TXV vs Orifice vs Capillary - The Three Most Common Refrigerant Regulating Devices & How They Work

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Here I show the different ways that liquid refrigerant or "freon" is regulated into an evaporator coil. The most common type uses an orifice which is a tiny hole drilled in a small piece of metal which only allows the correct amount of refrigerant through.
Likewise, a capillary tube restricts the flow by using a very long pipe or tube in order to create the correct amount of flow. The last one is more advanced and is called a thermal expansion valve or TEV. They are sometimes called a TXV as well.
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Blessings from Minnesota!
Ben

[@raminaklove877]

There are a lot of hvac techs Or teachers, who post videos Regarding issues and problems of HVAC or simply explaining some of the parts. BUT you sir!, nailed it. You have not only explained it in detail, but you have also taken your time to teach it to the level of new students or news employees such as myself. Please keep up the good work. You're a videos are extremely helpful. I appreciate you for posting and uploading them all.

[@danielortega3910]

I’m in HVAC school right now and this was extremely helpful!!! Thank you 😊

[@alexzapata692]

Thumbs up and a new subscriber. Awesome video, good refresher, good to have a solid foundation of the refrigeration cycle understanding every key component and the different types of each component.

[@edwarderika6641]

I'm too busy looking at the gorgeous background and property to pay attention to the devices!

[@jcaleca60]

Ben is the best.short and to the point

[@Froggability]

The most common (in my area at least) is EEV. Used with inverters. Followed the orifice; then capillaries and TVX

[@aulaharris1]

Great knowledge. Thank you

[@yrtuag]

I knew the cap tube system was a Lennox. I removed a working 2 1/2 ton Lennox with that same cap tube system many years ago that was still working from a rental house that belong to the HVAC company I was working for.. I installed it in my first home, (in1985) but I replaced the cap tube with a TXV. Fond memory of days gone bye. Hope you all enjoyed your BBQ 😎

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Amazing how long some systems last! Thanks for sharing!

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

I installed a use AC unit at the first place my wife & I moved into as well. Sometimes you have to do what you can with what you have!

[@yrtuag]

@@BenjaminSahlstrom : You're welcome Sir 🤠

[@layoutjar]

why is the suction pressure showing 70 degree temp on a 410a but the compressor amps showing only 9 amps and the cooling is not there ? And thanks for the video this unit is a Goodman unit 4 ton in a resedential . run RLA amps show about 19 amps.

[@GabeLily]

me at 11PM: yeah, i'll watch one more video and I'll sleep. me at 4 AM, trying to find out how tf refrigerators work:

[@Jerry8xd]

Nice

[@MT-jf1tn]

Great video! Q: I have a comercial walk-in freezer and the thermostat is set to -20f BUT the temperature barely gets to 10f my compressor is 3.5 hp the box is 7W x 20D x7H ft. So my question is do I need to close or open valve? to get at least -0f

[@sabriath]

I would imagine that neither will solve your problem, the TXV is usually set at a point that saves the compressor from being damaged. If you're not getting cold enough, either you have low pressure, bad valve, or wrong refrigerant. But that's just a guess from some guy strolling through youtube.

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

There are so many possibilities. Here is what I would probably do: 1 - Make sure that the thermostat hasn't drifted out of tolerance. I had a thermostat the other day that was set to -10 and was only cooling to 20. Turned it down and it started working properly. We will be replacing that thermostat soon. 2 - Be absolutely certain that the coil is not freezing up or that it doesn't have a significant amount of ice build up on it. Also, the ice should be fairly even (or even the frost while it is running normally). If the coil is uneven with the way it frosts up then you may have a low refrigerant charge of bad TEV. 3 - Verify that the defrost timer is working. If the unit keeps having ice build up on the coil then the defrost timer could be the issue. 4 - Check all of the basics! Clean the condenser coil, check fan motors, make sure the compressor isn't tripping out on thermal overload or high or low pressure. That'll get you started hopefully!

[@yrtuag]

@@BenjaminSahlstrom : Good advice.

[@joemiller5110]

Can a R-22 compressor be replaced with a new R-410 unit and leave the existing coil in-place. If so what steps would need to take place? Thanks

[@summerseve502]

No

[@nafeel62]

Which one is best among three , I think TXV is best

[@SarjanaObeng]

Hi Ben, I wanna ask about copper filter dryer. I notice that there is no any of it istalled in my half ton split hvac. Now I am about to have it maintained, should I install one of copper filter dryer on the system? Where should I have it placed, after the capilary? Thank you

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

I would not recommend adding a filter drier to a system that is already working fine. If you have to have something done to it where they have to remove the refrigerant charge for some reason then a filter drier should definitely be added. You locate a liquid filter drier right before whatever regulating device that the system uses be is a TEV, capillary, or orifice. I would also not recommend a "copper" filter drier but one more like this: amzn.to/2YfOEe3 Good luck with your project and thanks for your comment!

[@KarlAlfredRoemer]

If a capillary tube mimics a fixed orifice, why not take a fixed orifice directly? It is much cheaper. What is the advantage of the capillary tube?

[@ikstrucking3289]

Ye... Rheem started making heat pumps both, the indoor unit, and outdoor unit with expansion valves... This made the system not reliable, too many expansion valves to fail, and kill the compressor. 5 ton, 7 year old system, compressor grenades, both expansion valves trashed... Other manufacturers don't do this idiocy on their units, they have outdoor unit with a piston, and indoor unit with expansion valve. The result is, that system with only one expansion valve tends to work without major hiccups for 10-25 years! That never happens when system has two expansion valves! Only one expansion valve should be installed, for indoor unit, the outdoor unit should always carry fixed metering device, like piston. Done this way is double the reliability. Rheem heat pump? Not again! To make this unit reliable again, expansion valve on the outdoor unit needs TO GO, and a piston installed. The inside unit can use the TXV, but once every 7-10 years I would pump out the refrigerant, replace screens, and the indoor txv. Overall, a system carrying two TXVs is pissa vu shit piece in regards to reliability and longevity, that compressor will absolutely have a premature death tap out

[@robertcherry4971]

What part of the country do you live in Ben?

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Southwest Minnesota. And you?

[@robertcherry4971]

Benjamin Sahlstrom I live in Indianapolis, Indiana.

[@BenjaminSahlstrom]

Nice! We have friends in Evansville.