Freon leaks and and a/c systems that are not charged correctly are on the increase and it is important that the person preforming these repairs can identify the problem correctly and not make it worse. The ever increasing cost of refrigerant is making it unfeasible to add refrigerant every year. Not to mention the freeze ups, water on the floor and waiting for a service call on the hottest day of the year. Are just a few of the consequences to haveing freon problems. If you live in a condo and have downstairs neighbors then there is also the aggravation of the knock on the door and the cost of fixing there damage. Really minor compared to the cost of a safety pan and switch!
Freon 22 and Freon 410A are the two most common refrigerants used in A/C systems today. Freon 22 set to be phased out in a few years.
New trends in the A/C industry appear to be the use of unqualified people to install and service A\C systems. Many of the customers I service have A\C systems in them that are barely able to cool there house or condo and certainly don’t cool all the rooms evenly.
Add the fact that they have an annoying freon problem that isn’t going away seems to add to there frustration. There is this trend in the industry to just add dye to the system and hope when they come back the next time it will be right in front of them glowing yellow. And just like that they are the hero and they really didn’t even try hard.
Question does dye work?
Answer: Yes and no.
Yes dye works in controlled environments where you have a freon leak and oil leaks out as well as the freon. For example in a large meat packing plant where there is a lot of refrigeration and A\C systems throughout the facility and pipes and coils which are exposed. Then a mechanic doing routine maintenance can walk around with his glow flashlight to look for leaks.
Even the outdoor units are so large and contain enough refrigerant so that a persistent leak will eventually show enough of the dye to produce a spot where there is a leak. but that leak is usually big enough that a good mechanic on top of things would have found that long before the guy with the flash light.
No: For the most part in homes and condo’s in the Fishkill NY 12540 area dyes are a last resort. Why because your condensing unit is outside and exposed to the weather. Looking for a very tiny glowing leak on a bright sunny day is a waste of time. A small bothersome leak will almost never show up that way. Now if the person who put it in is willing to come out after dark and look for the leak we may have something there. Another point is that the line sets are half in the wall and the other half runs across the attic or the basement covered in foam. The indoor coils are cased in a duct-work box making them difficult to get to, and even when you open the front panel your only exposed to 20% of the coil. And modern installations in the Fishkill NY 12524 area condo’s have them crammed into a closet with no room to work. If there is a small leak in the indoor coil dye will never show up.
I was one of the first people to buy a dye system and like I said there is a place for everything but nothing takes the place of a good mechanic who is going to search and work hard for you the home owner and the person who puts bread on his table.
Sometimes these systems have to be separated and charged with nitrogen to determine which area of the system has the small leak. Then it needs to be fixed or replaced. and once this leak is fixed and you don’t have to deal with that anymore lets hope the system is the right size and your duct work work is installed in an intelligent way.
