Refrigerant is a vital part of the air conditioner system for your home or business. Although it should never have to be refilled, it is responsible for moving heat from one place to another. Refrigerant is a chemical compound that changes from a liquid to a gas as it moves throughout a central air system. The heat is taken from the inside of your home, business or commercial property and released outside. In most cases, R-22 or R-410a refrigerant is used to cool your property in an effective and efficient manner.
How leaks in the lines can lead to issues.
There are several ways that you can assess if your system has a leak in the line. Pinpointing where the leak is located, however, may require a professional refrigerant leak location company.
- Check the pressure gauges on your AC unit. You should have refrigerant or Freon pressure gauges similar to the image that you see to the right. They are normally color-coded where the blue side will indicate a drop in pressure, while the red side indicates an increase in pressure. If these gauges indicate that there is a drop in pressure it is highly advised that you contact an HVAC leak location and repair company right away.
- Look for evaporator coils that are frozen over. Many leaks will show themselves this way because there is not enough refrigerant to absorb all the heat as the warm air blows over the coils.
- The cooling cycles take extra-long and sometimes the unit will not shut itself off at all. This happens because the air conditioner is not able to adequately reach desired temperatures due to the leak.
- Warm air blowing out of your vents is a sure tale sign that something is wrong with your central cooling unit. If you are running your system on cool but only receive warm air there could be a leak in the refrigerant lines.
Regular maintenance and tune-ups will help prevent leaks
These are just a few things that you can look at to see if you have a leak that needs to be detected. It is also highly advisable that you receive a professional HVAC tune-up on a yearly basis. If you suspect a leak has occurred but cannot find the source, call our technicians today. We guarantee that we can find the exact source of your refrigerant leak.
