[gemret]

I have a Frigidaire FT4BF-42K heat pump coupled with a B5VM-X49K-C air handler with a varible speed fan. The Heat Pump has a two stage scroll compressor with a two speed fan . The compressor began making a loud knocking noise. I had it check it and was told the noise was caused because the freon was low. After adding freon the noise stopped. The leak was coming from the nut and distrubutor body where the orifice body halves are located in the coil of the air handler. The leak was stopped by tightening the nut. The unit still does not seem to perform as it did before this leak occurred. The line going into the TXV is very hot but the coils after the TXV are only slightly warm. AS a result the air temperature at the closest register never reaches 73 degrees, even on warm days, at the thermostat without the auxiliary heat kicking in.


Could the system's filter, which usually sits directly before or near the TXV be clogged with dirt or grime and be causing a problem? I understand that a bad filter could let dirt into the TXV, possibly tearing its delicate diaphragm and causing permanent damage to the valve.

Any comments appreciated.

 

[vstech]

usually, adding refrigerant raises the discharge temp, I'd call the tech back out to find the issue.

 

[vstech]

refrigerant path in heat season has the hot refrigerant entering your coil before arriving at the txv, so if the line feeding the txv is "very hot" your low vent temp could easily be from a blockage in the coil, like a filter wrapper, or dirt. also, the filter "immediately before the txv" is feeding the condenser in heat mode, not the txv... the filter protects the txv in cool mode. in heat mode the indoor txv does very little... it's basically a check valve.