Accumulator & Burnout Considerations
The suction line accumulator is designed to keep liquid refrigerant from entering the compressor while still allowing for oil return.
The trouble is that if the oil return port/screen clogs the accumulator can fill with oil and actually cause the compressor to fail. In addition to that, it can also hold contaminated oil in a burnout.
As standard compressor replacement practice, you may want to consider removing the accumulator and dumping / properly disposing of excess oil to both remove contamination and check for excessive oil buildup as well as acid testing the oil.
In the case of a bad burnout, it may be best to replace the accumulator completely in addition to the other burnout protocol measures.
— Bryan
Bryan Orr is a lifelong learner, proud technician and advocate for the HVAC/R Trade
Good to know
Thanks for this info, will stick with me 🙂
It makes sense to replace the Accumulator because it receives refrigerant with its oil before the compressor does.. There has been a few times that all I’ve done was flush out with Rx-11 and nitrogen and sometimes a lot of oil will come out however now I wonder… This reeally Helped.. Im a 1 year tech and trying to learn. Thanks!!