How to determine that air-conditioner is working well?

Airside delta T across the evaporator: 15 to 20 degrees (dry-bulb)

Saturated suction temperature (SST): 40 degrees, + or 5 degrees, depends on load
Evaporator superheat with TXV: Nominal 10 degrees at evaporator outlet
Evaporator superheat with piston: 8 to 20 degrees, at suction. Service valve, see slide
chart
Condenser sub cooling: 8 to 12 degrees, look on unit rating plate
Airflow across evaporator: 350 to 400 CFM per ton of cooling capacity

SATURATED SUCTION TEMPERATURE

Saturated suction temperature is the temperature at which the refrigerant is boiling in the
evaporator. A temperature/pressure chart will tell you the saturated temperature that corresponds
to any given pressure. The air moving across the evaporator loses heat to the refrigerant,
providing the energy needed to boil the refrigerant off to a vapor. Once all the refrigerant is in
vapor form, it will begin to gain temperature, which we can measure as superheat. At saturation,
while the refrigerant is boiling, the temperature remains the same until all the liquid has boiled
off.
CONDENDER
One of the main components of any refrigeration or air conditioning system is the condenser. It
is larger than the evaporator is because it not only has to reject the evaporators heat load, but
also any superheat absorbed at the tail end of the evaporator and/or suction line. The condenser
also has to reject the thermal energy the compressor puts into compressing the suction vapors to
discharge vapors. This is often referred to as the heat of compression or work of compression.
The three main functions of the condenser are:

Desuperheating;
Condensing; and
Subcooling.

Desuperheating
The first passes of the condenser de-superheat the discharge line gases. This prepares the highpressure superheated vapors coming from the compressors discharge line for condensation, or
the phase change from vapor to liquid. Remember, these superheated gases must lose all of their
superheat before reaching the condensing temperature for a certain condensing pressure. Once
the initial passes of the condenser have rejected enough superheat and the condensing
temperature has been reached, these gases are referred to as saturated vapor. The refrigerant is
then said to have reached the 100% saturated vapor point.

Condensation
Once the saturation or condensing temperature is reached in the condenser and the refrigerant gas
has reached 100% saturated vapor, condensation can take place if more heat is removed.
As more heat is taken away from the 100% saturated vapor, it will force the vapor to become a
liquid (or to condense). When condensing, the vapor will gradually phase change to liquid until
100% liquid is all that remains. (See Figure 1.)
This phase change, or change of state, is an example of a latent heat rejection process, as
the heat removed is latent heat, not sensible heat.
This phase change will happen at one temperature even though heat is being removed. This one
temperature is the saturation temperature corresponding to the saturation pressure in the
condenser. This pressure can be measured anywhere on the high side of the refrigeration system
as long as line and valve pressure drops and losses are negligible.
Subcooling
The last function of the condenser is to subcool the liquid refrigerant. Subcooling is defined as
any sensible heat taken away from 100% saturated liquid. Technically, subcooling is defined as
the difference between the measured liquid temperature and the liquid saturation temperature at a
given pressure. Once the saturated vapor in the condenser has phase changed to saturated liquid,
the 100% saturated liquid point has been reached.
If any more heat is removed, the liquid will go through a sensible heat-rejection process and lose
temperature as it loses heat. The liquid that is cooler than the saturated liquid in the condenser is
subcooled liquid.
Subcooling is an important process because it starts to lower the liquid temperature to the
evaporator temperature. This will reduce flash loss in the evaporator, so more of the vaporization
of the liquid in the evaporator can be used for useful cooling of the product load.

High subcooling means too much refrigerant is being held in the condenser. After the
refrigerant condenses, it remains in the condenser too long and continues to lose
temperature.
Low subcooling means the refrigerant spends so little time in the condenser, it gains little
or no subcooling.
With a dirty or blocked condenser, even the subcooled liquid temperature coming out of
the condenser will be at a higher temperature. This means that the liquid temperature out
of the condenser will be further from the evaporating temperature. This will cause more
flash gas at the metering device and a lower net refrigeration effect in the evaporator.

A Dirty or Blocked Condenser

If a condenser becomes dirty or fouled, less heat transfer can take place from the refrigerant to
the surrounding ambient. If less heat can be rejected to the surrounding air with an air-cooled
condenser, the heat will start to accumulate in the condenser. This accumulation of heat in the
condenser will make the condensing temperature rise. Now that the condensing temperature is
rising, there will come a point where the temperature difference between the condensing
temperature and the surrounding ambient (Delta T) is great enough to reject heat from the
condenser.

Remember, a temperature difference is the driving potential for heat transfer to take place
between anything. The greater the temperature difference, the greater the heat transfer. The
condenser is now rejecting enough heat at the elevated Delta T to keep the system running with a
dirty condenser. However, the system is now running very inefficiently because of the higher
condensing temperature and pressure causing high compression ratios.
For example: Lets say an R-134a air-cooled condenser is running at a condensing pressure of
147 psig (110F) at an ambient of 90F. (See Table 1.) This is a Delta T of 20F If this condenser
becomes dirty or is blocked, the condensing pressure might rise to 215 psig (135F) at the same
90F Ambient. The Delta T or temperature difference between the condensing temperature and
the ambient is now 45F. The condenser can reject heat at this Delta T, but it makes the entire
system very inefficient. Often, if a high-pressure control is not protecting the system, a
compressor burnout can occur with time.
Saturated Condensing Temperature
Saturated condensing temperature is the temperature at which the refrigerant is condensing back
into a liquid state in the condenser. At saturation, the refrigerant remains at the same temperature
until all the vapor is returned to liquid form. Once it finishes condensing, it will begin to lose
some temperature before it leaves the condenser. We can measure this as subcooling, which is
needed to make sure that liquid line pressure drop and the resultant lowering of the boiling point
wont allow the liquid refrigerant to begin boiling again before it gets to the metering device.
Superheat
The saturated suction temperature remains constant until all the liquid refrigerant has been
vaporized, and then the vapor refrigerant begins to gain temperature before it leaves the
evaporator. This temperature rise can be measured as suction superheat.

High suction superheat means not enough refrigerant is being fed into the evaporator. It is
boiling off too quickly and spends the rest of its trip through the evaporator gaining
superheat.
Low superheat means the refrigerant may not have finished boiling.

Remedies
High superheat, high subcooling, low delta T = Evaporator starved of refrigerant, restricted
TXV or drier (Check TXV bulb tightness and insulation)
Low superheat, low subcooling, low delta T = Evaporator flooded with refrigerant, TXV open
too much
High superheat, low subcooling, low delta T = Low chargefind the leak

OK superheat & subcooling, high delta T, low SST = Low evaporator air flow..dirty filters or
evap coil? (Evap coil may frost up)
High SST, High SCT, low subcooling, OK superheat, low delta T = dirty condenser coil, bad
cond. fan?
High subcooling, SCT & SST, OK or low superheat, low delta T = overcharge
Condensing units located on the east side of a building will usually experience shade during the
hottest times of the day. This helps keep condensing pressures down. Also, on condensing units
that discharge air from their sides, never face a condensing units fan directly into the prevailing
wind direction. This will hinder the airflow out of the condensing unit on a windy day. It also
may rotate the fan on the off-cycle and cause fan motor starting problems.

Links

http://www.rjmurray.com/page/service-tips-and-updates-31/news/superheatsubcooling-and-delta-t-24.html
http://www.achrnews.com/articles/88311-how-a-dirty-or-blocked-condenser-effectssystem-efficiency
http://www.ksservices.com/PDFs/system-evaluation-guide.pdf