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LEAK TESTING
Th e f o l l o wi n g g e n e ra l i n fo rma tio n ex-
p l ai n s s e v e r a l m e tho d s o f ch e ckin g th e
r e fri g er a ti o n s yst e m fo r le a ks. T hi s in fo r -
m at i o n a p p li e s t o a l l systems co vere d in
t h i s m a n u a l .
l f t he re i s a n u n d e rch a rge o f re fri g er a n t
a n d th e s yst e m h as no t b e e n rece n tly
op en e d , t h e re i s p rob a b l y a le a k in th e
sy s t e m. I n t h a t ca se , i t wo u l d b e on ly a
te m p or a ry so l u t i o n to a d d r ef r ige r a n t
wi t h o ut f i rs t l o ca tin g a n d re pa i rin g th e
lea k si nc e a d d i n g re fri ge ra n t wi l l n ot p e r -
m a n e nt l y c o rre ct t he d i fficu l ty. T he le ak
m u s t b e l o ca t e d a n d re pa i re d i f p ossib le,
a f te r w h i c h t h e e n t ire syste m mu st b e r e-
c h a rg e d w i th t h e pro p e r amo u n t o f r e fr i-
g e ra n t . W h e n e ve r a ne w ch a r g e o f
re fr i g e ra n t i s a d d e d , it i s n e ce ssa ry to in -
s t al l a ne w d r i e r.
A n y l e a k, re g a rd l ess o f i ts si ze , must b e
lo c at e d be f o re yo u ca n d ete rmi n e the o p-
erative status of the system components.
Do n o t re p l a ce a co mp o n e nt b e ca u se the
sy s t em i s s h o rt o f re fri g er an t un le ss a
n o n - r e p a i r a b l e l e a k i s f o u n d .
l f yo u r a n a l ysi s i nd i cate s a le a k, fin d it
b ef or e o p en i n g t h e syste m. Yo u a re m or e
l i k e l y t o p i n p o i n t t h e l e a k b e f o r e d i s -
c h a r g i n g t h a n i f t h e s u r r o u n d i n g a i r i s
con t a mi n a te d w i t h re f ri g e ra n t f ro m a
n e w l y op e n e d s yst e m.
T h e p r e s e n c e o f o i l a r o u n d a t u b i n g j o i n t
usually indicat es a leak, but don't let this
be the deter mining f actor . Alway s c hec k
the ar ea with a leak detector t o m ake sur e.
To sim plif y leak detection, keep the s y s-
t e m p r e s s u r i z e d t o a m i n i m u m o f 7 5 P . S . l .
T h i s i s e a s i l y a c c o m p l i s h e d f o r h i g h s i d e
test ing by merely running the com pres s or.
To pr essur ize the low side, allow the en-
tire system to warm up to room temper -
at ure.
Of ten enough r ef rigerant m ay hav e es -
caped to m ake it im possible to r ais e the
pr essur e enough to leak t est effectiv ely . In
cases of t his nature, clamp a pier ci ng
valve to t he compr essor process t ube and
add enough refr igerant to conduct the tes t.
Leak t est ing w it h a Halide tor ch is consi d-
ered satisfactory in most cases, but for
mor e accurat e t est ing, w e recommend the
use of a Dielectr ic D if ferent ial Leak D e-
tector.
This t ransist orized m odel r educes the
guesswor k in leak t esting because it is
more sensitive, faster responding, and
capable of detect ing a leak even though
t h e s u r r o u n d i n g a i r i s c o n t a m i n a t e d . T h e
l e a k g u n p r o v i d e s a n a u d i b l e i n d i c a t i o n o f
a r efrigerant leak.
3-7
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