of your videos and I am really learning a lot from them but I am confused and I want to understand. Can you kind of see how I might be confused?
Thanks alg
Al Garcia Al you are correct about superheat, I should call the setting the TD, the valve stem adjustment in the literature is called the superheat setting.
You are correct on the understanding of SH, unfortunately Jim is not adjusting SH. This could cause mistakes at the job. Also, SH is something I very rarely adjust on a box, repeat "Rarely". But, my position also allows me to take more time at the site to find the cause to the effect, a luxury not offered to all.
If this is an old install then surely a tev adjustment isn't the way forward? Short of refrigerant sounds more likely. If new then slap the install engineer 😉
Kieran Craddock
I see your point, but still the txv adjustments are needed. If low, all Refrigerant must be removed and fresh added. Since you don’t know the exact pounds needed or if the txv was adjusted on day one, you have to adjust it again. But good point.
have a beer while waiting
ARE YOU CLOSE THE VALVE O YOU CLOSING
Hello Jim, Good effort on the video. However.. You are not adjusting the superheat. You are adjusting the flow, and to the detriment of the system. You should not have frost on all the tubes, you should have frost on the first third of the tubes. Superheat works by boiling off the liquid in the first third, then the latent heat is absorbed into the vapor in the final two thirds. If you have frost on all the tubes, then you have liquid in the lines, and you will soon smash your compressor rods.. Superheat is achieved using Manifold gauges and a simple thermometer at the suction line. Loving your effort, it's nice, but your advice will destruct peoples chillers. I hope I'm not offending you.
Am i correct in thinking to adjust the superheat on a TXV system you need to add or remove refrigerant by checking your subcooling at the condenser ? Im confused as to what the point of adjusting the TXV is ? Why would you need to adjust the flow if not to adjust the superheat ?
Simon Horswell thank u sir
you need to either have more refrigerant flow or less to adjust super heat. If the SH is too high you need more liquid refrigerant to enter the evaporator therefore a TXV adjustment is needed. Its not always that simple there are lots of factors that can effect the SH leaving the evap.
+simon. it sounds like you don't have much experience with TX valves, because if you did you wouldn't have said that.
Simon Horswell
You said superheat is absorbed by the liquid and latent heat is absorbed by the vapor that’s totally false. Latent heat is absorbed by liquid to turn it to vapor then that vapor is superheated by absorbing heat from the surrounding.
if you have to open a txv that much there another problem probably the power element has lost charge.
S will If the element lost it’s charge, how would it be adjusting?
Had a 3 hp compressor go dad because of extreme superheat A week ago
hardcooling usually you don't find that out until after you change a compressor, if you are lucky you'll catch it before you loose another compressor. thanks for commenting
superheat measure in deg.F
Omg..... I've been checking and adjusting superheat all together wrong for 30 years.... I had no. Idea you could base a critical adjustment solely on temperature... Someone had better inform Copeland and maybe even sporlan!!!!!!!
I got it from Hussman and RSCS
Wait, what???? this is hillbilly refrigeration. This is not proper Technique JIM. Not trying to slam you but this is all wrong.
what do you call proper technique? hussman refrigeration corp recommended this years ago. some of the old heads still use it to this day its a tried and true method.
I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand? For anyone that installs heatcraft evaporators it comes with an install manual it shows this as an alternative way of adjusting superheat. For a man like Jim that is a true veteran in the business, I'll bet his technics work.
Much respect Jim. I just had the pleasure of working with a guy with over 40 yrs of experience and I can tell you that not everything was text book but it worked.
Umm, where's the pressure measurement?
Did Jim ascend into the pantheon of gods where he can close his weary eyes and "See" pressure without a guage? Thought super-heat was a measurement acquired with temperature AND pressure measurements. Guess every book published about this trade, and Sporlans own literature is wrong lol
Jim's way is acceptable way of measuring superheat. Just takes the guesswork out of it. Actually there is not any difference between converting pressure to saturated temperature and Jim's way of measuring saturated temperature directly. Hussman manuals use this method.
Can you shoot me a link?
I fail to understand this method of measuring super-heat.
How does it take the guess work out when you're assuming pressure? If there's no pressure measurement does one just assume the coil is at the pressure for the desired saturation temperature?
Please help me to see what you guys see, I mean this genuinely. I always like learning new things, so I dont put my foot in my mouth again
@@jakem117 the first step in calculating superheat in the traditional way is to measure pressure and convert it to "temperature" this is the "saturated suction temperature" of the refrigerant in the evaporator. Jim is measuring the saturated suction temperature directly with one thermometer connected to the evaporator inlet about 6 inches downstream of the txv and the other thermometer probe at the evaporator outlet so he does not have to convert pressure to "temperature" the difference in the two probes readings is the superheat. Hope this helps you understand.
Well, I'm an idiot. I've never seen or heard of that ever. I'm going to try it. Thank you
@@jakem117 try it both ways and let me know your results.
There is some serious guesstimating going on here....
😦😦😦