Sweating Suction Line on V81

[ss540]

A friend has a V81 that had a leaking compressor suction line.  He replaced the tubing and recharged the system and it has cooled fine for almost 2 years, but the first 3 inches of the suction line sweats and drips on the compressor.  He has tried insulating the tubing, but that did not help. 

He asked me if the system may be over or undercharged.  I'm not a refrig expert, so maybe you guys can lend some support. 

[johnieG]

Yes, it may be slightly overcharged, but what refrigerant did he recharge it with and what was the charge amount, or did he guess & just used his gauge set?

FYI, from a flow perspective, that is the last 3 inches of suction line, the beginning is up at the evaporator. also note that if your systems original suction line had the OEM style of tubing that had the capillary line soldered along its length, ( it acted as heat exchanger & helped prevent the suction line from frosting back towards the compressor)  then this sweating may be normal & in anycase some sweating can be expected as the line exits the evaporator compartment depending on the outside airs relative humidity.  

From the looks of the surface rust on the compressors case, it's been going on for quite a while.

[ss540]

Thanks,

I will relay the info to him.