Ice Machine High Head Pressure
The head pressures in an ice machine will vary somewhat with changing ambient conditions.
Ice machine high head pressure. By comparing the figures you can determine if suction pressure is properly pulled down. Single six inch high evaporator ice production lb 24 hr 90 70 280 ice production lb 24 hr 70 50 400 water use gallons ice only 52 water use water cooled condenser only 457 condenser gpm 45of. A c or heat pump compressor high head pressure diagnostic checklist 12 causes of high head pressure at an air conditioner heat pump or other refrigeration system. Condenser 70 50 80 60 90 70 115 208 230 3 phase.
If this ice maker troubleshooting call is for a water cooled machine verify that you have water flow and that it s not hot water make sure the head pressure regulating valve hasn t gone out of adjustment or totally failed and if you can disconnect the water lines and inspect the inside of the condenser for scale or dirt build up. For low or high suction pressure refer to the manufacturer s suction pressure low and high charts. Below we list a dozen causes of high head pressure in an air conditioner or heat pump compressor motor. On a restart the unit would do it s 1 minute fill cycle then it s harvest cycle head pressure aound 225.
The ice machine ran non stop last night and stopped when the bin was so full of ice that the ice curtain blocked by ice shut the machine off. Freeze cycle begins and the head pressure jumps to 400 in roughly 5 seconds. No suction pressure low yes recover and weigh refrigerant charge charge check hot gas valve and inlet water valve for leak thru during the freeze cycle. Develop such a chart as table 1 and you will see where the suction pressure should be compared to the amount of time the ice machine is into the freeze cycle.
If the unit cycles off on the high pressure switch a problem. First one i had an issue with the unit tripping the high pressure which cuts out at 400. Cube ice machine page continued from prior page. This switch is a safety to protect against excessive high pressures.
Of these debris clogging or malfunctioning txvs seem to be the most common. The system is r 22. A c or heat pump compressor high head pressure diagnostic faqs. Then after they started using ice and the machine started to make ice it shut off on high head pressure again.
You will find however that the average head pressure of a r 22 unit will run from 220 to 230 psig. Ambient temp around 85f.