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Metering device faulty on heat pump unit

skernv99

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
231
Location
VA
I'm novice to HVAC systems and how they work but have been trying to read up on some stuff.

Background: moved into a new build house in Spring 2017. House was built between Summer 206 and Spring 2017. The two outside units are Goodman brand and from researching the serial numbers on them, they were manufactured in 2012. The builder I assume likely bought them "new old stock" from somewhere but never bothered to register them with the manufacturer. I have no home warranty considering this house was a new build. The systems are heat pumps.

This past spring, I had to get the compressor and TXV replaced on one of my outdoor units because two capillary tubes inside the unit were rubbing together and one of them sprung a leak, causing all of the refrigerant to escape. Thus the compressor was shot after running the unit for a while with no refrigerant. The HVAC tech replaced (at my cost) the compressor and TXV and all was good. The parts were covered under warranty, but not the labor.

I probably ran the system twice (on AC mode) for a period of a few hours each time between the spring (when the unit was fixed) and now. Last week I had the HVAC tech come out to do the seasonal check on my system and guess what, the unit that caused me grief earlier this year has low suction, 56 Psig, compared to the other unit which tested at 138Psig. The tech said likely it's a faulty/bad metering device and since the units were not registered with the manufacturer, I would have to pay for the labor to replace the part (covered under manufacturer warranty) plus new refrigerant. I told the tech to forget about it as I'm not paying for that.

The tech did say that in AC mode, the until will run fine but once in heat mode, the components of the system will work harder because of the faulty metering device, and thus the unit compressor will burn out faster.

I was going to contact a guy my wife and I used to install our last HVAC unit in a previous house we lived in to get a second opinion. This same guy also was on contract with my wife's boss and have known him for almost 15 years. We didn't use him this past Spring when I first encountered problems because we moved to an area about an hour farther away and wanted to find someone closer.

I'm thinking I should had just paid for the diagnostic, refrigerant, and service call in the spring and replaced the Goodman unit with a brand more reliable?

Just venting out and looking for some advice. Is the second guy going to give me the same bad news and tell me I need to likely replace the metering device? Thanks in advance.
 
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BillK

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Aug 24, 2006
Messages
9,348
Location
Beautiful Southern Maryland
First thing I would do is contact Goodman and see what the warranty is. Most warranties start when the item is purchased by the end user (you), not when it is made. You should be able to look up the model number on their website and see what the warranty is.
 
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fitter30

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Joined
Jun 23, 2019
Messages
2,986
Location
Peace Valley,mo
Warranty is parts and labor for 1 year & parts for5 years or more depending on unit. Check with the manufacturer. Pressure in your post sounds like R22 would like to be sure and if both units were in the ac mode and outdoor/ indoor temps.
 

LS6 Tommy

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Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
26,162
Location
Northern NJ
Warranty is parts and labor for 1 year & parts for5 years or more depending on unit. Check with the manufacturer. Pressure in your post sounds like R22 would like to be sure and if both units were in the ac mode and outdoor/ indoor temps.

138# suction on the unit that is operating properly is definitely not R22. It's most likely R410A.

Tommy
 

Milton Shaw

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
4,841
You don't mention the high side pressure, we need that to really know what is going on. A 58 low side on a system could just be low charge if high side is that low also. In heat pump mode the only way to charge any where close is to evacuate and weight the charge back in. You cannot accurately charge by pressure in heat pump mode. Then a good service man would want to come back on a hot day to get the charge exactly right. If its that low then you have a leak in the new unit or in the connections to the old unit. Get another serviceman looks like needs to be done to fix the unit.
 
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