Curtis, I love the channel but sometimes I have to wonder what happened to the basics. TXVs should ALWAYS be protected from brazing heat. And it doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. A 25 cent Terry cloth and bottle of tap water will work.just fine. Same goes for service valves and filter driers. YOU”RE COOKING THE MOST SENSITIVE OF COMPONENTS and I see it over and over again. Since the diagnosis video I was waiting to see if you protected this valve and sure enough you didn’t. Check any manufacturer’s documentation and they will tell you to protect the TXV. It’s simple yet effective. Look how much the head of this one got cooked during install.
Exactly this. I watched in horror that the components are not heat protected.. Worse I find very few commenters here picking up on that fact.. saying "great job" when it really isn't.
Look tie your ground and neutral together on the suicide whip. makes it a lot easier. Also get about 50' of rope, a hook (wide mouth) and you can lower your stuff with rope and hook. You'll get so good at it, you'll be able to jiggle your rope and the hook will let go. Than do it all over again instead of going up and down the ladder 20 times in the heat LOL. I did it for decades. Works for taking stuff up and down from the roof.
I like Curtis a lot he is a hard worker and smart but sometimes he’s lacking in the common sense department I swear i guess he works to the beat of his own drum lmaoo😂
One trip hook works too. I have a 65ft rope. I'll tie stuff on both ends and sometimes in the middle of the rope. Also watch for the wild legs on 3 phase 208 when connecting widow makers!
Rope is a savior. Also agree, just take ground and a leg of the cheater chord and clamp them together on ground. Other leg of chord becomes your 120v. I usually use a shunt side of line
Curtis: Thanks for your video. I appreciate the "family friendly" content. I don't use "non family friendly language" and it is nice to view your videos without the foul language used by some other HVAC content creators. Keep cool. From Canada as always. Best regards.
You could prolong the life of the TXV by cooling it each time you braze a line…or better yet spray the valve down with cool gel or thermotrap so it doesn’t get too hot
I missed the explanation of the TXV function and how it gets it's charge or loses it. Is it just charged with R22 and opens and closes as needed, but wouldn't close to hold it's charge?
I’ve got the same recovery machine. When it’s hot outside you have to keep the recovery tank cool or the pump will overheat and shut down from thermal overload. I use a 5 gallon bucket and ice.
Your videos have been really relaxing for me, helping me finally get some much needed sleep after going through shoulder surgery. It's been nearly a year since my accident and it wasn't until I found your video's that I finally began relaxing and falling asleep while watching you work. Maybe it's the repetition of what you do or the fact your video's are not full of annoying music and worthless talking. Just like having a good conversation with a neighbor or co-worker while at work. Thanks for literally helping me recover my mental and physical health my friend.
I love how these manufacturers always have the service tech in mind when they place some of the components of a system where they do 😂 I wish whoever engineers some of this crap actually had to come out in the field and had to work on it!
Thanks for taking me along on your adventures! I admire your courage and self confidence exposing your work to a knowledgeable audience. Especially since you show a misstep now and then. And, what a pleasant, calm personality and way with customers and your audience you have!
Good video. Glad u found out why the txv was locked down. Do we Get to see the Txv & where it lost its charge from? Get Yourself a 10' x 10 ' Pop up shade at Any sporting goods store. $100.00 Regular price or $64.00 on sale. That's what i did !!! Total Game Changer for Compressor change outs or Jobs that take a while. takes 10 min to set up. Best 10 Min. ever !!!
