Blue Fin, Gold Fin & Micro Channel Condenser Coils in Air Conditioners

The condenser coils play a very important role in the functioning of any Air Conditioner that is available in the market today.

There are a variety of condenser coils like Blue Fin, Gold Fin and Micro-Channel etc…used in an AC.

The cost of an air conditioner vary depending on the brand, what condenser coils used and their durability.

So, in this article, let us find out everything about these condenser coil technologies in detail.

How Does an Air Conditioner Works?

Before going further into the actual topic, first let us understand how an AC works so that you’ll have a better idea about the importance of these condenser coils.

The Refrigeration cycles involves four main principles:

1. Compression: The pressurized gas is converted into high-pressure hot liquid.
2. Condensation: This liquid is sent through the condenser coils which convert the hot liquid to cool liquid and releases the resultant heat into the outside air.
3. Expansion Valve: This valve now converts the high-pressure liquid back into low-pressure liquid.
4. Evaporation: The low-pressure liquid is passed through the evaporation coil in the indoor unit where the heat in your room is absorbed and will turn from liquid to gas.

And, as a result, your air conditioner releases cold air back into the room.

Here, everything that involves the gases and liquids happens inside the condenser coils and hence they’re very important in the functioning of an air conditioner.

In order to keep them away from rust, corrosion and other possible damages due to the outside weather, the Air Conditioner manufacturers came up different technologies such as Blue Fin technology, Gold Fin technology, Micro-Channel condenser coils etc…

What Is Blue Fin Technology in Air Conditioners?

Blue Fin Condenser technology enhances the efficiency and longevity of the AC by using an anti-corrosive coating over the condenser coils.

Voltas have used this technology 1st in their Air Conditioners and later followed by the other popular AC brands like Blue Star, Panasonic, Electrolux etc…

Thanks to the anti-corrosive blue fin coating, the condenser coils will get protection from different types of corrosion caused due to moisture, humidity, harsh weather conditions etc…

Benefits of Blue Fin Condenser Technology

• Blue Fin aka blue-coated condenser protects itself from accumulation of salt, acid deposits and water droplets, thus prevent corrosion.
• It improves the heat transfer process, thereby increasing the cooling capacity of the AC.
• It also helps save the energy used by the air conditioner.
• Finally, the blue-fin technology enhances the durability and longevity of your AC.

Hydrophilic Blue Fin coating is used when the two metals copper and aluminium are jointly used inside an air conditioner. This results in galvanic corrosion due to mix of different types of coils.

And, in such cases, the manufacturers use the Hydrophilic coated blue fin as it lasts 3x longer than aluminium.

What Is Gold Fin Technology in Air Conditioners?

The Gold Fin condensers are said to be better than the blue fin condensers in protecting the coils from corrosion due to harsh climates, moisture and humidity.

As you already know, the copper coils are more expensive when compared to the aluminium coils and hence the manufacturers have started using Aluminium coils to reduce the cost of their air conditioners.

And, some of them went further and used aluminium coils to the welded copper tubes in order to enhance their performance.

So, when these two metals are combined, there is a chance of galvanic corrosion and to tackle that issue, they have found that the golden hydrophilic coating over the aluminium coils is the perfect solution.

Benefits of Gold Fin Condenser Technology

• They are better than blue fin condensers.
• They provide greater protection to the coils against corrosion.
• They help improve the heat transfer efficiency of the air conditioners by speeding up the defrost process.
• They are 100% Eco friendly and safe to use.

What is a Micro-Channel Condenser in Air Conditioners?

Samsung was the 1st to introduce the micro-channel technology in their air conditioners as it increases the efficiency of coils, mainly in the coastal areas.

These micro-channel condensers are nothing but the aluminium coils with multiple flat tubes that contain small aka micro-channels through which the refrigerant gas is passed through.

There are actually 3 components in a micro-channel condenser coil:

1. Flat Micro-channel Tube
2. Fins between the micro-channel tubes
3. Two Refrigerant manifolds.

In this technology, there is need of using of two dissimilar metals together.

And, this is Samsung’s way of tackling the Galvanic corrosion and they have named it as ‘Multi-Jet Technology‘.

Benefits of Micro-Channel Condenser Technology

• Used mainly in Samsung air conditioners.
• Improves the thermal performance of the air conditioners.
• Increases the heat transfer performance and reduces the refrigerant charge by up to 75%.
• No need of using dissimilar coils like the other technologies.
• Reduces leakage and improves the durability of the air conditioner.
• Easy to clean and repair.
• It is Eco-friendly and safe to use.

Blue Fin vs Gold Fin Condenser: Which is Better?

Both the blue fin and gold fin technologies are similar when it comes to protecting the condenser coils from corrosion and damage due to harsh climates.

But, the Gold Fin condensers are preferred over the Blue fin condensers as they improve the heating efficiency of the air conditioners by speeding up the defrosting process in the reverse cycle models.

And, they are also 100% Eco-friendly and non-toxic.

Final Word:

Whatever the Air Conditioner brand you purchase, make sure they have an anti-corrosive coating like the Blue Fin or Gold Fin, which not only protects your device but also improves the life of your air conditioner.