You certainly already know some fundamental information about your air conditioner given the scorching summers, but are you familiar with how the evaporator and condenser coils work? Check online Condensing Units in India.
You will gain from studying a few technical specifics regarding how your cooling system functions if the inner workings of your AC are a mystery to you.
No of how frequently your air conditioner runs, routine AC maintenance is necessary to keep your evaporator and condenser coils and the rest of your system functioning properly.
You’ll be more equipped to solve the issue if something goes wrong. When it’s time to upgrade your air conditioner or buy replacement parts, your knowledge will also assist you make wise decisions.
Finding Out About The Evaporator Coil
Like a furnace creates heat, air conditioners don’t literally “produce” cold air. Instead, they take heat from the air, transport it outside, and then release it into the open air using refrigerant, often known as coolant.
The refrigerant flows continually to remove increasing amounts of heat from your home until the temperature of the indoor air reaches the thermostat setting.
The cooling cycle is handled differently by the evaporator and condenser coils. Let’s start by going over the evaporator coil.
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How Do Evaporator Coils Work?
The component of the system where the refrigerant absorbs heat is known as the evaporator coil, often referred to as the evaporator core. It is the source of the chilly air.
The air handler, which houses the blower fan, houses the evaporator coil within or close by. Copper, steel, or aluminium are used to make evaporator coils because of how well they conduct heat. Most domestic air conditioner evaporators are made of U-shaped tubes mounted on panels.
The evaporator coil’s tube in the compressor pulls cool, low-pressure liquid refrigerant as the air conditioner runs. The refrigerant travels via the expansion valve and then into the evaporator coil. By releasing pressure from the liquid refrigerant, this valve causes it to cool more quickly. Since the liquid refrigerant is so cold when it exits the expansion valve, it can take in heat from the surrounding air.
The amount of refrigerant that goes to the evaporator is also managed by the expansion valve. The flow can be precisely controlled by more sophisticated expansion valves, including thermostatic expansion valves (TXVs), to increase the system’s total energy efficiency.
The blower fan blows warm inside air over the evaporator coil as the refrigerant circulates. The refrigerant heats as a result of absorbing heat from the moving air.
Warm indoor air contains water vapour, which condenses into liquid when it comes in contact with the cold evaporator coils and drops into the condensate pan, which drains the water outside. Your evaporator coil lowers the humidity in your house in this way.
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How To Maintain The Evaporator Coil
Evaporator and condenser coils must be kept clean in order to function as designed and achieve maximum energy efficiency. Numerous issues can arise from an unclean evaporator coil, including:
- Reduced capacity for heat absorption and cooling
- More energy use
- higher temperatures and pressures
- accumulating ice and frost
The effectiveness of the evaporator coil is decreased even by a thin layer of dust. Due to the dust’s insulating properties, the air is kept away from the chilly coils and the heat inside. The coil can’t absorb as much heat as it might when it’s clean, so to speak. In order to maintain the desired inside temperature, your system will therefore need to run longer, consuming more energy.
The refrigerant passing through a filthy evaporator coil doesn’t warm up as much as it should since it isn’t absorbing enough heat. Instead of condensing into a liquid, this cold refrigerant causes the water vapor in your air to freeze. The entire evaporator coil may eventually become frosted over.
Your evaporator should never have a film of frost on it. If you let your system continue to operate with a frozen evaporator, the compressor will eventually overheat and break.
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The evaporator can freeze due to debris on the evaporator coil, debris on the external condenser unit, a filthy air filter, and refrigerant leaks. If you are unable to locate the issue, call an HVAC specialist.
Due to corrosion caused by the blending of chemicals usually found in household air with condensation-related moisture, evaporator coils are also susceptible to developing microscopic pinhole leaks. You should replace your coil if there is oily residue around the evaporator or in the drain pan.
The Work of The Condenser Coil
The second part of the cooling cycle is completed by the condenser coil, which is why the evaporator coil wouldn’t be much use without one.
What Is A Condenser In An Air Conditioner?
The enormous, square device outside your home contains the condenser for your air conditioner. Although the entire device is referred to as the “condenser unit,” it actually consists of a number of parts, including valves and switches, copper tubing, the compressor, the fan, and the condenser tubes and fins.
The refrigerant moves to the condenser unit outside via a copper tube after absorbing heat from the air in your home. The warm, low-pressure refrigerant gas enters the compressor at this point. The refrigerant is made into a heated, high-pressure gas by the compressor, which pressurizes it.
The condenser coils are where the refrigerant discharges the majority of the heat that it has absorbed from your home after this gas exits the compressor. The refrigerant inside the outdoor unit loses heat as a result of the fan on top pushing air over the condenser coils.
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The refrigerant transforms from a hot gas to a hot liquid as it cools. After that, it returns through a copper pipe to your house and enters the expansion valve in the indoor unit close to the evaporator coil.
Maintaining The Condenser
For evaporator and condenser coils, enough airflow is essential. Both of these parts function to transport heat, but doing so is hampered by dust or other material. The most frequent danger to condenser units is an accumulation of yard waste on the fins.
This typically manifests as pet hair, twigs, fallen leaves, grass clippings, and other debris that hinders the condenser’s ability to emit heat. This lowers the energy efficiency of your air conditioner and stresses the condenser and other parts.
Regularly inspect the condenser, and if you see debris accumulation, turn off the power to the entire system and use a stiff brush to carefully clean the fins.
An AC condenser occasionally can grow frost or an entire casing of ice. Ice-ups like this typically indicate that there is an issue with airflow somewhere else in your system, assuming the condenser unit is clean. It can be a clogged duct, a dirty evaporator coil, a dirty air filter, or dirty air registers and vents. Low refrigerant might also result in ice on the condenser, which necessitates calling a specialist.
You may have seen that your neighbors wrapped their condensers in plastic for the winter, but this practice can be detrimental. Additionally, it increases the unit’s allure to animals in need of shelter.