Refrigerant Gauge Wizard

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The headline feature of this update is a new entry in the Gauge Wizards dropdown. The Refrigerant Gauge Wizard generates the temperature scales of a refrigerant (pressure-temperature) gauge for one or two gases, laid over an existing linear pressure arc, from saturation data for 35 refrigerants.

What it produces

The wizard only generates standard layers. For each gas it adds a nonlinear Tickmarks Arc layer and a nonlinear Text Arc layer, plus a Color Arc layer for the scale edge (or the divider between two gases) and a Text Detail layer with the gas name at the bottom of the scale.

Everything stays fully editable afterwards with the regular layer tools, and files contain no special data.

Workflow

1. Build the linear pressure arc with the Pressure Gauge Wizard first, and add it to the Canvas.
2. Open the Refrigerant Gauge Wizard from the Gauge Wizards dropdown on the Layers Sidebar, on the same gauge.
3. Start with the Refrigerant Wizard section. Nothing is prefilled from the gauge, but the wizard preview is drawn over the gauge with its existing layers dimmed, so lining the gas scales up against the pressure arc is visual.
   • First set the base geometry of the gas scales with Tick Shape, then Dual Scale and Dual Arc for two gases or Scale Side for one, and the Inner Scale Edge and Outer Scale Edge that place each scale’s edge line.
   • Then match the reference pressure arc with the Start Angle and End Angle, and enter its Unit, Start Pressure and End Pressure in the Reference Pressure Arc section.
4. Set the All Scales section and the Inner Gas and Outer Gas sections for the look and the gases you need, and press Add To Canvas. Re-run the wizard for further gases.

Wizard View

The Show Gauges switch, on by default in this wizard, draws the gauge’s existing layers dimmed under the wizard preview, so the reference pressure arc stays visible while the gas scales are lined up against it.

Refrigerant Wizard

Setting	Description
Tick Shape	Lines or Dots. With Dots the tickmarks sit centered on the scale’s edge line and the tick width fields are hidden. Dual Scale is available with Lines only.
Dual Scale	Adds a second gas on the other side of the edge line, with its own Outer Gas section.
Scale Side	In or Out, for a single gas only. Sets whether the lone gas scale faces inward or outward.
Dual Arc	With Dual Scale enabled only. When on, the outer gas gets its own arc line. When off, the outer gas shares the inner gas’s arc line, which is drawn above both scales’ tickmarks.
Outer Radius	The outer limit of everything the wizard generates, so nothing extends past it. It starts one quarter inside the gauge’s boundary, since gas scales usually sit inside an outer pressure scale.
Inner Scale Edge	The radius of the inner gas scale’s edge line, the line to match against the reference pressure arc, in the current measurement unit. It moves only its own edge, and styling edits never move a placed edge, as in the standard wizards’ scale edges.
Outer Scale Edge	With Dual Scale and Dual Arc both on only. The radius of the outer gas scale’s edge line, which behaves the same way.
Arc Spacing	The gap between the two edges, when Dual Arc is on.
Start Angle	The start angle of the gas scale, matching the reference pressure arc.
End Angle	The end angle of the gas scale, matching the reference pressure arc.
Add To Canvas	Adds the generated layers to the selected gauge. When a chosen gas cannot be placed on the reference pressure arc, because its saturation pressures do not fall within it, that gas is not previewed and the button reads Gas Range Not On Pressure Arc and is disabled.

Reference Pressure Arc

Setting	Description
Unit	The pressure unit of the existing pressure arc.
Start Pressure	The first value of the existing pressure arc.
End Pressure	The last value of the existing pressure arc.

All Scales

The shared styling fields, font, text spacing, major, mid and minor tick lengths and widths and arc line width, are the same as the All Scales section of the standard Gauge Wizards.

This wizard adds a Sign field right after Text Spacing, setting how the temperature labels shows their sign, like the Text Arc layer’s Sign on number scales. Choose None for no sign at all, Only - (the default) so only negative temperatures carry a sign, or All so every non-zero temperature carries + or -.

Inner Gas and Outer Gas

The Inner Gas section is always shown, and the Outer Gas section joins it when Dual Scale is on. Both have the same settings.

Setting	Description
Gas	The refrigerant. The choices are R12, R22, R23, R32, R134a, R236fa, R290, R404A, R407A, R407C, R407F, R408A, R410A, R417A, R422A, R422B, R422C, R422D, R427A, R438A, R448A, R449A, R452A, R454B, R471A, R502, R507A, R513A, R600, R600a, R717, R744, R1234yf, R1234ze and R1270.
Temp Unit	°C or °F.
Saturation	Dew or Bubble. Shown only for the zeotropic blends whose two curves differ, the 400-series blends, as pure fluids and azeotropes have a single curve. Dew, the superheat side, is the default.
Start Temp	The first displayed temperature. By default it is the first whole degree whose saturation pressure falls inside the pressure arc, so the gas scale spans the arc. A colder value extends the gas scale past the pressure arc, and a value inside truncates it.
End Temp	The last displayed temperature. By default it is the last whole degree whose saturation pressure falls inside the pressure arc. A hotter value extends the gas scale past the pressure arc, and a value inside truncates it.
Label Rngs	The number of ranges the scale’s labels are split into, 1, 2 or 3.
Major Rngs	The number of ranges the scale’s major ticks are split into, 1 or 2.
Minor Rngs	The number of ranges the scale’s minor ticks are split into, 1, 2 or 3.
Color	The gas scale’s color.

Extending the gas scale

Extension with Start Temp and End Temp stops short of a full circle, and both values are limited to the gas’s physical range. Changing the gas resets both to their defaults for the new gas, while changing Temp Unit keeps the entered numbers.

With two gases the edge or divider arc spans both gas scales, reaching the longer of the two.

Ranges

The labels, the major ticks and the minor ticks are each set on their own, and each can change along the scale. The Label Rngs, Major Rngs and Minor Rngs selectors pick how many ranges the scale is split into, and one group of fields is shown per range, numbered with its range, like 1. Step, 2. From and 2. Step.

Setting	Description
Step	The temperature interval in that range. Labels offer 20, 10 and 5. Majors offer 10 and 5. Minors offer None for major ticks only, Mid for one tick halfway between majors every 5 degrees, 2 and 1.
From	Second and third ranges only. The temperature, in the gas’s unit, where that range starts. The first range always starts at the scale start.
Mid Tick	Shown while a minor range’s Step is 1, and on by default. Draws the tick halfway between two majors as a mid tick. When off, it is a plain minor tick.

Steps count from the scale’s first number, so a scale starting at -90 with Step 20 continues at -70.