How are Air Conditioning Orifice Tube issues diagnosed?
When the air conditioner is going through constant cycles, the orifice tube is one of the culprits on the list. Since the entire air conditioning system is inspected and tested as a whole, the technician will rely on pressure readings from the high and low pressure side of the air conditioning system to determine the likely cause of failure. If the high pressure side is very high after running the compressor, and the low pressure side is normal or too low, the technician will likely wait with the system off to see if the pressure equalizes across the two sides. If the pressure does not equalize, or upon opening the system contamination is found, the orifice tube is likely to be replaced.
How are Air Conditioning Orifice Tubes replaced?
Evacuating the air conditioning system is necessary when performing any repair which involves opening a refrigerant passage in the air conditioning system. The caveat to that being if the system has lost pressure due to a prolonged or large leak. Once the system is evacuated, the orifice tube will need to be removed by using specialized disconnect tools to remove the air conditioner lines. Replacing the orifice tube is a matter of pulling it out of the line, cleaning any contamination from the line, inserting the new orifice tube, refitting the lines, replacing any removed components and recharging the system for testing.
RepairPal Recommendations for Air Conditioning Orifice Tube issues
If the air conditioner is going through fast cycles, i.e. turning on and off rapidly, especially if the air from the vents never cools, it is recommended to leave the air conditioner off until servicing is possible. This will prevent extremely high pressures from developing in the high pressure side of the air conditioning system, and remove overload from the air conditioning compressor.