HVAC & R22 question

[IDFWU]

Had a company come out and give me a quote to replace the expansion valve on my indoor unit and vacuum & recharge 11 pounds of R22 on the outdoor.

Question, why do they have to empty it and totally refill it? Isn't there a way to store what is in there so I don't have to pay $162 per pound of R22?

[Txjourneyman]

Yes, a reputable tech will recover what's in there and only replace what you need. I'd call them and ask why, or just call another service company all together.

[chancito1]

Yes there is but they make more money if they charge you for it

[elliscountyhog]

If they are doing that I would question if the TXV is even bad. That is not a common failure but it does happen.

[J-Fish]

Yes, a reputable tech will recover what's in there and only replace what you need. I'd call them and ask why, or just call another service company all together.

I am an AC guy and I agree completely..... locally we are getting $85 a pound still..... we are the lowest in town and certainly lower then Houston market.

By chance is it a trailer house?

[elliscountyhog]

I am an AC guy and I agree completely..... locally we are getting $85 a pound still..... we are the lowest in town and certainly lower then Houston market.

By chance is it a trailer house?

Wanna come do my r22 service calls?

[IDFWU]

I am an AC guy and I agree completely..... locally we are getting $85 a pound still..... we are the lowest in town and certainly lower then Houston market.

By chance is it a trailer house?

No, it's a house. My AC shut off on sunday night and had a company come out. He said the expansion valve was "leaking" and this was causing a pressure build up and causing my compressor to overheat & shut down. He recommended 3 things:

1. replace the expansion valve & recharge the system ($2900)
2. replace the indoor unit completly so it's R422?? compatibale ($3900)
3. replace the entire system with a 14+ seer system ($11k +)

[JEG8233]

Usually if the TXV (expansion valve) fails it usually sticks closed which would cause a restriction there by overheating the compressor. That's the most common failure anyways.

But if it was leaking causing a low charge situation you would normally freeze it up before it has a chance to overheat.

If all you needed was to swap out TXV's then they should be able to recover the r22, swap out valves, replace drier, and charge you back up only adding the difference of what was recovered.

You may want a second opinion from the sounds of what your saying.

[Txjourneyman]

yeah.... Call someone else!

[LWolken]

Get a second opinion. His explaination of the problem makes no sense.

1. The freon can be pumped down and stored while he changes the valve.

2. If it needs 11lbs of 22 then why not convert to R438 or other R22 replacement at a fraction of the cost of R22.

3. For $2,900 you could replace the indoor coil with one that is compatible with R22 by either a piston metering device or back converting the txv with a R22 valve

Lots of options and he provided no good ones for your situation.

[IDFWU]

Usually if the TXV (expansion valve) fails it usually sticks closed which would cause a restriction there by overheating the compressor. That's the most common failure anyways.

But if it was leaking causing a low charge situation you would normally freeze it up before it has a chance to overheat.

If all you needed was to swap out TXV's then they should be able to recover the r22, swap out valves, replace drier, and charge you back up only adding the difference of what was recovered.

You may want a second opinion from the sounds of what your saying.

I'm going off of memory here...but most likely i got my facts incorrect. I reached out to another company and the cost is about $650....LoL much different.

[elliscountyhog]

I'm going off of memory here...but most likely i got my facts incorrect. I reached out to another company and the cost is about $650....LoL much different.

Glad you called another company. Those prices are HIGH and I am in the DFW market.

[IDFWU]

what really &*SSes me off is that the first company i hired is one of the biggest & supposed to be one of the best in SA.

[Kingfisher789]

Yea and an expansion valve that fails is usually full of trash from the compressor failing.

[JEG8233]

what really &*SSes me off is that the first company i hired is one of the biggest & supposed to be one of the best in SA.

Unfortunately, a bigger outfit doesn't always mean that you'll get a good/true tech. Unfortunately, lots of companies are breeding parts changers instead of true technicians.