APC by Schneider Electric ACRC500 InRow RC 600mm Chilled Water Cooling Unit

Overview

The ACRC500 is APC by Schneider Electric's InRow RC chilled water cooling unit, built in a 600mm form factor for row-based data center cooling architectures. Where traditional overhead or perimeter cooling struggles to keep pace with high-density server and network equipment rows, the ACRC500 delivers chilled water capacity directly at the point of heat generation — eliminating the long air travel paths that undermine cooling efficiency in modern racks. Its back-to-front data center cooling airflow pattern is specifically engineered to work with standard equipment exhaust configurations, capturing hot air off the back of racks and returning conditioned air to the front intake before it can recirculate.

Operating on 200–240V at 50–60 Hz, the ACRC500 integrates into facilities with standard international power distribution infrastructure without requiring dedicated single-phase conversions. The chilled water configuration means cooling capacity scales with your chilled water plant — you're not fighting refrigerant circuit limits, and maintenance intervals align with building infrastructure rather than proprietary refrigerant schedules.

Key Features

• Chilled Water Configuration: Unlike DX (direct expansion) units that carry self-contained refrigerant circuits, the ACRC500 connects directly to your facility's chilled water loop — meaning cooling capacity is governed by your plant, not by a fixed compressor size. This matters in high-density rows where thermal load can spike unpredictably.
• 600mm Width Form Factor: Designed to fit within standard 600mm-wide rack row footprints, the ACRC500 slots into an existing row without requiring aisle reconfiguration. For retrofit deployments, this eliminates the structural disruption of wider perimeter units.
• Back-to-Front Airflow: The back-to-front air pattern aligns with the hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment strategies common in rack enclosure deployments. Hot exhaust is captured at the rear of adjacent equipment and discharged as conditioned air toward front intakes — reducing the risk of hot spots that can throttle compute performance.
• 200–240V / 50–60 Hz Power Input: Broad input voltage and frequency tolerance means the unit can be deployed across North American and international facilities without voltage transformation hardware. That's a real operational advantage for organizations managing multi-site data center infrastructure.
• InRow Placement Architecture: Positioning the cooling unit within the server row — rather than at the perimeter — cuts the distance conditioned air must travel. Shorter air paths mean less mixing with ambient warm air and more predictable thermal management at the rack level.
• 892 lb Installed Weight: At 892 lbs, floor loading calculations are non-negotiable during pre-installation planning. Verify your raised-floor or slab rating before positioning — this unit requires coordination with your facilities team, not just your IT staff.

Integration and Compatibility

The ACRC500 is designed for integration into APC's InRow cooling ecosystem and is intended for deployment alongside APC by Schneider Electric infrastructure management platforms. As a chilled water unit, it requires a site-side chilled water supply and return circuit — confirm supply water temperature, flow rate, and pressure specifications with your mechanical engineer before procurement. The unit's 200–240V input aligns with standard PDU branch circuits common in power distribution deployments at this equipment class. Row-based placement requires coordination with containment systems (hot-aisle or cold-aisle containment curtains or doors) to realize the full efficiency benefit of the InRow architecture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What type of cooling does the ACRC500 use?

A: The ACRC500 uses a chilled water configuration, connecting to a facility-side chilled water loop rather than containing its own refrigerant circuit. This makes cooling capacity dependent on your building's chilled water plant.

Q: What is the airflow direction on the ACRC500?

A: The ACRC500 uses a back-to-front air pattern, capturing hot exhaust from the rear of adjacent equipment and delivering conditioned air toward the front intakes of servers and network gear in the row.

Q: What power input does the ACRC500 require?

A: The ACRC500 operates on 200–240V at 50–60 Hz, covering standard international facility power without requiring additional voltage transformation hardware.

Q: How wide is the ACRC500 and will it fit in a standard rack row?

A: The ACRC500 has a 600mm width form factor, matching the standard rack width used in most data center row deployments. This allows it to slot into an existing row without aisle reconfiguration in most standard environments.

Q: What does the ACRC500 weigh, and does floor loading matter?

A: The ACRC500 weighs 892 lbs. Floor loading capacity must be verified with your facilities engineer before installation — this is not a spec to defer until deployment day, particularly on raised-floor systems with rated load limits per tile or zone.

Q: Is the ACRC500 suitable for perimeter cooling deployments?

A: No — the ACRC500 is an InRow unit designed for placement within the server row, not at the room perimeter. Deploying it as a perimeter unit would undermine the short-air-path efficiency benefit the InRow architecture is designed to deliver.

Marty Allison

The ACRC500 is the unit I recommend when a customer's data center density has outgrown perimeter cooling and they already have a chilled water plant on site. The chilled water configuration is the deciding factor — at 892 lbs installed, this is facility infrastructure, not IT gear, and it needs to be treated that way from the first planning conversation.

Technical Highlights:

• Chilled Water Loop Integration: Connects to existing building chilled water infrastructure, so you're not adding refrigerant circuits to maintain. Capacity scales with your plant — and so do your service intervals.
• Back-to-Front Airflow: Matches the standard hot-aisle exhaust direction of rack-mounted servers and switches, making this unit compatible with both open-row and contained-aisle deployments without airflow reversal adapters.
• 200–240V / 50–60 Hz Input: Single voltage range covers international facilities, which matters if you're standardizing equipment across multiple sites running on different grid frequencies.

Deployment Considerations:

• At 892 lbs, coordinate floor loading with your facilities team before you commit to a floor tile or slab zone — this is the step most IT-led deployments skip and regret.
• The chilled water configuration requires confirmed supply water temperature, flow rate, and circuit pressure at the unit location before the unit ships — mechanical engineering sign-off is not optional here.

The ACRC500 is the right call for a high-density colocation row or enterprise data hall that already has chilled water infrastructure and needs to add InRow capacity without touching refrigerant circuits — particularly in retrofit scenarios where the 600mm footprint fits cleanly into an existing row layout.