Possible faulty TXV valve
Good afternoon. I've been experiencing some high temps in the house during the day and a freeze up on the outside unit the other day. I called the service techs and they went through the normal diagnostic routine. He determined it was a bad TXV valve but at $1100 to repair I'm skeptical. I have a Carrier Heat Pump. Here's what he found:
When he hooked the guages up outside he found low pressure on the blue guages (low side?) and high pressure on the red gauge (high side?). Did I get the guages right?
He cleaned all the coils and nothing changed.
Went to the attic to check air pressures of intake and exhaust, all was normal.
He said it could be too much freon in the system so he went back to the compressor outside. He hooked up his thermometor to the larger diameter tubing (the one covered with insulation) and found the temp difference to be over 30 degrees from the reading on the red gauge to the reading on the thermometer. He said it was supposed to be around 12. I have a 12 seer unit. He said that the freon level was fine.
His diagnosis is suggesting a frozen txv valve or some other blockage that is keeping the freon from flowing.
Quoted me $1100-$1300 to repair. Is his diagnosis viable and is there anything that I can do to fix it? He never checked a reversing valve. Do I have one with a TXV valve?
Thank you for your time!