TL;DR
An accumulator is a sealed tank installed in the suction line of a heat pump or air conditioner that traps liquid refrigerant and meters it back to the compressor as vapor, protecting the compressor from liquid slugging. It is standard on heat pumps because the reversing cycle in heating mode regularly sends liquid back toward the compressor, especially during defrost.
What it means
An accumulator is a sealed tank installed in the suction line of a heat pump or air conditioner that traps liquid refrigerant and meters it back to the compressor as vapor, protecting the compressor from liquid slugging. It is standard on heat pumps because the reversing cycle in heating mode regularly sends liquid back toward the compressor, especially during defrost. The canister sits next to the compressor inside the outdoor unit and has no serviceable parts. A failed or restricted one shows up as low suction pressure or a compressor that dies young from washed-out bearings.
Where it sits in the glossary
Accumulator is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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