A coil

I need to replace my 8 yr old intertherm heat pump its a 3 ton unit my question is can I replace the outside unit with another 3 ton unit and not replace the A coil if I should not do this could you explain why.
Thanks

You might find a new compressor that uses the same refrigerant, and you might not. Plus, efficiencies of newer designs means you may not get the best possible from the unit. So, it really depends. You'd need the specifics of what's installed now to then compare with what's available. Regardless of how well you pull down the existing unit, the oil and refrigerant that's there now will still have contaminated it, so you must remain compatible when installing a new unit.

Ya I didn't leave a lot of info about the units here's the little bit of info I have. Both units were made to use R-22 and they are made by Intertherm . The one thats bad was manufactured in 1992 and is a 10 sear and the other was made in 2004 and is 12 sear .
As far as I can see the Acoils look identacel thats why I was going to save a little time by using the same Acoil that goes with the 10 sear unit. I had not thought about the transfere of the contamination. So much for my short cut .
Thanks alot for the Quick Reply Bob

You cannot put a 13 SEER heat pump on a 10 SEER coil. You could fiddle around with the flow device and possible get the cooling limping along, and as soon as it switches to heat mode, your compressor will be toast ( liquid slug ).

If the coil is 12 SEER, that may be OK. I would ask the manufacturer of the new heat pump to provide you the match set up...BTU ratings, proabaly a TXV, etc.

Whatever you do, you will normally replace the enitire indoor unit ( air handler, cased coil, whatever). A new 13 SEER coil wont fit inside the old cabinet. They are bigger.

Your 10 seer, 1992 unit is almost 17 yrs old. I think it's time for a complete upgrade!

You have only 8 months left if you want an R-22 system after that 410A or similar only. Tick-Tock