As part of our relentless focus on customer quality, Trane regularly monitors failure rates of our systems and components through our warranty claims and technical support group. We have recently seen a significantly high number of compressor failures for 5 ton, 16 SEER systems when paired with 4MXC or 4GXC coils. These failures have primarily been caused by overcharging the system, resulting in liquid refrigerant reaching the compressor and causing a compressor failure. We have also seen increases in compressor failure rates on other Trane systems when paired with 4MXC and 4GXC coils, though not as severe. We will be monitoring these closely on a regular basis.
We are moving quickly to do everything we can from a product and support standpoint to improve our customers’ experience with this issue, including taking the following steps:
- We will be discontinuing any AHRI ratings with 4MXC and 4GXC coils on Trane 5 ton, 16 SEER systems and replacing them with ratings that call out that a Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) must be used. See the Product Bulletin link below with discontinued combinations and the new AHRI reference numbers with the TXV added.
- We have updated the literature in our outdoor units to include superheat charging charts for orifice systems. The indoor installer’s guides already have the needed charging charts.
- We will be adding a hang tag to some outdoor units to remind the installer to check the flow control type of the indoor unit being installed and to use the appropriate charging method, whether the indoor coil uses a TXV or an orifice.