Refrigerant charging-step by step procedure

Refrigerant evacuation is the process of removing air, moisture, and any

remaining refrigerant from a refrigeration or air conditioning system. It is
typically done before performing maintenance, repairs, or recharging the
system with new refrigerant.

All the refrigeration systems are designed to run without moisture and non-
condensable gases; else it may not work as designed and is likely to fail
prematurely.

The presence of moisture in the air conditioning system may lead to

the formation of acidic sludge. It may cause restrictions on various
places like expansion valves, evaporator coils, reducing the overall
cooling effect.

In case of a hermetic compressor, it may cause deterioration of the

insulation winding, leading to a short circuit and compressor motor burnout.

Non-condensable gases are just air that can enter during refrigerant
charging, repair, or maintenance. These gases take up space in the
condenser and limit the amount of liquid refrigerant leading to
reduced cooling efficiency.
Evacuation is carried out by using a vacuum pump and a recovery bottle,
ones the system evacuates. We need to wait for about 20-25 min to check
the pressure gauge is holding the negative pressure (vacuum) as shown in
the image.

This process may ensure that there are no leakages in the system as
chances of air or moisture could enter via pipe cracks or leaky
gaskets or joints while performing evacuation procedures.

In the above image, we can see two devices fitted one is an analog pressure
gauge showing the final negative reading, and another one is a digital
vacuum gauge showing 500 microns as final reading, connected to the same
line to ensure the system is 100% evacuated.

Liquid refrigerant charging

Liquid refrigerants are normally added to the liquid line following proper
conditions. If any heating method is used to inject vapour refrigerant into the
suction line, 100% vapour must enter the compressor.

Liquid refrigerant is incompressible and can cause severe damage

to any compressor.
Refrigerant Gas charging

Refrigerant gas charging refers to the process of adding or replenishing

refrigerant gas in a refrigeration, air conditioning, or HVAC (Heating,
Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system.

Always charge the vapor refrigerant from the point where the system
pressure is lower than the pressure in the charging cylinder.

If we try to charge from the discharge side of the compressor, then instead
of refrigerant going from the charging cylinder to the system, it may start
reversing, filling the charging cylinder itself.

Remember that high pressure flows towards the lower side.

Only during refrigeration system evacuation or when the system is

insufficient of refrigerant, the refrigerant can be inserted into both the high
and low-pressure sides of the HVAC unit.

Mostly large charging cylinder has two valves. The red one is connected to
the dip tube and is for liquid charging. The Blue one is connected from the
top with no dip tube and is for gas charging. In both, the conditions cylinder
is kept in an upright position while charging.

If the refrigerant charging cylinder has only one valve, then we

don’t have a dip tube, and in this case, It’s necessary to invert the
cylinder for liquid charging.

What is Copper Plating process in a refrigerating system?

When moisture is present in the system, it combines with the refrigerant to

form an acidic solution.
This acidic solution dissolves copper tubings and extracts copper from
copper-based alloys like brass or bronze present in different parts of an air
conditioning system, mainly pipings.

This copper gets deposited into the compressor bearings and

suction/discharge valves as a copper plating which may lead
to refrigerant system leaks, long-running refrigeration plant, drop in the
overall cooling efficiency of the refrigeration system, chocking of filter/drier,
contamination of refrigerant, and oil.
Continuing with our vapor charging process, the charging cylinder can be
weighed before charging by using a weighing scale.

Refrigerant Charging Methods:

Case 1: Refrigerant gas charging in ac | air conditioner

Refrigerant charging is the process of adding or replenishing refrigerant in a

refrigeration, air conditioning, or HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air
Conditioning) system.

Considering that we have are very low in refrigerant and need to replenish
whole of the system with a fresh charge.

