Superheat charging for cap tube WSHP

[dembones71]

Hey everybody: My name is Andy and I have a question for some of you gurus out there. I work as a medical building engineer here in lovely southern CA. The outside of the building is nice, shiny and green. But the ceilings hide a 30 year old ongoing horror story of grossly neglected Climatemaster WSHPs. These babies are old-school. No control board, cap tubes, r-22, mercury t-stats on the walls; you get the idea. Anyways, I have been working non-stop to get these units back online (the ones that can be saved, that is) After many leak repairs and recharging I have something of a feel for what the units like charge-wise. But, it bugs me that I have no constant formula to go by. I can use outdoor and indoor temps for air source condesers on split and package units, but what about water condensers?? The unit nameplates are intact yet they give no specs for charging. Because they are cap tube restrictors; I feel SH would be the correct method but there has to be some consideration for the condenser. I have heard a wide array of answers to this question but none of them give me the warm fuzzies. One tech said as little SH as possible without getting liquid in the compressor. One tech said the head pressure should correspond to 105* saturation temp. Another tech said I sohuld shoot for 6-12*
SH and forget it. Does anyone have a SH or SC method based on Water In/out temps or something. Any solid ground on this issue is greatly appreciated

[rundawg]

The unit nameplates are intact yet they give no specs for charging.

I'm not sure I have any manuals for these units, but what is the model number on the nameplate?

[dembones71]

814036GSSSSSCOB. Also, where is the tonnage encoded in there? Thanks a lot

[Six]

You're overthinking it really. Yes charge to superheat ( 12-15 ) with 85 degree water supply to the Condenser.

Check compressor amps and your done.

Most likely 3 ton. But if there us a tag with a model for the comp you could verify tonnage.

[rundawg]

814036GSSSSSCOB. Also, where is the tonnage encoded in there? Thanks a lot

036 = 3 tons

Check your email also.

[dembones71]

Thank you all. i will look at those manuals but I like six's general formula too. This info is really helpful right now