Goodman Liquid Line Drier Replacement Questions

[MB S550]

Hello and thanks in advance for your assistance,

I have a six year old Goodman Compressor (model CLQ48-1B, or CL048-1B the data label is hard to read...) that may have developed a leak at the liquid line drier. One tech from the A/C company said the drier was not leaking after 30 minutes of testing with a Fluke digital freon sniffer (apologies if that's not the right term) and also a soap test. He said the Schrader valve caps were worn out and replaced them with new ones with inner seals. He wanted a second opinion and asked his supervisor to come out and check the next day.

This bloke also used a digital freon sniffer and said that the same drier was leaking. He also said that this model of Goodman compressor had the drier on the inside of the coils (next to the Copeland Scroll Compressor) and as such, it could not be drawn down and the freon would be have to be recycled and new virgin freon must be used to recharge the system. The first tech told me that the freon could be drawn down on the same unit, so who is right? Any Goodman installers/dealers out there? So, does anyone know if this unit can be drawn down or not? If so, it would save the cost of the freon at least. Since both of the tech's at this company are at odds as to whether you can draw down the freon and reuse it, I'm unsure how to proceed. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time and assistance.

"Auf den Flügeln eines eleganten Silber Dame"

[Crazecodyk]

If the drier is internal to the outdoor unit the freon must be recovered into an approved cylinder. The freon can be reused if recovered properly.

[carmon]

I concure

[cuchulain]

The drier is internal and the refrigerant will need to be recovered and then can be reused.

[MB S550]

Hello,

Thanks for the information... So a draw down is not possible due to the location of the drier, no problemo. My A/C company has said that you cannot under any circumstance reuse the recycled freon. They are adamant that you must recharge with virgin freon only. I'm not sure how many pounds of freon it holds, but the data label says it has an 8.5 lb charge, plus the 25' of 1" line to the unit in the attic, so there would be even more, maybe 10 lbs total??? Being able to reuse the old freon would save a lot of dinero, but they say it cannot be done. Is there some secret to reusing the freon from the recycle tank? Thanks in advance for any assistance?

[Chris_Worthington]

MB S550,

Prices are not allowed to be posted and are irrelevant anyways due to different pricing in different geographical areas

[glennac]

Wow is all I can say. Get another company they are hacks big time. You can definitly reuse freon in the same unit you took it out of but cannot reuse it in another unit. They don't know what they are doing if they say that and I wouldn't trust them on an estimate either. Thank you very much

[jdblack]

Did they possibly do an acid test and that is why they are saying they can't reuse it.

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[Chris_Worthington]

Going with the others here,,, it is YOUR gas and your machine....

[second opinion]

Hello,

Thanks for the information... So a draw down is not possible due to the location of the drier, no problemo. My A/C company has said that you cannot under any circumstance reuse the recycled freon. They are adamant that you must recharge with virgin freon only. I'm not sure how many pounds of freon it holds, but the data label says it has an 8.5 lb charge, plus the 25' of 1" line to the unit in the attic, so there would be even more, maybe 10 lbs total??? Being able to reuse the old freon would save a lot of dinero, but they say it cannot be done. Is there some secret to reusing the freon from the recycle tank? Thanks in advance for any assistance?

It can be done they do not want to do it. use another company.The profit margin on the refrigerant is what they are looking for.

[second opinion]

Wow is all I can say. Get another company they are hacks big time. You can definitly reuse freon in the same unit you took it out of but cannot reuse it in another unit. They don't know what they are doing if they say that and I wouldn't trust them on an estimate either. Thank you very much

It can be used in another unit provided it is under the same ownership.

[MB S550]

Hello again,

Thanks for all of your answers and help... I sincerely appreciate it!

jdblack: They did not do an acid test (the only testing they did was a leak test with a digital leak detector and a spray on soap test, nothing else), they just said that it was impossible to reuse any freon that was recycled... ever... and that you must use virgin freon when recharging. I thought it sounded odd that you could not reuse the same freon that the unit was charged with and running on currently. They said the freon would be "contaminated" by moisture and air from the recycle tank and you could not reuse it. The freon recyclers I have seen (Mercedes-Benz dealerships) are very sophisticated pieces of equipment and I would be surprised if they contaminated the removed freon in any way, since it is frequently reinstalled in the same car after repairs are made.

Thanks again for everyone's help... I need to find another A/C company that works in the North Houston/South Montgomery County Texas area. Does this board have a referral service? Thanks again!

[jdblack]

You can look on the AOP contractor map.

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[Mr Bill]

I could pump the unit down and use my pinch off tool and replace the drier with no refrigerant loss, done it many times.

[MB S550]

Hello Mr. Bill,

Thanks for the reply... Do you work the far north country in The Woodlands? If so, can you pump it down if the drier is inside the coils next to the compressor? You can email me if you prefer, my addy is in my profile. Thanks in advance!

[comfortdoc]

Hello Mr. Bill,

Thanks for the reply... Do you work the far north country in The Woodlands? If so, can you pump it down if the drier is inside the coils next to the compressor? You can email me if you prefer, my addy is in my profile. Thanks in advance!

The dryer would not be next to the compressor.

[jdblack]

The dryer would not be next to the compressor.

I believe the OP is talking about its physical location not how its piped in =)

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