AC FREON LEAKS|AIR CONDITIONER|FREON LEAKS|AC REPAIR|DALLAS|AC UNIT

Tom Durbin A/C and Mechanical

972-203-1317

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AC FREON LEAKS

AIR CONDITIONER FREON LEAKS

First type of air conditioning leaks are , installer soldered joint leaks. This is only at the solder
connection joints on the copper lines connecting the inside and outside units , a small amount of oil
located around the leak is a tell tail sign.

The second type of leak I am going to call the manufactures leak, this will be a leak somewhere in
equipment or the attaching tubing connecting the components in the outdoor condenser or in the
indoor evaporator coil.

The third kind of leak I'm going to call the customers leak, this leak is caused by the customer failing
to do the proper maintenance. By proper maintenance I mean changing the filters on at least a 30
day routine, and washing off the grass or the Texas Cottonwood debris that will accumulate on the
outside condensing unit.

With the new 410 A. Refrigerant air-conditioned leaks are starting to be a real big problem. The new
refrigerant operates at about 30% more pressure than the old refrigerant. We are seeing a numbers
of warranty claims or leaks that we haven't seen with the older refrigerant. If your air-conditioning
man is telling you he is having no problems with this he is blowing smoke at you. The manufactures
are slowly getting a better handle on this leak situation through better quality control at the
manufacturing plants. In my 45+ years I have never seen this many leaks in systems as I have seen
in the last two years.

Dealing with leaks.

The number one method for dealing with leaks is called an ultra violet died pack test, this is the EPA
number one method of finding a leak. I like this leak method for two reasons, member one the die is
diluted in a certain amount of oil. When you have a refrigerant leak on a system you not only lose
refrigerant you lose oil that is circulated inside the system. That oil is there to maintain and lubricate
the moving parts of the compressor and metering devices. The second reason I like the dye pack
system is because it will show multiple leaks at the same time. The largest misconception the
customer has is that they only have one leak. Generally when the system gets to the point where it's
leaking somewhere in the 10 to 15 year range, it is not just one leak it is a multitude of leaks .

Let's talk a little bit about what causes these leaks, these leaks are caused by the air-conditioning
system operating at improper temperatures or pressures. This can be caused by system being low
on refrigerant, or a system having to much freon in it is even more destructive,or by being extremely
dirty. This lack of cleanliness can be on the customer's part by failing to change the air-conditioning
filters, or failing to keep the unit washed off periodically with just plain water. Also this can be caused
by a fan motor both inside or outside failing to function.

The number two method in my opinion is a electronic Freon sniffer tool, this tool depending on how
much money you spend for that tool , good sniffers are 500.00 + some can sniff out as little as 1/4
ounce of Freon annually and cost twice as much . The only problem with electronic sniffer is it does
not tell you how many leaks you have. It is very easy with this tool to make a mistake on how many
leaks there are. Also wind makes this tool almost useless .

The number three methods and probably the oldest is the soap bubble test, this is a test that even
the homeowner can do themselves. All that is necessary is to mix up a little dish washing detergent
with some water and a small brush or sponge and soap up the areas that you may consider to have
a leak at. If the A/C unit still has pressure in it the small soapsuds will turn into a visual bubbling spot
just like the top right hand picture on this page.

When checking for leaks the wind has a lot to do with finding a leak. Freon is heavier than air so
when looking for a leak if you find a leak at the bottom of the unit or the bottom of the coil it may be
coming from the top of the unit or coil. This sometimes takes a lot of experience to be able to find the
leak properly.

Another misconception is that adding a little bit of Freon to get you by one more year is good for
your system, any time the system loses any Freon even up to 1 ounce of Freon it is bad for the
system. It makes a compressor run hot and will eventually destroy your system. As little as a half a
pound of Freon can make a compressor fail.

THE PICTURE ON LEFT, IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU WILL SEE WATER FORMING INTO ICICLES,
THAT ICE IS WORKING IT'S WAY THROUGH THE COIL DUE TO A LOW FREON CHARGE IN THE
SYSTEM, THIS ACTION IS WHAT CAN DAMAGE A COIL . THE PICTURE ON THE RIGHT ARE THE
RESULTS OF ICE, A SOAP BUBBLE AND NITROGEN PRESSURE TEST SHOWS THE ICE DAMAGE .
IF YOU THINK JUST ADDING FREON IS THE ANSWER ,WAIT TILL YOU HAVE TO PAY TO REPLACE
THAT COIL . A AC SYSTEM SHOULD NOT EVER HAVE TO HAVE EVER ONE OZ ADDED TO IT. A
HALF A POUND LOW FREON CHARGE CAN TAKE OUT A COMPRESSOR ON A HOT DAY.

THE CONDITIONS ABOVE ARE WHAT CAUSES AC COILS TO START LEAKING

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE