To insulate pipes to condenser? While your at it why not insulate the condenser. . .the pipes throw off heat as does the condenser, insulating the hot pipes is ludicrous, AFAIK.
The cold pipes, the condensation. Humidity is THE key here. The condensate is from water in vapor form being changed to water in liquid form- a phase change. Water in vapor form holds a large amount of energy, known as latent heat, which is puked into the AC as the vapor becomes liquid water. The problem is humid air hitting those cold lines, not just hot, dry air.
All AC works with latent heat [the refrigeration], swamp coolers work with the latent heat of water. High humidity is the enemy of AC and evaporative coolers.
Experiment- 67 Caprice 327 factory AC, T-Bird electric fan[2 speed]. . .I saw all those water drops on the outlet from the evaporator, then I remembered latent heat. . .Hmmm. . .what if all the heat from water vapor is entering the AC system? So I insulated the metal tube from the evaporator [standard pipe insulation, dirt cheap Lowes or Home Depot.] Outlet temps much improved, coolant temps lowered!
Then I insulated the tube from the POA valve on the way to compressor- now the tube into the compressor is very cold!
Temps all around drop again, vent temp at 32.5 degrees! Coolant temp lowered. Car is at 1000 rpm [est] not being driven Ambient air temp 85 degrees.
It's useful to study up on latent heat and phase changes [gas to liquid, liquid to gas]
Entering the twilight zone- I have a 75 Chevy Monza, factory 350, factory air. Drove a couple of miles to HD to pick up the insulation [yesterday]. Noted coolant temp on arrival home- 200. 85 air temp. So I placed of short section [5"] of insulation on the tube from the combo valve [cold pipe]- a trial fit. Left it on overnight.
So a friend went shopping at the same place I went yesterday- same conditions, humidity, temp [85] and so on. . .coolant temp on arrival at home: 170! Thirty degrees cooler than day before [160 thermostat]! The only change made was adding the short piece of insulation! This truly seems impossible. Did the cooling system suddenly improve [Champion alum with factory flex fan]?? or did the temp gauge suddenly go bad, on this particular day? [SunPro gauge, always reliable] I must assume the gauge is accurate. It seems impossible on two different vehicles.
Advice- insulate cold pipes only. If your pipes show condensation [on the metal] it is humid enough for insulation.