The main components of any air conditioner are condenser, compressor, evaporator. Pipes filled with refrigerant are laid between them. To maximize the efficiency of the air conditioner, it is necessary to choose the correct diameter of the pipes on the air conditioner.
Refrigerant flow areas
There are three sections of the lines of movement of freon in the air conditioner:
- Injection... After the air conditioning compressor, the tube supplies freon gas to the condenser;
- Liquid... After the condenser, freon in liquid form is directed to the evaporator;
- Suction... In this section, after passing through the evaporator, the freon pressure is low, in the form of a gas it moves to the compressor.
Air conditioning compressor pipes are made without seams. When choosing which pipes for the air conditioner are the best, one should take into account the pressure losses in different sections of the freon movement.
Losses in the suction section affect the efficiency most strongly.
The optimum diameter of pipes for air conditioners should provide:
- permitted pressure loss;
- working speed of movement of the refrigerant. For vertical segments, this is from 5 meters per second;
- the lowest noise level.
Since different sections of freon pass under different pressures, the diameter of the pipes for air conditioners is selected differently. \
Copper tubes for air conditioner
The refrigerant line between the inner and outer housings is an air conditioner tube made of copper.
There are a number of reasons for this:
- Even the constant contact of copper with freon does not provoke corrosion;
- Copper pipes bend and roll perfectly, they are soft and flexible, which greatly facilitates the installation of the system;
- They tolerate vibration, high pressure and temperature well;
- The service life of copper pipes is about 100 years.
Conditioner tubes are made of annealed soft copper, which is not only very flexible, but also durable. A suitable copper grade is CU-DPH. This variety is especially resistant to chemical factors.
Thus, when choosing which pipes for the air conditioner are better, you should focus on copper ones.
Installation of copper pipelines
When installing a line made of copper pipes, it is strictly forbidden to cut them with a hacksaw. Swarf entering the pipeline will damage the compressor. Special tools are used for cutting and bending.
Copper pipe is sold with coils of 25 or 50 meters. The ends are closed with plugs to prevent debris and dust from entering.
The pipe is easy to transport, as it is much lighter than one made of other metals.
For air conditioners, pipes of the following diameters in inches are most often used: 3 \ 16, 1 \ 4, 5 \ 8, 7 \ 8, 1 \ 8, 3 \ 8, 5 \ 8, 1.8.
