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Posted by Pete C. on July 17, 2006, 1:24 pm
Scrot Hamilton wrote:
>
> My central AC unit (10 year old Carrier system) was not cooling down
> the house. I noticed that the air coming off the condensor was not
> particularly warm. The repair guy showed up and checked the freon
> pressure and said it was ~20psi and should be at ~70psi. He said there
> was most likely a leak in the system and that he reccommended replacing
> the system for $4500.
>
> This seemed excessive and I was wondering if there's a good way to
> check the system for a leak? In the meantime, I had him recharge the
> unit (something that he insisted would be a temporary fix). The house
> seems to be cooling down nicely.
>
> Thanks in advance.
The tech is certainly correct that recharging the Freon is only a
temporary fix. Depending on the size of the leak it might only last a
day or two or it might last months. Either way if it leaked out once it
will leak out again.
Certainly unless the whole system is clearly in terrible condition a
proper leak detector should be used to isolate the location of the leak.
If it's due to corrosion then certainly at least the area / components
that are corroded should be replaced. Depending on the extent of the
damage it may be reasonable to replace the whole system.
If the leak is due to a refrigerant line rubbing against something from
vibration and wearing a hole in the line (I've seen this happen) then it
is almost certainly more reasonable to repair the line and support it
away from the point where it was rubbing.
Certainly recommending replacement of a 10yr old system without any more
diagnosis than finding a low charge is not acceptable.
Pete C.
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