reviews of new mirco channel coils

clammy

Over the past few years i have seen a few manafactures moving there evap coils from copper /aluimiun coils to a newer mirco channel all  aliumiun coil .I believe there are using this stlye on some condensing coils also .They look like they have the potenial to be a real PIA to clean .I recently went to help a buddy install a 2.5 ton system and noticed the coil was mirco channel i was not impressed with the no TXV and just a metering orifice and basically no distrubition cap tubes  to the evap just a 3/8 copper to aluim adp and then straight into the coil .I guess the cost on these type of coils must be a huge savings compared to the ole standard .I am really wondering how well they perform and if there are any issues with them espically when using a low ambient fan cycling where there could be some coil racking i know it was not a issue with the older carrier ED condensers which had aliumiun coil but of a different type of construction simalar to trane style brushed consenser coils .Any thoughts or opions would be nice to hear.Peace and good luck clammy happy 4th  

Techman

Micro

The only thing I read was in the RSES monthly magazine a few months back. I don't know about not using a  TXV ,just an orifice! Doesn't that hurt the SEER rating?

TonyS

I have installed several

Air Temp units last year. They have gone to both condenser and evaporators of aluminum, so far so good.

My main unit is ARCO AIRE (ICP) and they have gone to just an aluminum evaporator. They even have a 20 minute video on the counter at my supplier detailing why they have done this. Of course it is all about performance, not a word about cost BUT they do give a 10 year no hassle warranty . With that kind of warranty they are willing to bet it will hold up. We will see. Putting one in today. Maybe it will be a good thing because I have been hearing all types of problems with copper coils lately. All different makes.

John Mills_5

Nordyne

They are the only split mfr using MC evaps. Airtemp is a Nordyne product. I'm still leery. You can use a piston on the 13 SEER level, need to add a TXV to go above that. There apparently have been drainage issues with the lack of distributors since the one side of the coil runs colder than the other. We haven't had any yet. They have a baffle kit or the like to address it. I think the cold liquid could have been introduced on both sides, not just one.



They are no less bucks than the C6 they replaced. So far we've had one leak after 6 months. Our detector found the leak, so far haven't gotten credit from Nordyne as they are testing to confirm our diagnosis.



Another issue with these coils is lack of space for refrigerant in heat mode of a heat pump. That leads to some very high head pressures if you try to heat in mild weather. So now we add a fan cycle kit to cycle the fan if the customer turns to heat in 50s or 60s weather. It goes on a tee attached to the gas service valve. Another potential source of a leak and one more thing to go wrong.



As for cleaning, should someone use them as their filter, probably will have to be removed and hosed down. Shouldn't be hard to clean but brushing it in place likely won't do any good.



I think the all aluminum plate fin coil makes more sense.

clammy

Thanks Mr Mills

Thanks for your thoughts ,made me think more about the design of a standard copper coils and a lot of the basics which go into its design  and why and then I look at the mirco channel and try to see it happening in that design and wonder how well it works in comparison to standard indoor and out door ac coil .I do under stand that the aluminum coils does enable higher  heat  transfer .peace and good luck clammy

Techman

micro coils.

Hay clammy. I'm going to say the micro evap/cond coils have to produce the exact same BTU's . Let's use a 3t system, copper regular vs. a micro channel . My gauge readings and system temps would still be the same, I think. Just the design of the coils is different.