Trick for clearing Carrier multiple orifice manifolds in RTU's without removing them 

Glad to see it keeps doing the job 👍

That's awesome

Nice. Good to hear.

Yup, I've done that. With snips as well. The only real way of extracting the individual tunes out of the evap tube bell ends without destroying it 👍 That is the official repair method. Just got to hope a manifold assembly is in stock. As for Sporlan filters... check out a video of Sporlan vs Emerson ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5OtmSbBAmCY.html My coworker seen the demo in person. You could tap on a sporlan while it runs and it allows debris to escape

That is awesome! 👍

Did you get normal pressures and splits afterwards? So far this worked each time I attempted it.

Yeah, I heard him talk about that before. I think he leaves it up to the customer if he mentions it. The conversion being the higher priced option. But being he's had such high success rate, it's probably appealing to the customer

That tool does not remove copper, I usually use a little oil to help it work even better.

Awesome. I only used the flush one time. Yet it worked every time so far.

Post the results

@@hackfreehvac it didn't work very well but it helped. So I told the customer and we just ordered the TXV conversion kit which is nice because it will fix both circuit one and two

@hookedup9424 If it's straight cool the conversion is easy. I have videos of that too. Older ones so look back a ways. Heat pumps don't convert.

@@hackfreehvac yeah it's a gas pack. I'm hoping it goes smoothly. It's been a pain in the ass and made me feel like I don't know what the hell I'm doing

@@hookedup9424 Here is a video of me doing that 8 years ago 👍 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6r-GAx8f3-0.htmlsi=VfJBFPR2YInFdscG

Make sure you come back and let us know how it went.

Been a few months, how’d it go?

Comment back and let us know if it worked.

This is a bandaid fix at best.

@@joeanderson6187 I have decided to stop doing orifice replacements, because half of the time there is still a problem in the evap, and the better part of a day is wasted.If I saw a more consistent outcome, i would be clearing the orifices, but after so many partial outcomes, I just write them up.

You can use a filter drier in place of a strainer. But you will need the check valves. Also if the system had a restricted multi orifice manifold assembly before the old compressor died then you'll still have that restriction after

Sure, but to get them back up and running can be a great win. Then you tell them you're going to need to come back and do that work. Job security. Most customers like the option of getting their equipment back up and running with little cost. Then perhaps with incremental improvements making it look like it didn't cost so much. So it depends on what the customer wants to do sometimes. You make recommendations that keeps you coming back if you like doing that. But being he's had such success performing this task, the simplicity in it, and the lack of parts needed to perform the task, it's a cheap option to get the customer up running. Additionally, in inline filter replacement will buy even more time. A cost most customers are willing to fork out. But again, with the thought of returning. So dude, he just got them running at a fraction of the cost of another (rejected) quote. All the while landing a repeat customer for saving them money. But seriously though, do you actually believe this is the kind of guy that had not considered everything you've just stated? Clearly, the contaminated oil issue is the obvious. But with the success rate being 100%, I'd think he knows what he's doing. So your comment is definitely odd. What tech performing such a task wouldn't know that?

Search the videos. There should be some others. There should be one of a Trane that was really bad. Same fix. Multi orifice header design.

High 😂

Are you still making videos?

Yeah you can buy an orifice kit and cut the old one out and piece together the kit. I've just been able to clear them out. On straight cool in just convert to TXV with feeders

hackfreehvac I’ve done dozens of conversions, kits and building own distributor, they work on tranes great but not so much on the carriers, it’s a toss up on them I believe it’s because the valve has to be in heat, like this old Lennox that were built that way

Orfice kits are not that hard, carriers you have to pull while coil, 4 hour job

@@braintumor943 I've done it on Trane and Carrier but on straight cool. The heat pumps have check valves to change flow/purpose of part of each coil depending on heading or cooling mode.

hackfreehvac you right, we don’t get a lot of heat pumps, although we do get dehum in drug warehouses, labs, clean rooms, etc On a side note, kind of threw dud under the bus didn’t ya, haha

No drop across the strainer/check valve. And you do often see frost after the metering device. Low suction pressure and high superheat. I often add a pinch of refrigerant to see if it corrects as these are sometimes hard to tell the difference when the restriction is subtle. If the subcooling starts to climb with the extra refer than it is definitely restricted.

Typical repair is replacing the entire manifold header assembly.

When clearing the orifices I blow as fast as it will go. Short hard blasts. You see the smoke from the oil/wax come out for a second then it clears up. Just have the pipe around the orifice almost cherry red hot (but don't melt the copper) then blast it. Do the same on each parallel orifice.