May I make a channel suggestion that may help several people at once? Set up some way to take donations to be put towards an emergency repair for someone who would could in no way afford it? I am certain from the way that you carry yourself that you are a kind man, here is an idea to help grow the channel and help someone. Be the Al Bladez (look up) in your field of work for one person a month who would otherwise suffer. You may already be doing this, now make a detailed video explaining why you did it for that person in dire need. Watch how many new subs you'll get.
when you start humming, I flash back yo my boyhood reading the books "Doc Savage" 1933. Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. who hummed when under stress or thinking hard....Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a polymathic scientist, explorer, detective, and warrior who "rights wrongs and punishes evildoers." I know....silly. but as much as you have taught a laman .... You are my HVAC Doc Savage.....grin
The shared knowledge of the internet is awesome. Even a pro like you Curtis can pick up a few pointers in the comments. Stay safe and take some cooling breaks good sir. That body has to last you awhile yet. 👍
I like to hear your thoughts on Cap’n Hook Torch Tips. Their ad says "You get 100% wraparound for even heat distribution... heats up to 5600 oF". I saw factory workers using them for brazing all sorts of AC parts.
Some times you get Lucky and have a View. 😬 Down side with being on a Roof is it’s Hotter than on the Ground which could have a potential shade block. 😬👍
It’s the season for HVAC work we are swamped at my work with it and trying to work some system replacements in with my guys as well …. Keep up the good work Curtis … 🇺🇸👊🏼👊🏼
Great repair job Curtis! You call it a cheater, we called them widow makers. I still have mine after 47 years, always find a use for it. Just another day in paradise my friend.
Curtis, as an electrician I would like to caution you and other HVAC professionals: Using your cheater to bootleg a neutral via the ground of equipment is seriously hazardous. *Electricity seeks ALL paths back to it's SOURCE, including neutrals and grounds.* (That is why, even in a properly designed and wired system, it is possible to shocked from a neutral wire as your body WILL divert a portion of the voltage to ground through you.) *Grounds are never intended to be energized (as a neutral normally would be on a 120v circuit) they are there as a fault clearing path, to bond together equipment and metallic structures to the same electrical potential (preferably zero), and to help ensure equipment cannot get voltage on it due to faulty components.* Every time you guys use that cheater, you are energizing the entire AC unit and anything metallic attached to it. (Want proof? Next time you use a cheater, take one of your meter leads and attach it to the unit you tied the cheater to. Take the other lead and touch that to any other unit (A/C, exhaust fan, etc.) nearby, you WILL read some voltage. Anything over 3 volts is a hazard.) That exposes anyone touching anything connected to it via a metallic path to potential and possibly lethal shocks. Anything that gets touched WILL divert some of the current though the person touching it. I have attended jobs where someone was severely shocked (and a few fatalities) from this exact scenario. I have also been shocked many times with neutrals simply because I was a partial current path with low enough resistance to get belted. And yes, I have used the same cheaters and have also gotten bit doing it. Your pump most likely failed because the current it drew burned open some part of the ground wire, fittings or connections. You now potentially have a completely ungrounded A/C unit. That should be followed up on to protect you from liability. The solutions? One, use your battery powered vac pump, two, buy a 240v vac pump (they are out there) and connect it normally via the two hots and ground in the unit, three buy a surplus step down transformer rated at 1kva (will weigh about 20lbs and won't be too big) to step down to 120v for your pump, or four run the necessary lengths of extension cords to a regular 120v receptacle. *STOP using the cheater, one day it will get you and you may not survive it.* Final note: What is the #1 killer of electrical tradespersons? Shocks (and/or the resulting falls from getting shocked) due to complacency. They get away with tickling the dragon for so long, until the dragon strikes back. The end results are not pretty.
It's possible you may be harming the TXV with heat soak. I have always put a wet rag on the top while brazing to keep the top cool. I also put a wet rag around the dryer. Good precaution against getting internal components too hot. I really enjoy your channel and look forward to seeing it grow as I watch!
Too bad that TXV didn’t have a serviceable power head like some of the Sporlan units have. Hopefully the loss of charge is not a manufacturing problem. Great job on the repair though! This kind of thing happens in everything lol
Curtis, I worry about your lungs when you are brazing. Have you thought of getting a respirator to wear. Just when you are brazing. Note: This is just a suggestion. Great job
as a retired refrigeration tech, i just suggest when soldering, apply more heat to the bottom of your joint and start at the top. it will flow around to the bottom. you can also heat the silfos and bend a ninety to get the bottom better. might avoid redos.
Are you using those light weight new torch kit they came out with last year? Love the tech umbrella they came out with last year. Good stuff. I bought the Klein fan and have been very happy with it also. Good job Curtis
Just did a txv today on an old rheem, idk they don’t make them all mechanical txvs 🤷♂️ it’s beyond me, nonetheless we got it done and she’s up and cooling now! Just finished literally an hour ago.
2 questions: why didn't you heat protect TXV? #2 i hope where your knees & butt hit condenser coil you straightened the fins that you bent on 1st Txv & second Txv replacement????? if not maybe you should return & fix for air to pass thru seeing its in direct heat on roof.
I've been doing it 45 years & I carry a fin brush, if you don't carry 1 your not doing a quality job, your their to fix unit not do more damage while fixing it. So I bet you install units with bent fins & don't fix. Especially how evaporator coils come. He will be back replacing txv burned up, glad your not my employee making excuses.
Hi. Just curious...since all the 410a was evacuated will the customer have to pay for the new refrigerant, txv, etc? Why can't the old refrigerant be used if its going back into the same unit? I'm not a tech and just an average joe trying to understand the process. Thanks.
i have that same recorvery machine and it got stuck one time and was tripping GFIs and not running on regular outlets, had to play with the in and out knobs and it released a bunch of referigerant and then ran again. was really odd
Hello Curtis, can you help out on a rudd system-heat pump with two stage compressor-ran fine all summer in cooling,heat operation was fine at startup got a no heat call and looked at it yesterday-i have equalized pressures,no cooling or heating,cycling reversing valve i hear no changeover...only clicking on solenoid,we did notice the bulb sensing line from outdoor txv was rubbing and maybe damaged. compressor amps changing while cycling between 1and 2 stages-i know you are a heat pump master so i figured to ask for help,thank you sir
Doesn't a Rheem OEM TXV come withna removable power head and sensing bulb. Swear I did a Rheem and just unscrewed the power head andt landednthe sensing bulb. Vacuumed, returned gas and fired it up. I recall using a little leak lock on the threads. Tried zooming in on Curtis's valve but couldn't see if he could of just unscrewed it.
Curtis flowed Nitrogen during the repair. Then filled the system with Nitrogen for a pressure test for leaks and a decay test, after which he released the Nitrogen pressure and proceeded to draw down a vacuum before weighing in the charge - all of which is in the video.
@patrickinottawa27 that's not what I mean . While pieces are apart blow each line out with high pressure . Not t trying to aggravate any one . I Learned that over the years years of going behind several people.
@@stephenbierlein2517. You mean you've found scroll pieces and parts in lines over your career. Lol. Also gives you piece of mind there's no restrictions.
They sale those 10x10 canopies with water misters that drop temps by 20 degrees and have walls to block direct sunlight you know just a suggestion you might even have it branded people can see you working for a country mile or so good video
Another thing I noticed. You don't show how you get all your stuff up on the roof and back down. It's a struggle when your my age. Just wondering how you do it?
He likes to cut corners like no protection, not reaming out fittings and then justify his cutting the corners by saying he has not had any problems so he continues to cut them corners.
Sorry Curtis, no prep and no heat sink on the TXV makes hole like a swiss cheese which is what you had. Learn to silver solder. I was a tech for 35 years and never had those problems. Your soldering sucks.
Might already know it, but get you some electrolyte pills to have on hand & go with the water. They've saved my bacon before, low sodium can happen quick if you are sweating like mad.
Dry heat isnt too bad I agree, but extreme humidity heat is torture your body cannot evaporate the sweat so the layer of sweat makes you even more overheated.
I'm in Florida where a white rubber roof will get over 120. Then you can add in the sun and the 55% humidity.Did 3 liquid line driers by The Ocean at a Hilton today and they were the fastest driers you can imagine.