1. Connect hose 2 and 3 connection to C and D, respectively.

2. Both the gauges must be zeroed.
3. Attach the temperature probe at the correct location near the sensing
bulb to sense the degree of superheat.
 4. Evacuate the system into a recovery bottle by connecting the vacuum
pump to charging hose 1, open both valves A and valve B till the
evacuation process is complete (vacuum gauge reading showing 500
microns as final reading).
5. Stop the vacuum pump after the system has evacuated, close the
charging hose (1) valve going to the recovery bottle, check the
pressure drop in the gauge for around 20 min to know if there is any
leakage in the system.
6. Disconnect the charging hose 1 from the vacuum pump and connect it
to the blue connection of the charging cylinder for a gas charge.
7. Open valve A, slightly open the connection at C and purge the whole
hose line from 1 to 2 by crack opening the gas valve of the refrigerant
charging bottle; try not to avoid any excess leak directly into the
environment.
8. Same way, purge the high-pressure liquid side hoses from 1 to 3 to
remove any air/moisture inside the hose.
9. Now tight both the low and high-pressure side hose at position C & D,
respectively as shown in the image.
10. Start charging the gas refrigerant from the refrigerant bottle to
the low-pressure side of the system at connection C by opening valve
A and the refrigerant valve of the charging bottle until the vacuum
comes to zero.
11. Now start the compressor as the suction pressure goes above
zero.
12. After about 30 – 40 seconds of charging, close valve A and check
the suction gauge pressure for a rise in pressure.
13. Keep monitoring the degree of superheat by the temperature
calibrator to ensure the liquid is not entering into compressor suction
also; we can calculate how much charge present in the system by the
pressure chart.
14. If the superheat temperature is high, then it means the system is
running low in refrigerant, whereas a lower superheat temperature
than the desired reading means the system is overcharged.
15. Repeat the procedure 10 to 11 until the suction pressure reaches
60 psi (as per maker). This avoids the risk of overcharging of the
system also keeps measuring the refrigerant by the weighing scale.
16. Once the refrigerant has charged, close the refrigerant valve,
valve A and B and disconnect all the hoses, and secure everything.
CASE 2: Air Conditioning system: Low refrigerant charge

Low refrigerant charge or charging refrigerant without carrying out an

evacuation process may cause the refrigerant to leak from the system into
the environment.
So it’s better to find out the cause of low refrigerant, as many refrigerants
are falling into the category of ozone layer depletion and global warming
potential.

HFC refrigerant contains chlorine which reacts with ozone (O3) to convert it
into oxygen (O2) hence leads to depletion of the ozone layer.

Major HFC refrigerants:

 R23
 R32
 R134a
 R404A
 R407A
 R407C
The ozone layer protects life on earth by absorbing ultraviolet rays from the
sun; UV rays are responsible for skin cancer, genetic damage, and immune
suppression in humans.

HFC refrigerants have a high global warming potential which can lead to
increased sea levels, rising temperatures, and damage to habitats.

Now, coming back to charging up an HVAC system running short of

refrigerant.

1. Connect all the hoses 1, 2, and 3 with the HVAC kit.

2. Purge air from the hose from 2 to 1 by tightening it at point C, valve A
open, valve B closed, and connection to the charging cylinder slightly
open for air purging, later close after purging.
3. Likewise, air purge the high-pressure side hose 3.
4. To keep the HVAC system running, we will open the charging cylinder
gas valve, close valve B, and open valve A, allowing the refrigerant
to charge into the system.
5. Start charging the gas refrigerant to the low-pressure side of the HVAC
system at connection C by opening valve A and the refrigerant valve
until the vacuum comes to zero.
6. Now start the compressor as the suction pressure goes above zero.
7. After about 30 – 40 seconds of charging, close valve A and check the
suction gauge pressure for a rise in pressure.
8. Keep monitoring the degree of superheat by the temperature
calibrator to ensure liquid refrigerant is not entering into
 compressor suction. Also, we can calculate how much charge is
present in the system by the pressure chart.
9. If the superheat temperature is high, then it means the system is
running low in refrigerant, whereas a lower superheat temperature
than the desired value means the system has overcharged.
10. Repeat procedures 10 to 11 until the suction pressure reaches
60 psi (as per the maker). This avoids the risk of overcharging the
system and also keeps measuring the refrigerant by the weighing
scale.
11. Once the refrigerant has charged, close the refrigerant valve of
the refrigerant bottle, valves A and B, disconnect all the hoses, and
secure everything.
Liquid refrigerant charging procedure for an air conditioner, window a.c
(HVAC system)

Liquid refrigerant charging involves adding refrigerant to a system in its

liquid state. Refrigerants can exist as either liquid or gas, depending on their
pressure and temperature conditions.

