Leak Search Tips From Bert
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- Опубликовано: 19 мар 2022
- Bert explains some of his best leak search tips. We use his tips for leak detection at Kalos, and although leak detection can be intimidating for beginners, it absolutely MUST be done right.
Before you start any type of leak detection, you must confirm that the system is low on refrigerant. When you confirm that a system has a low refrigerant charge, you then need to estimate how low the charge is so that you can get an idea of the leak's size. Then, you can find the leak.
The visual inspection comes first. You will want to look at common problem areas often touched by humans, such as joints. In many cases, the refrigerant or oil will leave spots or a trail where it has leaked; shiny pipes may look dull or wet. Check for discoloration of oil on top of the water in the drain pan as well. Leaks may be larger and faster on the high side of the system, so try to pinpoint the exact area when you have leaks at the outdoor unit. You'll also want to check the capillary tubes, look for oil lines, and watch out for rust on the accumulator.
After you find a spot visually, you can bring out your electronic leak detector (heated diode, infrared, or ultrasonic). Know your electronic leak detector's limitations; otherwise, you might unknowingly pick up false positives. Move the leak detector from top to bottom; if you start from the bottom and go up, you might get a false point because the refrigerant is heavier than air and sinks. Once you get a hit, do a bit more leak detection before going back and confirming that you still have the hit. Then, you can use a liquid leak reactant on the possible leak area; bubbles will constantly form over the leak. (However, it's harder to use bubbles to confirm leaks between fins; in those cases, make sure you confirm it with your detector by going back several times.)
Evaluate the leak to see if you have a leaky joint, if you can potentially repair the leak, or if you can take another course of action. Sometimes, you may need to get access to the chase to assess the line set for leaks. Schrader leaks are possible, but they are often not the main culprit of major leaks, so keep going through the entire system after you find one leak (or get a hit on the Schrader ports). Confirm Schrader core leaks with bubbles, too. Leaky refrigerant caps hold oil, so check those if you get a hit on the refrigerant caps.
After you find and evaluate the leak, gather all the information you need from the system and the customer to determine the next course of action. Check for warranty information and see if labor and parts are covered. If you do a replacement, you need to think about replacing the filter-drier and recovering the refrigerant from the system.
If you still can't find the leak after following all of these steps, talk to the customer about your options, including quoting and performing a line isolation test.
Read all the tech tips, take the quizzes, and find our handy calculators at www.hvacrschool.com/.
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I'm new at this and I definitely got alot out of it !☺
Been in the trade going on 7 years and I always pick up something new from your videos. Gotta keep that student mindset always!
Been in hvac over 25 yrs and got a lot of info from this video. Bert obviously has a great deal of experience and takes pride in his craft. Thanks for sharing Bert!
Best way to check for leaks at schraider valves is to carry two spare caps in your tool bag and drill a small hole in them and then place them over the schraider valves and dab some bubbles on them and check, it works every time. This way you keep the solution off the valves.
I was in the HVAC field for over 50 years! I've seen many changes. We would troubleshoot leaks with the bubble method, didn't have the fancy stuff till later. Amazing how the trade equipment has improved. Great video. I miss the trade but still do some refrigeration work occasionally. I'm knocking on 80 yrs old. You guys have fun and I'll enjoy my well earned retirement. Better to be certain that guess!
I want to learn HVAC air conditioning and have been binge watching your videos
They are really good
That was great!......Hands on experience sure beats classroom discussion every time!....thank you friends!
I wish this was around in 2013 when I started doing AC because I learned all this points the hard way. good job as usual
Thanks for the great video, needless to say it's very educational video. I'm a homeowner and my system has leak in the low pressure line going into the compressor. I discover a large stain of oil inside the attic where there is a brazed union. My question is, what should a technician do in this case to repair the system properly? Is the best practice to recover all the refrigerant, then make the repair, change the filter and finally add the refrigerant again? Or do I let the technician add the leak stopper in a can? I'm asking because I live in the south and I fell like no one wants to take the time to make the repairs properly. All the technicians want to do is to add the leak stopper in a can and I head this type of gas can end up damaging the compressor in the long run. I'm just looking for some advice. Thanks for the video, it was really helpful
very educative . Thank you regards
Appreciate the tips!
Excellent tutorial. Easy to follow and I was already retired in this trade but there is still room for learning new technique in your video. Good job 👍
Well done. Very informative. The HVAC School is one of the best places to go for HVAC training. Thanks Bert.
Thanks for the video! Never thought about condensation heading differently because of oil. Brilliant
Another great video from Bert. Thank you for helping us continue to use best practices in the field.
Perfect explanation. Burt always does a great job presenting.
Thank you for the great info! its nice to have a refresher especially getting back into the busy ac season.
Awesome video Bert! Very thorough and you covered everything I hoped you would. From the way to spray on Big Blu slowly so you don’t create a lot of bubbles, starting with a visual inspection looking for oil trails FIRST. I like the way you stressed to confirm several times so you don’t charge the customer for an unnecessary repair and have to return because you got it wrong the first time. Always go over the spot multiple times with your leak detector and make sure you get a hit each time, then confirm with bubbles whenever possible. It’s also a pet peeve of mine when other technicians at my company add 6 pounds of refrigerant and say it was a leaking schrader valve because they couldn’t find the leak or they were just too lazy to find if. I’m usually the one that has to go behind them and find the leak because I do it right the first time and I take a lot of pride in my work. On a side note, I’ve had really good results using an infrared Inficon D-Tek 3 leak detector but I also own a heated diode Fieldpiece as well.
