Compressor New, Expansion valve new, conversion to 401a from 22... Not Working

[classical]

I agree with the second half of your post but will respectfully agree to disagree on 1st part. My response was aimed at his equipment.
R22 coil in AH, I won't waste my time or customers time & money w/ a TXV swap. New AH would have been the correct install w/ that condenser & that's how I would have bid it (if it needed a new condenser). Someone married that install.
However- the real concern is selling the condenser when all it needed was a motor.

in all fairness to the contractor I have seen many condensers that were less than 10-years old that warranted being replaced becuase of a bad fan motor even without a component failure. I see many Rheem condensers with coils so badly oxidized that they needed replacement in less than 10 years; the OP is in Florida.

So yes it appears this contractor has limited skills and knowledge but we do not know for sure the condenser did not need to be replaced.

[BaldLoonie]

Hello BaldLoonie,
They changed the TXV on The Rheem (air handler) model number is RCHA-24A2GG14. The Ruud 13AJN was the outdoor compressor that was replaced. Could the residual mineral oil account for the coils freezing?

The RCHA is a coil, may be in an air handler. It is a royal pain to change those TXVs. I suppose he might have but then again, maybe not!. Did they leave the old TXV around or the box the new one came in?

[classical]

The RCHA is a coil, may be in an air handler. It is a royal pain to change those TXVs. I suppose he might have but then again, maybe not!. Did they leave the old TXV around or the box the new one came in?

He stated that there was a clogged capillary tube thatwas clogged during the TXV installation. Sounds like the equalizing tube being brazed into the suction line by an unskilled person.

[cookie12]

The RCHA is a coil, may be in an air handler. It is a royal pain to change those TXVs. I suppose he might have but then again, maybe not!. Did they leave the old TXV around or the box the new one came in?

No they took everything with them, tomorrow I have 3 contractor's coming in to look at the install, and get new bids. I do know that when he was installing the TXV he showed me the capillary and the install, after he was finished with the torch, he said "Oh S***" excused himself and called another installer. There was a lot of that happening while he was here. They've been out here about 28 hours in total (4 hours x 2 men on 3 days + 4 hours 1 man), it was installed the first week of July, and it hasn't been cold once, it's been dry, and cool. The air trickles out of the vents.

I've lost faith that the old contractor can get this to work properly and the air handler is starting to make some pretty strange vibrating sounds. I have turned it off for the moment and will just make due with the ceiling fans. I just want to move on at this point.

[catmanacman]

Im thinking a new coil with a new 410a expansion valve

[ar_hvac_man]

Jeez. Did they throw in a jar of vaseline with that condenser??

Sounds like cond fan motor was all you needed. Id never put a 410a condenser on an evap thats been running 22. Stupid and will void the warranty on some units.

I bet he cut one of your distributor tubes and brazed it closed in his futile attempt to repair it.

Hopefully youll get a competent contractor out there who can remedy your debacle. Good luck.

[cookie12]

Jeez. Did they throw in a jar of vaseline with that condenser??

Sounds like cond fan motor was all you needed. Id never put a 410a condenser on an evap thats been running 22. Stupid and will void the warranty on some units.

I bet he cut one of your distributor tubes and brazed it closed in his futile attempt to repair it.

Hopefully youll get a competent contractor out there who can remedy your debacle. Good luck.

I'm not sure about the vaseline it wasn't in the detail.


Now there's another interesting tidbit, can you all verify this for me?
The last contractor came and looked at the outside unit. Here were his observations.

The unit has a sticker on the side,

New contractor said
1) This is an 22r model (sticker states 410)
2) The model number 13AJN24A01 - "01" means manufactured in 2001
3) Date of manufacture on sticker 05/2012
4) This information should be stamped on the outside unit, not applied by paper sticker.
5) Says that the "N" in the model number means 22r

Can anyone verify this information?

Thanks again

[beenthere]

The manufacturer date is NOT in the model number.

Its an R410A model.

[classical]

I'm not sure about the vaseline it wasn't in the detail.


Now there's another interesting tidbit, can you all verify this for me?
The last contractor came and looked at the outside unit. Here were his observations.

The unit has a sticker on the side,

New contractor said
1) This is an 22r model (sticker states 410)
2) The model number 13AJN24A01 - "01" means manufactured in 2001
3) Date of manufacture on sticker 05/2012
4) This information should be stamped on the outside unit, not applied by paper sticker.
5) Says that the "N" in the model number means 22r

Can anyone verify this information?

Thanks again

New contractor does not have a clue!!!

[cookie12]

Thank you for responding.

Old contractor said that he will not retrieve old compressor and that by law, he's not obligated to do that. He's only obligated to work on it until we are both satisfied. Well, I don't have confidence that he can fix it, one of the techs called and wants to try a new valve (this would be number 3) and I'm tired of having him come back, it's 4 hours at a time and I need to get other things done. He said they've only been back once, by my count it's 4 times since the installation, is the office not talking to him? It's just getting crazier.

Now the new contractor has offered to remove the unit and leave it on the back deck, but I don't want them to touch it, don't want any further issues and if it's dropped or damaged in any way, I'd rather not deal with it. Next step is contacting FDBPR and starting a claim against the company.

[BaldLoonie]

His record is 5 for 5 - wrong

[cookie12]

5 of 5 wrong? I'm slowly losing my mind.

Ok, last contractor said, it's the valve that's not regulating properly.
If they've clogged the capillary even a little it won't regulate properly.
66 degrees coming out of the air handler, should be 60, coils are not evenly cold.
He checked the pressure on the outside unit and said it's exactly where it needs to be.

And if the valve isn't regulating properly my electric bill is sure to go up, which it has.
He also said that I might get away with just changing out the air handler and not worrying about the oil corrupting the outside condenser motor. He said "There are reports that there could be problems if the system wasn't flushed properly, but in his experience he's never seen it happen".

[catmanacman]

Ask them to replace the complete coil ,mabey someone more familiar with the rheem ruud will know if there is a coil that comes with a 410 expansion valve for that unit .im sure there is one that comes with a piston ,as for the airflow it looks like they are going the wrong direction

[ar_hvac_man]

Says right there 410a. Date code is NOT in the model its in the serial.... w1912 = 19th week of 2012

Would be nice if all the info was stamped into a metal tag like they used to do but they dont anymore. Its all stickers nowadays. Someone else will have to break down the rest of the nomenclature, i havnt sold a rheem product in a while(you can see my reason on the bottom right of the sticker), and ive forgotten my rheemote user id.