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How to Stop Refrigerant Gas Leaks in an Air Conditioning Compressor 3/09/2020

You get up one beautiful morning to find that your AC has stopped cooling your rooms properly. If that is the case, you must check the air conditioning compressor to find if there are any coolant gas leaks or not. Leaking of the gas can diminish the power of the coolant and will lower down its cooling capabilities. The moment it stops cooling completely, be assured that the cause is nothing but coolant leak. But yes, we cannot deny the fact that there can be other issues which may lead to a drop in the cooling of the system. Once you become sure about a refrigerant gas leak, don't go for refilling coolant and first detect and repair the leak. If you don't do it, you will be wasting money to add more coolant without correcting the underlying reason for the leak.

Let’s share the steps that you need to follow to fix the refrigerant gas leak problem.

Identification of the leak: 

Take the help of a gas leak detector to identify the area of the leak. We recommend using a halogen-gas leak detector. It will identify the leak of halogen gas, just like refrigerant coolant. Use the detector to locate the exact leak of the gas, to repair the same. 

Removal of Refrigerant:

Before the repair work starts, you must remove the existing refrigerant in the unit. You have to connect the refrigerant pump in your unit for removing all existing refrigerant coolant. Pump applications and connections do vary a little bit based on the manufacturer. You must read and follow the instructions given by the manufacturer for the pump use.

Fixing the leak:

In case the leak is detected in the valve, you need to clean the valve thoroughly and ensure it gets appropriately attached. Try it and then go for resetting the valve and if the leak persists, then you need to go for valve replacement. Next, in case the leak is present in the tube, you need to take action to seal the tube leak. Here you need to make use of high-temperature torch along with solder having a high-silver content required for the repair. Carefully inspect to identify the leak or crack in the tube. If the detected leak or crack found is too big, then, in that case, it is advisable that you cut that area and replace that section with a new piece of tube. On the other hand, if the leak or crack is a small one, then solder the line across the leaking area for the repairing work.

Coolant Recharging:

After you confirm the leak is sealed correctly or repaired, its time now to recharge the unit with the replacement of the old coolant with a new one. Ensure that you do not force excessive coolant in the unit, as adding excessive coolant is not going to help you with better performance of the unit. To be precise, it will cause hindrances in the performance of the unit. You will find your AC performing best when the required amount of coolant is added based on the instruction given by the manufacturer.

So now you know what steps need to be taken for stopping your refrigerant gas leaks present in the compressor of the air conditioner.