That's what I do when I swage larger sizes such as 7/8

Thanks 👍

I think I've fixed some on the gas packs too.

AC Renew is a synthetic coil. It is good for loosening up the action in a TXV or RV but it won't unplug orifices. RX-11 FLUSH can help here.

Usually 2-3 weeks to get one, and an absolute PITA to replace on some models, especially the 14 SEER heat pump package units.

123 PSI is too high? LOL Normal 410 suction can be 110 to 150 easy depending on current return air load. Every 1 degree of increased evap coil temp adds several PSI of suction pressure. i.e. a 40 degree coil = 118 PSI 41 = 121 42 = 123 43 = 125 44 = 128 45 = 130 46 = 133 47 = 135 48 = 138 49 = 140 50 = 143 An 80 degree return air temp can EASILY give you a 140 PSI suction pressure. 123 is really good suction pressure. Low suction / high compression ratio is what kills compressors. When I did these repairs I informed the person that the compressor MAY already have taken a hit from the previous operation and that time will tell.

It's NOT a drill bit. It uses friction to heat the pipe then the pipe is able to be stretched to the shape of the spinning tool. The tool is made to do this. I do give a shot of nitro through the pipe just in case.

Did you think that was a drill bit? That is a specialized "swage" tool that is mase for this purpose. It is tapered and uses friction to heat the copper until the tapered swage tool spins down into it, creating a female fitting. There really isn't debris from this process. And the nitro can blow it out. And so far never had one single one of these come back to me restricted. These repairs are also already an option for the customer to get an old unit working as opposed to buying a new unit or waiting to get the entire header assembly. It is understood that it is a fix to get a little more life out of it. But again. Haven't had to go back on one single one yet for any restriction.

@@hackfreehvac Thank you for explanation! Hey I'm not the only dummie around 🙃

Restriction. High superheat, low suction, low temp split. etc

Pretty much.

Dry Nitrogen is fairly inert. It displaces the atmosphere so no oxygen in the system.

I often swap to TXV on the straight cool units but most units here are heat pumps and due to the check valves in the coil manifolds to re purpose sections of the coils differently for heat versus cool it is not an option to change to a TXV.

The OEM units often only used a screen strainer ahead of the check valve and orifice header to the evap coil. I install a good liquid line drier. I have yet to go back and fix the same problem on any of these.

That is a synthetic oil. I don't think it will remove the debris which are generally caused by nuked compressor oil. LOL AC Renew does seem to help with TXV's though by helping the needle move smoothly. Reversing Valves too.

I often blow them out anytime I think something might get in there. Although the spinning swage doesn't really make any shavings at all. It makes the copper malleable by heating it up and then just stretches it. There is no cutting effect etc.

@@hackfreehvac what's the brand of that swedge tool or where can I get one? That looks sweet , especially not leaving anything in the line.

@@cravenmoorehead6219 The brand I use is called Spin Swage spintools.com/swage/

This was too long ago to remember that.

Not for this issue. The synthetic coil helps sticking reversing valves and TXV's but this issue is more from oil breakdown from comp heating etc..

@@hackfreehvac thanks for replying, how much pressure did you use to purge it.

@@obedb093 I blasted the nitro pretty high after I heated the orifice

@@hackfreehvac thanks it worked.

@@obedb093 That's awesome.

When it's a straight cool I do convert them to txv. But on heatpumps it's difficult because the coils have multiple check valves to repurpose sections of each coil whether it's in heating or cooling mode. For example... in condenser coil mode the hot gas goes through multiple parallel connected circuits then comes out onto a manifold and then a single 3/8" line then goes back into the bottom section of the same coil for a few more passes before leaving as liquid to the other coil. That complexity prevents changing to a TXV. But straight cool units are a more typical design. Here's a video of converting a straight cool carrier to txv ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6r-GAx8f3-0.html

DUDE! 😆😆😆 *The entire point is to quickly heat up the pipe just to the point of glowing red in order to liquify the oil wax in the internal captive acutrol (pistons) in order to then clear them out with nitrogen* Using a wet rag would fight that entire process. Remember. This is a quick last ditch effort on older units as opposed to swapping out the entire acutrol header assembly. That is, IF an assembly is even available. The customer would be fully aware that there were no promises. So far the only leak I have ever had yet was when I cracked one and I saw it crack and then simply welded over it. So far every attempt has worked and I didn't have a repeat failure as of the last time I was doing service on them.

There are a few brands making them. Search "Spinning Swage"