[northeastbeast]

went on a call for a reach in cooler today, once I determined the unit had a low charge, I began my leak search. bumped some nitro in to about 100 psi. used my hp10 nothing... so i bumped it up to 150 and so on. you ever get one of those in a tiny diner, people bumping you, pushing you out of the way basically. the ceiling was too low to bring my smallest (8ft) ladder inside, had to use a 12" step ladder ( the only one they had) condensing unit on top of fridge which is probably 7ft 6 itself.long story short never found the leak, this thing was such a pain in the ass to even leak check i kind of gave up. manager was like well could you just throw some refrigerant in and charge it up. and i was like yes. if the leak was somewhat decent size i would have found it, i think....
you guys ever experience similar scenarios ? have you ever not found a leak?

 

[Capz]

Sounds like fun but we like technical specs here such as size of condensing unit, type refrigerant, age of unit, manfufacture of box & condensing unit, cap tube or TEV, suction & discharge pressures prior to your test. Thanks

 

[northeastbeast]

Sounds like fun but we like technical specs here such as size of condensing unit, type refrigerant, age of unit, manfufacture of box & condensing unit, cap tube or TEV, suction & discharge pressures prior to your test. Thanks

I was just generalizing. but thanks

 

[Mike19]

Could be a very small leak in a very tucked away place.

Does it have service valves or flare fittings, suspect those first. Could be in the evaporator too. Like anything it takes time, sounds like you where in a bad spot, kind of difficult to find a small leak in a situation like that.

Could you schedule a time to come back when it isn't so busy?

 

[ryan1088]

My favorite thing to do on those is start separating the cap tubes that feed into the evaporator or anything else that might look like it rubs/vibrates during a normal run.

 

[2sac]

It's the schrader.

 

[Dchappa21]

It's the schrader.

It's always the schrader or service cap when you can't find it...

 

[cjpwalker]

I had one like that give me fits for weeks once. Finally said to hell with it, pumped her up to 300psi and the sniffer finally went off - I found a tiny leak smack in the middle of the condenser. No physical damage - fins were straight. I never did see a hole, but it blew bubbles.

 

[northeastbeast]

Thanks for your input ! its good to know that others have been there (so to speak). your comments really helped shed some light on some things i didnt think of while i was there. so next time this happens on a similar call or a callback to this place, ill be ready.

 

[MicahWes]

If it had a cap tube, are you sure that it isn't restricted? Adding gas can hide this.

You need a 6 foot ladder!

 

[northeastbeast]

If it had a cap tube, are you sure that it isn't restricted? Adding gas can hide this.

You need a 6 foot ladder!

I know, I actually picked up a four footer yesterday!. It was a cap tube. I should've recovered the refrigerant and weighed it.

 

[Snapperhead]

I bubble shraders BEFORE i put hoses on

But i dont use much , just wet my finger and hold it on the valve so I dont get any drops inside the shrader.

Dont want bubbles to enter the system when attaching hoses

 

[lytning]

Thanks for your input ! its good to know that others have been there (so to speak). your comments really helped shed some light on some things i didnt think of while i was there. so next time this happens on a similar call or a callback to this place, ill be ready.

And then there are times when you use flourescent leak detector and ultra violet light, come back in a week and shine the light around.

 

[ryan1088]

And then there are times when you use flourescent leak detector and ultra violet light, come back in a week and shine the light around.

And then you get that crap all over you and everything else. Fun times!

 

[mason]

I pretty much dislike anyone who uses the dyes in systems immediately, seriously though you guys need to stop doing that now! I've been on two units recently that were unsuccessfully leaked checked had dye added and then I found the leaks with pressure, my ears, fingers and big blue, took about ten minutes each time but I ended up with dye in my hoses, on my hands, on my clothes, on my tools.

In my opinion dye is like leak sealant, I don't use it but in the right situation and as a last resort if you use it I'm ok but if you're routinely using either then you need to get better ASAP or you're running the risk of being a hack.

 

[lytning]

I pretty much dislike anyone who uses the dyes in systems immediately, seriously though you guys need to stop doing that now! I've been on two units recently that were unsuccessfully leaked checked had dye added and then I found the leaks with pressure, my ears, fingers and big blue, took about ten minutes each time but I ended up with dye in my hoses, on my hands, on my clothes, on my tools.

In my opinion dye is like leak sealant, I don't use it but in the right situation and as a last resort if you use it I'm ok but if you're routinely using either then you need to get better ASAP or you're running the risk of being a hack.

I guess I will run the risk after 40 pluss years of being a hack. Ears don't work so good anymore and eyes probably aren't what they used to be either. I do have a bottle of big blue although I like the United Refrigeration stuff better. Carry blast off to clean stuff on those rare occasions when I use it. All it is is colored oil.

 

[mason]

I guess I will run the risk after 40 pluss years of being a hack. Ears don't work so good anymore and eyes probably aren't what they used to be either. I do have a bottle of big blue although I like the United Refrigeration stuff better. Carry blast off to clean stuff on those rare occasions when I use it. All it is is colored oil.

Now lytning you know there are special considerations for old people : ).

My reference is more for those who choose not to learn how to look for a leak and instead add dye immediately, then say we'll be back after topping off, they hope someone else like me gets sent back but if it doesn't work out they go back and add more dye and say we'll be back.

The last one I was on was a leak on the discharge off the compressor stub, it looked like a dye bomb had gone off, dye and top off 3 times before I got there, condenser fan just swirling that stuff everywhere.

 

[ryan1088]

I guess I will run the risk after 40 pluss years of being a hack. Ears don't work so good anymore and eyes probably aren't what they used to be either. I do have a bottle of big blue although I like the United Refrigeration stuff better. Carry blast off to clean stuff on those rare occasions when I use it. All it is is colored oil.

Let me see if I can make the point that mason was trying to make.... It's really annoying to have people go to that mess making stuff before trying all other resources like nitrogen. I've hooked to ones that people didn't tag it and I didn't realize it until I purged my hoses and it went all over me, my pants, gauges, hoses, etc.

It's a last resort product, IMO.

 

[crackertech]

There are only 2 things that belong in a refrigeration system and that's reifer and oil.

 

[lytning]

Now lytning you know there are special considerations for old people : ).

My reference is more for those who choose not to learn how to look for a leak and instead add dye immediately, then say we'll be back after topping off, they hope someone else like me gets sent back but if it doesn't work out they go back and add more dye and say we'll be back.

The last one I was on was a leak on the discharge off the compressor stub, it looked like a dye bomb had gone off, dye and top off 3 times before I got there, condenser fan just swirling that stuff everywhere.

Blast off is good for cleaning the mess. I carry a paint stick and always mark Glo stick added and the date and refrigerant. (NOT FREON), cause even I can forget :grin2:. Hate my Tif leak detector heated pentode ZX1 ?. Like my UEI better but it isn as accurate. Once you use florescent it is good till you change the compressor. Anyway it workd for me.