Refrigeration Basics: Optimizing System Performance Using a TXV

The thermostatic expansion valve (TXV) is a precision device designed to regulate the rate at which liquid refrigerant flows into the evaporator. This controlled flow is necessary to prevent the return of liquid refrigerant to the compressor.

The TXV separates the high pressure and low-pressure sides of a refrigeration or air conditioning system. Liquid refrigerant enters the valve under high pressure, but its pressure is reduced when the TXV limits the amount of refrigerant entering the evaporator.

Rediscovering the Art of Troubleshooting

By Gary Hodges

Advanced electronics enables the HVAC service technician to work faster and in some cases, with greater accuracy. But good, painstaking troubleshooting is what sets the professional technician apart from the parts changer.

With the advent of printed circuit boards and LED lights, the fine art of HVAC equipment troubleshooting is starting to go by the wayside. On many service calls we go to the equipment, read the code it flashes, repair what it says it wrong, and hope for the best. That's too bad, because good troubleshooting is what sets the professional technician apart from the parts changer.

The Importance of Benchmarking

by Bill Dove, CM

Whenever the seasons change and your work changes from cooling to heating or vice versa, take a minute to review which of your measurement practices result in the greatest payback. On the technical side, surely one of the very best practices is benchmarking: Gathering specific technical data in order to compare it to an accepted standard, or to future conditions.

Everyone benchmarks to a certain extent. But is it an investment in the future, or time lost forever?

Steps to Compressor Replacement Following Burnout

By Dave Irvin

Manufacturers' recommendations provide the best advice when it comes to choosing the replacement compressor. It may be stating the obvious, but anyone seeking a repair technician is in an anxious frame of mind. Machinery in need of repair is inconvenient, annoying, and an unwanted expense. So it’s with a sense of concern and trepidation that the HVAC technician is “called in to have a look.” There are three things that matter to the customer: knowing the cost, having the problem repaired, and making certain that it doesn’t happen again. It’s completely up to the HVAC technician to deliver the best “fix”, at a reasonable cost and with some guarantee that it won’t happen again.