Charging a system with liquid refrigerant is one of the procedures used to

ensure proper and controlled addition of refrigerant.

1. Evacuate the system by pumping down the refrigerant into a recovery

bottle using a vacuum pump.
2. Connect the liquid and gas line hoses 2 and 3 and purge them.
3. Connect the charging hose to the red connection of the charging
cylinder for a liquid charge, and if only one connection is provided on
the charging cylinder, then we need to invert the cylinder.
 4. Attach the temperature probe to the correct location near the sensing
bulb to sense the degree of superheating and subcooling at the
condenser outlet.
5. Allow the liquid refrigerant to flow by opening valve A and keeping
valve B closed.
6. Since the system has a vacuum, the liquid refrigerant itself enters the
system and move towards the evaporator and condenser until the
pressure comes down to the charging cylinder pressure.
7. The liquid refrigerant gets equally divided between the evaporator and
the condenser, and no danger of liquid flooding exists inside the
compressor.
8. Start the compressor, as the refrigerant leaves the charging cylinder,
the charging cylinder pressure decreases, so to maintain the flow,
create negative pressure by partially closing the receiver outlet throttle
valve and allowing the refrigerant to flow from the cylinder.
9. In a refrigeration system, a receiver outlet is provided with a “king
valve” used for liquid charging, also known as a throttle valve, and can
trap the entire system refrigerant inside the receiver.
10. This way, liquid refrigerant gets admitted safely, but since the
throttle valve reduces the pressure across the expansion valve, the
system doesn’t run normally.
11. In between, close the refrigerant charging valve A, open the
throttle valve fully, and check the temperature and pressure readings.
12. When fully charged, the sight glass gets clear. Also, weigh the
charging cylinder to know how much charge is required as per the
maker for a full recharge
Liquid charging on large commercial plants:

Liquid charging is on a liquid line, and it must get vaporized before it reaches
the compressor suction.
There is always a risk of liquid refrigerant entering compressor suction which
can cause severe damage to the compressor as a liquid is non-compressible.

To avoid liquid going into the compressor, we usually charge before the
thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) or metering device, which ensures the
degree of superheat gets achieved (i.e., liquid converted to 100% vapor)
before reaching compressor suction.

In large-scale commercial refrigeration, HVAC, or industrial plants, a sizable

receiver tank is installed alongside the refrigeration system to gather and
store all liquid refrigerant.

The receiver tank is equipped with a sight glass, allowing for the visual
assessment of the refrigerant levels both during operation and when the
system is idle. This sight glass serves as a crucial tool, providing insight into
the refrigerant quantity and helping to prevent overcharging during the
refrigerant charging process.

The procedure for refrigerant charging in large refrigerating plants are

performed by pump down method. Pump Down means collecting
refrigerant temporarily inside the receiver

1. Start the cooling medium to the condenser (fan or water).

2. Close the receiver liquid outlet valve.
3. Start the compressor to suck the lower-pressure side of the refrigerant
into the condenser.
4. The compressor stops automatically as the low-pressure cutout switch
gets activated (the set point at around 0.02Mpa).
5. Connect the liquid line charging hose at the liquid side charging point,
usually at the filter/drier, and purge it.
6. Attach the temperature probe to measure the degree of superheat.
7. Open the liquid charging valve of the charging cylinder and start the
compressor.
8. Keep measuring the degree of superheat. If the degree of superheat
temperature is going down, start throttling the liquid refrigerant from
the charging bottle.
9. Keep an eye on the receiver gauge glass for an increase in level.
10. Check the suction gauge, and once the desired pressure has
reached as per maker, stop the compressor.
11. Remove the charging connection, open the condenser outlet
valve, and run the system normally.
12. It’s vital to weigh the charging bottle before charging and log
down the amount of refrigerant charged.
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