heat pump filter drier

s1969e

Hi, around 5 yrs ago I had a 13 seer Goodman? heat pump installed by a company which ended up going bankrupt. Consequently 4yrs in I had to call another company in when I was experiencing a compressor issue. They told me the start winding on the compressor was bad and the compressor would need replaced. The compressor was registered and parts still under warranty so compressor was replaced. Fast forward to last week. I was having problems with no heat coming out. Called same company which replaced compressor. They came out and said the outdoor expansion valve was bad. I had done a little reading on heat pumps, enough to know what a filter drier looked like, and noticed how the unit which had the compressor replaced looked like it had the original drier on it. I called the owner of the company and brought this to his attention. He said he would come out and verify whether or not it had been replaced with compressor change. Turns out it was never changed. He also went on to say that the tech who did the compressor change had been fired for other issues on other jobs....great. When the owner of the company did come out to check the drier I was not there; he said he would only need to compare some numbers from the outside unit. Well this is a rental house I own and instead of calling to let me know what he found, he took the liberty to pull old drier and test for acid and refill system with the refrigerant. He then emailed me to tell me system was o.k. for acid test but there was the bad expansion valve which needed replaced which would cost me 478.00. My first thought was they already knew the expansion valve was bad. My second thought was why, other than to cover their own backside if they found acid, would they replace drier without telling me first and seeing if I would like to do the expansion valve along with it. My questions are could not replacing the filter drier have caused something to get into the expansion valve? And secondly what else might go wrong down road without the changing of that filter drier after installation. Just wanted some opinions. Thanks

beenthere

Could it, yes. Did it, probably didn't. 1,000s upon 1,000s of filter driers are not changed when they should have been, and don't cause other parts to go out. Main thing that happens is that the filter drier either clogs or it doesn't trap moisture anymore because it is already holding as much as it can.

Its very poor workmenship not to replace it while the system is already open. But done daily on home warranty company jobs where it isn't included as part of the covered repair.

Whenever a system is open to the atmosphere the filter drier should be changed out. Including now when the TXV is changed out.

beenthere

Could it, yes. Did it, probably didn't. 1,000s upon 1,000s of filter driers are not changed when they should have been, and don't cause other parts to go out. Main thing that happens is that the filter drier either clogs or it doesn't trap moisture anymore because it is already holding as much as it can.

Its very poor workmenship not to replace it while the system is already open. But done daily on home warranty company jobs where it isn't included as part of the covered repair.

Whenever a system is open to the atmosphere the filter drier should be changed out. Including now when the TXV is changed out.