Half of Coil Warm

10 years ago

Looking for a bit of advice. I am in South Florida with an 1800 SF home. Compressor is 3 1/2 ton Goodman R-22. I had the air handler and evaporator coil replaced about a year ago. The coil is a Nordyne Model REPLCOIL03M with a fixed orifice.

I am just a homeowner trying to educate myself so please excuse my lack of understanding or possible use of the wrong terms.

I don't think the system really ever operated properly but didn't really notice until the heat of the summer. It didn't seem to be cooling as well as it should. The greatest temp differential I ever observed between the inlet and closest supply was 13 degrees. I also felt the coil and only half was cool and it was dripping condensate into the inlet box.

Service techs came and suggested changing the filter/dryer which they did and still same symptoms. They told me coil was bad still under parts only warranty. They changed the coil and still the same symptoms. I was beginning to get frustrated because the invoices were mounting on a unit that was just installed about a year ago and it still did not operate properly.

The tech took one more look at it and changed/adjusted a part near the coil and all problems were solved. Both sides of the coil were cool, no dripping outside the normal drain and temp diff close to 18 degrees. I asked him what he did and he was very vague saying it was a factory defect and mentioning something about removing a piston.

The a/c seems to be cooling better than it ever has but I do notice the small line(liquid line?) to the evaporator coil is pulsating prior to entering the air handler.

So my questions are and I understand it is impossible to diagnose over the Internet but I would appreciate some educated guesses.

What did the tech do to get both sides of the coil cool that only took five minutes or less?

Could this same procedure been accomplished on the year old coil that they removed?

Is the pulsating small line entering the evaporator coil normal?

Let me know if you need more information.

Thanks

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Comments (4)

cecash1
10 years ago
The coil they replaced you with was a 3 ton coil. I wouldn't be surprised if they installed a 410A model. What he most likely did was put the proper size piston in there..............which was NOT a factory defect, but a technician/salesman defect for putting a 3 ton coil into a 3 1/2 system. Just my opinion
MamasBoy
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for your quick reply.

The A/C coil is Nordyne Model REPLCOIL03M, Serial RED130810592. It did say on one of the stickers R-22/R-410A with a standard orifice of .080.

When you say piston, are you referring to the size of the orifice. Did the orifice need to be changed since the outside unit is 3 1/2 ton and the coil is 3 ton as you stated. I am not sure of the coil ton size. I assume you know the size based on the model number.

Also, what is your opinion of the pulsating line into the coil? I never remember this occurring before but it also wasn't cooling properly. Normal?

Thank you for your time and expertise.
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cecash1
10 years ago
According to the charts a .080 is the right orifice for a 3.5 ton with R-22. I would press the issue with the contractor for better information on what he actually did. See if the coil did actually come with the wrong orifice. Even if that's the case there is no way the installing contractor properly started up the unit.

The pulsating should not be happening with a fixed orafice
MamasBoy
Original Author
10 years ago
The contractor and I had a falling out over this and his denial of labor warranty coverage. The installer would not tell me what he did to get it running correctly. It got pretty ugly including his installer calling the police because I disputed the bill and the manager screaming at me over the phone telling me I couldn't possibly understand how a/c systems work and threatening to remove parts I had already paid for and void my parts warranty.

I obviously need to find a reputable and qualified hvac technician. The problem is I was coerced into paying the original contractor some money to get the unit running properly and I hate to pay another company again. On the other hand, I am concerned about the pulsating liquid line and wondering what is causing this and if it will have a long term detrimental effect on system longevity.

I do appreciate all the advice I have received.