No. The ambient in the reach in doesnt indicate charge level. Could be overcharged could be undercharged. Typically on a self contained reach in unit the system charge will be indicated on the data plate. Then you weigh it in.

 

what if there already is refrigerant in the system, is there a way of just adding instead of recovering it all and putting it back in? it's a cap tube style system.

 

Cap tube systems are critically charged.

The best and most time effective method to charge them is to pull the charge, evacuate and weigh your charge in if you have a listed charge weight.

 

also sometimes with cap tubes they appear to be low when in fact they are restricted .. not saying ur not aware, just adding valuable insight

 

This is why, when I suspect a charge problem OR a restricted cap tube, I pull charge and weigh it back in.

This eliminates the charge as a variable and allows you to make a good, informed and accurate diagnosis.

:.02:

 

If it's a R134a cooler using a cap tube and it's been running hot bring some cap tubes with ya.:grin2:

 

& a C032CAPT drier! ...

 

I'm no Refrigeration expert. More of an AC guy given the opportunity to work on "commercial" AC as well as refrigeration equipment. Suffice it to say; I'm still learning. With these small units, yeah, it's best to dump the couple of ounces of refrigerant and start from scratch. Especially if you don't know the service history of the unit in question. If, for whatever reason, that is not ideal I've noticed that reach in coolers (as well as display cases) that are operating normally (in ambient conditions under 75 degrees) seem to run with a TD of appx 20 degrees. That seems to be their "comfort zone". That's not a good method to charge a unit but will give you an idea of what's going on at least. Also, airflow is ultra critical on these little bastards.

 

Clean the condenser and add some refrigerant

Clean the condenser to spotless see-right-through condition.

After the condenser is clean - if the suction pressure is low and the SSH high - add some refrigerant. If the head pressure gets to 35º over ambient without the suction pressure / temperature coming into line - pull the refrigerant and replace the drier and the cap tube before recharging.

Cap tubes in refrigeration are now like capacitors in residential A/C - they used to never go bad but now are changed as often as socks.

I think I'm going to start installing 1/4 ton IE TXV's in place of cap tubes.

PHM
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