Hi all, got some great guidance here on my A/C units recently so wanted to come back with another question...

last week one of my A/C units just wasnt sending out cool air. in fact, no air flow at all. luckily i called the company that I have an annual service plan with. The tech came out and said I had lost refrigerant. (btw - I have no idea how these work and total novice here).

I felt like when they serviced the A/C in May and checked the refrigerant levels, they should've caught that. dont mind paying $130 for 2lbs of refrigerant but not the $100 to come out.

Talked to the place today and he explained that its not possible to tell the exact level or refrigerant at any time, said it was a dynamic measurement. in a perfect world, refrigerant wouldnt be lost. but sometimes there's a leak.

It sounded reasonable to me, but just thought I'd check here to see if that's true. Should they have noticed this two months ago?

 

As I understand...no Pro here...once the system has been placed in service by one company....there's no exact way to tell how much is in there...just that what's in is correct based on pressure and temp readings.

I'll lay odds that the fact they connected gauges to the system on the 1st call caused a leak in one of the valves. When they did the current service did they just add freon (I know its not freon...but I hate typing out the correct word...lol)...or did they pump the system down and find the leaks?

If not...they didn't do their job (IMO).

 

A leak may have developed since they were out. Were you asked about doing a leak search? You should have one done depending on the age and condition of the a/c. How much was added to the system? If it was 2 lbs, then that is a LOT and if the system was topped off then you will likely loose the refrigerant again.

 

Yep, in an perfect world, there would be no loss. Two pounds, however, means you have a leak that needs to be found and fixed.

 

The unit is 11 yrs old (3 tons). when they came out last week (after I called saying no cold air) they did not do a leak check. Just topped off 2 gallons worth. When I called to question it, they said its probably a leak, and they could do a check for it (which would be yet another visit). They seemed to think it would last the rest of the year. Then, next spring during my service they can check for the leak.