Product manual

100 IOMM ACR/AGR-1
Evaporator
The remote evaporator on AGR-AM units and CDE evaporators are the direct expansion, shell-and-
tube type with refrigerant flowing through the tubes and water flowing through the shell over the
tubes. The tubes are internally finned to provide extended surface as well as turbulent flow of
refrigeration through the tubes. Normally no service work is required on the evaporator.
Refrigerant Charging
AGR-AM and ACR units are shipped with a factory holding charge of refrigerant and it is necessary
to charge them at the job site after leak testing and evacuating the refrigerant lines. Follow these
recommendations when field charging. Refer to the unit operating charge found in the Physical Data
Tables. These tables do not include the charge attributable to the field installed lines.
Unit charging can be done at any steady load condition (preferably at 75 to 100% load) and at any
outdoor temperature (preferably higher than 70°F (21.1°C). Unit must be allowed to run 5 minutes or
longer so that the condenser fan staging is stabilized at normal operating discharge pressure. For
best results charge with two or more condenser fans operating on each refrigerant circuit.
The AGR and ACR units have a condenser coil design with approximately 15% of the coil tubes
located in a subcooler section of the coil to achieve liquid cooling to within 5°F (3°C) of the outdoor
air temperature when all condenser fans are operating. This is equal to about 15°F-20°F (8.3°C
-11.1°C) subcooling below the saturated condensing temperature when the pressure is read at the
liquid valve between the condenser coil and the liquid line filter drier. Once the subcooler is filled,
extra charge will not lower the liquid temperature and does not help system capacity or efficiency.
However, a little extra (10-15 lbs.) will make the system less sensitive.
Note: As the unit changes load or fans cycle on and off, the subcooling will vary but should
recover within several minutes and should never be below 6°F (3.3°C) subcooling at any
steady state condition. Subcooling will vary somewhat with evaporator leaving water
temperature and suction superheat. As the evaporator superheat decreases the subcooling
will drop slightly.
One of the following three scenarios will be experienced with an undercharged unit:
1. If the unit is slightly undercharged the unit will show bubbles in the sightglass. Recharge the unit
as described in the charging procedure below.
2. If the unit is moderately undercharged it will normally trip on freeze protection. Recharge the unit as
described in the charging procedure below. However, freezestat trips can also be an indication of
low flow or poor heat transfer due to tube fouling. Anti-freeze solutions may also cause freezestat
trips.
3. If the unit is severely undercharged the unit will trip due to lack of liquid flow to the expansion
valve. In this case either remove the remaining charge by means of a proper reclamation system and
recharge the unit with the proper amount of refrigerant as stamped on the unit nameplate, or add
refrigerant through the suction valve on the compressor slowly. Feed liquid into the suction valve
when the compressor is running. If the unit is severely undercharged the unit may nuisance trip
during this charging procedure. If this happens close off the refrigerant from the tank and restart
the unit. Once the unit has enough charge so that it does not trip out, continue with step 2 of the
charging procedure below.
Procedure to charge a moderately undercharged AGR unit:
1. If a unit is low on refrigerant you must first determine the cause before attempting to recharge the
unit. Locate and repair any refrigerant leak. Evidence of oil is a good indicator of leakage, however
oil may not be visible at all leaks. Liquid leak detector fluids work well to show bubbles at medium
size leaks but electronic leak detectors may be needed to locate small leaks.