Heir 2.5 ton condenser help

[cr2banger]

I showed up on the job after someone else tried to charge the system which he belived was low on charge. I put my guages on the unit, then turned it on. The high side pressure spiked to 500psi. the low side was around 120psi.The high side pressure dropped alittle, to around 350 was the lowest it went. I shut it down quickly. The compressor was making a "whining noise". I have never seen pressures that high in my life on a R22 system. Tomarrow I was going to do a reclaim, and charge it from scratch. Any suggestions on what could cause the pressures to be so insanely high? I cant immagine an overcharge could cause it to go that high. Any help is greatly appreciated thanks.

[Tempstar13]

anytime i see a head pressure that high im automatically thinking there is a restriction somewhere. is it a txv or piston coil, check the coil and see if is plugged,

[Tempstar13]

did you get a superheat or subcool, atleast if you can maybe get the split you can start from there also

[cr2banger]

the pressures were so high I shut it off very quickly. The superheat seemed non existant, the suction line was not getting cold to the touch. The liquid line however was not exceeding hot like it should be with such extreme high side pressure. I was thinking blockage as well, however I thought a blockage would cause a low side vacuum. It is a txv system.

[Tempstar13]

yea, thats whats nice about high low pressure switches, they will kick out before ever seeing that kind of pressure and help save the components, im sure if it has ran like that for any amount of time it did some damage on the compressor, but i would try to get some line temps after the evap and stuff still to see if the txv is working properly, that could be your problem if its not adjusting automatically like it should.

[Danimal535]

Dude if you don't know what is wrong right now with the info you gave us very simple you don't know what your doing you should call somebody who does you can hurt yourself or the unit

[2old2rock]

With those pressures, I'm thinking the other guy used the pink jug!

[udarrell]

With those pressures, I'm thinking the other guy used the pink jug!

They sure look like R410A pressures.

At 350-psig condensing temp is 108-F; at 120 evap is at 41-F with R410A.

Strange that it would be delivering 410 pressures...

Condenser tag - labeled wrong? Unlikely...

[cr2banger]

The tech overcharged more than 2x's the amount needed. I reclaimed 5lbs of R22 out of the system. I had never seen an overcharge so extreme. Thanks for the help,appreciated.

[redsoxnation603]

couple things i have seen....
1. the obvious overcharge
2. mixed refrigerant (the oooops factor)
3. non-condensables in the lines
dirty condenser coil probably won't help however it won't cause a spike of 500 psi of head

Best solution assume the worst, recover the system, put into a deep vacuum and use some good ole virgin refrigerant (the right bottle)!