Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum

My condenser came with one of the classic style expansion valves, a bell-shaped housing with a sensor coil/capillary tube. For reasons that are not important to my question, I have the original one out and a different one I bought this week of slightly different design. One difference is the length of the capillary tube. On my original, there are 4+ inches of 'excess' capillary tube length vs. the one I just bought at an auto parts store.

If this extra length important to have or a drawback to have or it does not matter? I'm thinking that maybe the vendor uses one valve for all their evaporators, some of which have the in/out in different places on the case and others (like mine) have the in/out nearby to each other.

You may be confusing the terms condenser and evaporator. I have never seen a condenser come with an expansion valve. The extra length you mention is of no concern

tbirdtbird wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2024 7:38 am You may be confusing the terms condenser and evaporator. I have never seen a condenser come with an expansion valve. The extra length you mention is of no concern

Yes, I mis-typed. Thanks!

Suggest coiling-up the excess length and tucking the coil out of the way. Don't kink the thin, fragile tube, though. A kink might prevent the TXV from receiving the desired "signals." Also, ensure that the bulb is firmly clipped to the tube and that the whole shebang is insulated with something like Prestite tape.