Water mist help cooling my AC condenser unit

[rojacman]

I pump condensate from basement systems onto condenser coils as well as dump condensate from attic systems onto them. Condensate is chilled and distilled and does make a difference in capacity and energy usage.

how about a small heat-x at the evap coil inlet and keep it filled with that condensate at a controlled rate , any body ever tried that..?? i got an ad from a coil co for a sub cooler that mounts to the cond unit in the inlet air stream.....any thoughts on that??

[RoBoTeq]

You guys must really exel at making things way more difficult than they need to be. If you are using condensate from the evap coil, there are no minerals to contend with and it's the same as if it started to rain on the unit.

[zartangreen]

Ran in to very recent ,, didnt even want to talk to customer nothing good to say. Destroy the coil for a few good days. Seen a few but never from condensate, i agree y would anybody even pipe in its so obvious. Plus much easier to avoid a flood from a main
I know y they prob paid a Plumber w/AZcrk

[crazytekkie]

It amazes me how many sites like this get individuals with such unproductive answers that help no one. To those that seem to think they know what the outcome will be why dont you actually try it before talking? The only thing I agree with is you will get deposits on your cond coil but it takes some time before the deposits are substantial and there is this miraculous new invention called DESCALER or LIME AWAY. Works wonders on lime deposits very quickly. Needless to say I have tried the mist technique. First on a friends P.O.S AC unit which was way too underpowered for his Apt. It couldn't bring down the temp inside if the doors were opened too often. For the hell of it I put a mister with an in line filter on it and there was an immediate and drastic difference on its cooling capability. After seeing this I did it to my house. It does have an older 3.5 ton on it but with a new compressor. I didnt feel like having flood waters around the house so it was connected to a water valve so it only turned on with the AC and not set up to hose the unit, just mist the coils only. Worked well there too. Ever see the cooling towers at hotels? Whats the purpose of them if water cooling is such a bad idea? Maybe you just need some creativity. Also, Obviously Electricity and water are bad to mix, so dont.. its not that hard and what happens when it rains? People dont get electrocuted then..... Put a little thought in your responses people.

I have done experiment on my home a/c unit.

I went to Home depot and purchase water mist system for your porch they use this thing on desert areas.
So I had bright idea that if i install this guys around my condenser unit and when compressor comes on it turns on mist. i figure it cools condenser faster help compressor work less hard.
but that’s not the case, when mist turns on my supply air temp went up instead i expected temp. should go down.

Is this normal or I'm missing something here, I know theory of how a/c works.
Please someone explain. Thanks.

[Tommy knocker]

Spraying or misting mineral latent water on to an air cooled cond coil is like giving it a crack pipe. It wil be very happy and feel real good. It will however develop an addiction. It will eventually refuse to operate without it as well as demand more and more. The minerals will plate out on the coil insulating it requiring more water and so on. The cooling tower comparison is invalid due to application. A cooling tower flows warm water over the fill, same temp as the water, and air is drawn through to absorb the heat from the water. Cool water sprayed onto a hot coil will cause the minerals to plate out much much faster and directly onto the coil.

[mark beiser]

The only thing I agree with is you will get deposits on your cond coil but it takes some time before the deposits are substantial and there is this miraculous new invention called DESCALER or LIME AWAY.

No descaler in the world, that is safe to use in this application, will get all of the mineral deposits out of the nooks and crannies of a modern enhanced fin air cooled condenser coil.

[RoBoTeq]

Misting with other than water from condensate or demineralized water is just not a prudent thing to do. I can understand the mind set that without misting, the system just doesn't keep up with the heat load, but one must understand that by doing so there will be consequences.

[wolfdog]

I pump condensate from basement systems onto condenser coils as well as dump condensate from attic systems onto them. Condensate is chilled and distilled and does make a difference in capacity and energy usage.

If you are pumping it on Goodman units.....

[barbar]

Misters do work, but they should NOT be sprayed onto the coil, they should spray mist away from the coil "Opposite to the air flow". The object is to bring down the dry bulb temperature, not to wet the coil. The spray is vapourised, the TDS (total dissolved solids) becomes effectively dry dirt that passes through he coil block.

[ironpit]

last time i checked, de-scaler and lime away, were not to be used on aluminum.

[ironpit]

wouldn't all the stuff that is causing such corrosion on the indoor coils be present in the condensate, thereby causing corrosion on the o.s. coils ?

[Tommy knocker]

Misters do work, but they should NOT be sprayed onto the coil, they should spray mist away from the coil "Opposite to the air flow". The object is to bring down the dry bulb temperature, not to wet the coil. The spray is vapourised, the TDS (total dissolved solids) becomes effectively dry dirt that passes through he coil block.

Where do the minerals go?

[barbar]

Where do the minerals go?

The minerals "TDS" become a "dry" particulate, and pass through the coil, just like a very fine dust.
If you spray on to the coil the minerals deposit themselves onto the coil.