The suction line accumulator is designed to keep liquid refrigerant from entering the compressor while still allowing for oil return. The trouble is that if the oil return port/screen clogs, the accumulator can fill with oil and actually cause the compressor to fail. In addition to that, it can hold contaminated oil in a burnout. […]

Most controls and thermostats will have some sort of cycle rate per hour setting that kicks in to prevent over-cycling once the setpoint is reached. These cycle settings don't kick in until the system starts achieving setpoint, so don't worry if it will shut off if it's set to 70° in heat mode and it's […]

The most common diagnosis with expansion valves is failed closed or restricted, resulting in underfeeding of the evaporator. The symptoms are low suction, normal subcooling, and high superheat when a TXV fails “shut,” but there are some other issues to watch for that can actually result in overfeeding the coil. Schrader in the Port The […]