Do you like the heated diode better or the infrared?
Thanks Bert! Well said...
Thanks Bert! Good stuff!!!!
Bert congrats well done keep them coming💪🏼👨🏻🔧👍🏼
Great info...thanks!
Sucha good workspace where these systems installed.
Excellent!
Absolutely useful 👌👌👌👍👍👍
Good video
thanks sir
I will never go back from my ultra-sonic leak detector, thanks Craig.
Hi, can we use the leak detector to find out leak in the old school deep freezer which has hidden pipes between foam and Aluminum layer?
Thanks.
H10 is good, I just hate how often you have to mess with the calibration on it. Just got the Fieldpiece dr82 pretty excited about that
If the filter drier is inside the unit you can’t pump down? I’ve never heard this. I have had units that won’t pump down fully just figured some do some don’t.
Let me begin by saying your video was excellent. What happens now? Can you repair the leak? Is it cost prohibitive? I am surprised to see the A coil is so rusted on a Lennox system which I heard is the best. So after you spend so many hours and hundreds if not thousands of dollars, does it pay to fix an old system? Future leaks are possible, no? Am I missing something? Great video.
Dyes and a sonic are my weapons of choice. Always confirm with bubbles
The H10 manual says once the low battery light is on it wouldn’t work. I found your H10 low battery light is on 😊
My main concern is that A/C Condenser is on a Roof? Worst Case Scenario! How can you du a check up?😮 Like walking up a 32 or 40 step ladder? The cheapest form of care for your A/C Unit!😢
Burts the man.
I love "also a dead rat. ...I know." Great video. Any thoughts on UV dyes? I've found a bunch with dye checks. Even found one with dye frozen in to the ice on the coil and was able to show the customer.
Awesome
Great video. Question I have is what percentage or amount of refrigerate has to be present in the system for a mechanical leak detector to work. At what point do you need to add refrigerate to a system to find a leak. Or do you never add to find a leak ?
Great channel
For a system that is flat, the EPA allows you to pressurize a system with nitrogen and a small amount of R22 to perform leak searches. Otherwise it's illegal to add refrigerant to a flat system for the purposes of leak detection.
I believe it's considered ok to add refrigerant to a system that still has charge though.
Thank you
shray
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dr
valv
Not being able to pronounce what you're telling someone about is a huge pet peave of mine.
90% of the leaks I find, low side Schrader valve core stem. Folks miss it because they hook up their gauges and don't check there. 😆
Glad you went over that issue. Awesome video
You must be new in the HVAC field
How do I know how much refrigerant was lost on the unit? I’m still learning about it
I've only been doing it for about a year, but for me, It's once I recover all the refrigerant that I can use a scale to see how much was recovered. Just compare that to what the factory charge states on the data plate, and that figure minus what you recovered will give you the minimum it lost. Could be more though if the line set is longer and more than the factory charge was required.
What about dye?
Are you guys installing sight glass on residential units?
Sight glasses are completely unnecessary. A tech should be hooking up their gauges and temp clamps to properly diagnose.
Sight glasses are a good idea to have on a residential system. Put it as close to the TXV as possible. That way you can see if you have a full column of liquid going to the TXV. It obviously isn’t the only thing A tech would look at when diagnosing but it can be a helpful aide. You would still need to follow properly diagnostic procedures but I don’t understand why its “completely unnecessary”?
👍👍👍
The people complaining about how Schrader is pronounced are the same people who leave the capacitor inside the box when replacing it.
We all know what he is talking about, grow up and enjoy the free education.
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"Strader" this must be an inside joke or a Florida thing. I say this with kindness ❤️. Bert obviously knows his trade
genuine question. why does it matter how its pronounced when everyone knows exactly what he is talking about?
@@austinbooger1999 It doesn't.
I'll say it.
Can we have more from Bryan?
Bert leaves something to be desired.
I think both have their strengths
@@grashoprsmith Stray-der! Really, come on.
His boss doesn't say it that way.
@@allenheineck2359 I understood him perfectly. Content is more valuable than a "Shray-der". The German pronunciation is closer to Bert's which must mean he is honoring the immigrant inventor, August and son George Schrader. Their company still exists and came up with the tire pressure monitoring system.
What's the purpose to keep an on going A/C Unit Problem? Just start New! Will Cost you More in the Long Run!😂
If readers state they were in A/C for 25, 50, whatever, where do you work? Let this be known. If you're that great, let it be of knowledge!😅
Also, if leak is in evaporator for most part you replace the coil. So who cares where it’s at at that point lol
Could be on one of the U tubes on the edge of the coil, fixable.
@@babyking5763 if it’s under warranty it’s best just to replace the coil
Ryobi? Really?
Can't wait for the line iso test?
Thanks again for the videos!
🍺🍺🍺🥃🥃🎳⛳
Stay safe.
Retired (werk'n)keyboard super tech. Wear your safety glasses!
I compare leak detection to "DEXTER" he was a blood splatter analyst. Comps. Bleed oil
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