A/C Diagnosis-Sticking Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV, H-Valve)

8-17-18 Don't forget about the SD merch you see above me^^^^^^^^^ 100% of my proceeds will be going to charity. When I have the list complete, I will be putting them up on my website (who we will be helping). Right now I have a pro life group called the Human Connection that offers free ultrasounds to women considering an abortion and of course a ton of other benefits for these hurting woman. I also have Light of Life Rescue Mission (homeless shelter in Pittsburgh) and a list of about 5 or 6 more. I think I will probably only go with 3 charities for now, to get the most help we can to these people.

For who ever may be interested, nitrogen, a dry, inert gas, would serve much better for cleaning a system that must be absolutely dry in order to operate properly. Any moisture in the system will freeze and possibly plug the refrigerant line at the metering device, aka. The, or H- block. To do a jam up job that will give long lasting service a proper procedure must be done. After the system is cleaned and all connectors are closed up with both high and low side gauges attached to system, pull a quick vacuum with both gauged opened. Close gauges turn vac pump off. Connect vacuum line to nitrogen bottle, crack nitrogen, open high side gauge and bleed through system an open low side gauge and loosen low side line a little at gauge, and let blow a bit. At this time if you want to check all fitting, including schraders, pressure the system up to about 150 psi.,remove gauges with the pressure still in the system and check valve stems and any other connections to be sure no leaks, OR, reconnect gauges, both high and low, bleed pressure down to about 100 psi, close gauges securely and let it set while you have a beer and a smoke. 20 minutes or so. Check pressure on gauges. It should be exactly as you left it as nitrogen does not react to temperatures. Satisfied that you have no leaks, slowly release gas pressure through low side gauge and through r(e middle line on gauges. As the pressure nears zero but before it stops blowing completely, attach to vacuum pump and let the pressure reach zero. Tighten line and start vacuum pump. As the pressure begins to pull into a vacuum open up high side gauge. Pull vacuum for at least 1hr. Close gauges and stop pump. Leave it for a while. Time for a couple more beers, and a break. This step is very important the farther south you are, ask any shade tree journeyman. When you are well rested and cooled down, return to the gauges and see that the pressure has not risen at all. If not you can be sure the system is perfectly dry! If not dry the moisture in the system will boil off in a vacuum, and build pressure. If this happens simply start pump, open gauges and have another beer. Repeat this process until you are satisfied that it is dry. You are now ready to charge the system so connect to refrigerant oil and add 1/2 oz. per pound of full charge amount, unless you either drained the compressor or experienced a lot of oil in the repairs. This is one point where a call to a knowledgeable tech might help. Add exactly the ounces that is called for of refrigerant, but , always purge the open line up to the gauge manifold. Invert the container and open high side gauge. If you are using small cans, and it takes two or more, purge fill line each time. If you are confident that your charge is close then now it’s time to turn your container upright in order to clear the liquid, if any from high side gauge and disconnect from system and close off completely all high side lines. Finish the final balance through the low side with gas. Withe the engine running and ac turned to super cool the low side line should begin to sweat all the way to the compressor are very close. The actual cooling coming out at the dash is directly affected by the temperature in the car, however the capacity off an automobile ac is comparable to 3 to 5 tons of ac. Back in the day when air conditioning was an add on under the dash, it was not unheard of for it to spit out ice. You probably won’t see that but in the 30’s is possible. All of these steps I described are not always followed,but, if they are,you won’t have to worry about it for a long time.

This isn’t an AC video my friend, this is an AC CLASS. Thanks a lot.

I like the way you are unafraid to make mistakes in your thinking the problem through and then correct yourself. Excellent video - unrehearsed and unedited - stream of thought very good to see.

Some great knowledge. The degree you broke this information down was nothing short of spectacular. It’s always important knowing the downfalls of the working of a vehicle.. and be that competent to leave “no stone over turned” to figure out the issues. Great video.. 👍🏻

I really appreciate these A/C-videos! The videos help me a lot in being more confident and not sending away some A/C-jobs to specialists but dealing with them myself! That not only helps me in leveling up my game but also makes customers happy when they are given faster and more direct service. I'm very grateful! Thank you!

Having worked in the automotive field for the last 40 years I have to say that every shop should have one or two guys totally committed to A/C diagnosing , there are so many variables and sequences of problems ,from seals leaking ,bugs clogging condenser cooling fins (especially up in northern Canada ) to you name it . My hats off to you , your diagnosis of the system was spot on only from education and probably #1 a few years of experience !! Well done and great video . Joe from Northern Ontario , Canada

I watched a lot of video about AC problems, but only this video that fixed my AC. Thanks man. I love how you find the problems and reasoned it why like this, like that made us learn how to think. I love how you admit mistakes and learn from it to keep forward to find the problem.

Thanks Danner, really appreciate the last section where you release as much pressure as you can into the low side. Actually, I ran into this particular problem while doing some AC work, I finished my work and disconnected gauges and Wow a whole bunch of Freon still in the lines, I said what the heck, so now I understand better, great Video Paul, as always keep up the great work, much appreciated!!!

Wow! Best AC video on Youtube that I have seen ever. Love the way you diagnosed the problem by process of elimination. Excellent job! Love it.

Mate, bloody fantastic demo vid. Loved the way you kept your cool, thought things out. Went through step by step, with limited tools you had available to work with. Your process of elimination of potential problems leading up to the TXV. Checking work done by previous techs was a good move. You nailed it, excellent. Real life problem/repair. Not edited demo in a class room with pretend scenarios. I now know how to diagnose a faulty TXV. Cheers from down under. 👌🏻👍🏻👏👏👏 🖐 🇦🇺

Dude, you are awesome. You taught me more in one video than I could learn from any AC person after 5 decades of living. I cannot thank you enough. Subscribed. You are my boy.

@ScannerDanner - Another great video as usual. I hope you keep providing these videos to we, the "do-it-yourselfers". As always, thx for taking the time/effort needed to provide this video to us. It's much appreciated! Take care man.

Great post! Real time diagnostics , thinking through possible problems is what us techs due until we find the true problem.

Very good video. I really like how you reasoned your way through this one! Keep up the good work!

I like the way he talks threw the thought process in trouble shooting the A/C system it takes experience to know what you are looking for

Purely simple, straightforward and actually shows what can be done in the field. Am so thankful for your great work.

Great video paul. There's not a lot of good videos on ac mechanical component failure diagnosis, this information is invaluable. Mighty convinient the recovery machine got fixed just in time and off camera haha.

I love the fact you take us on the journey of troubleshooting. I know I do a similar exercise using what I am seeing while adding what I have seen in the past to come to the final resolution. Brilliant! Never be too proud to say “I was wrong.”

I like the guy out for a cruise on his rider and stops by for a visit. Keep it real Danner you have way more knowledge than most and still admit if you are wrong