Hi All. I called my HVAC company because, on a very warm day, one of the two HVAC zones has an extra high pitched sound coming from the liquid line where it enters the housing for the evaporator coils above the furnace. I requested a tech listen to audio files I sent, and he did and said it could be normal or it could be the compressor is working harder and may need refrigerant. The extra noise doesn't occur or is hardly noticeable of it's upper 70s or lower outside. Both units lines near the evaporator will make some type of hissing if it's not very warm out and the units are running, but when it's very warm out it seems that, for one of the two units you can't hear any noise other than the blower, but the other unit makes this high pitched sound coming from the liquid line.
See links to MP3 files for comparison:
Liquid Line making extra noise in addition to the sound of the blower in background: https://aminfromen042.us.epikshare.o...L9cpwnfXzPICAD
Liquid line NOT making noise and only blower heard in background: https://aminfromen042.us.epikshare.o...9S2qT9BkacLysP
Today, I was expecting the technician who did the check-up in April to come over, but the owner came over. He hooked up gauge(s) to the condenser and thinks it needs more refrigerant r410a. I think he said 2 pounds. He told me he thought it was a slow leak, and I asked about how we could detect where it was leaking. He said "you could spend a lot of money" (a couple thousand) and have the lines cut and do some type of test to detect where it's leaking or you could just use a leak sealant that's sort of "like fix-a-flat" for (several hundred). And then there's the charge for the refrigerant charge-up itself and service call. He recommended the leak sealant. I'm a little concerned about introducing something extra into the system other than what is supposed to be there which is r410a refrigerant and oil. I asked "is there any downside to using the sealant" and he said "none". This was the owner. He also told me the AC vent temperature was supposed to be 20 degrees colder than the room temperature but it's only like 8 to 10 degrees colder.
I put in a call to speak with the technician to ask question and hopefully get an appointment for him to come over on a day he is available. He is actually out on the field more than the owner, and, by the way, the owner had asked the tech two questions himself regarding the system so it seems to me the technician is more familiar with the system.
BTW, I had both zones checked out in April and the technician said everything was okay, but it was only 45 degrees out day (even though I had mentioned I was concerned it would be too cold that day, but they didn't want to reschedule). On that day, they had said everything was okay and measured refrigerant levels and vent temperatures, but it did seem like they were at first maybe thinking one of the units might need more refrigerant but than said both are okay that day.
Today, I'm told by the owner there is a slow leak and I am wondering why they didn't find it during the checkup (was it the temperature?). The owner had said that they should not be doing the check-up when it's only 45 degrees outside. I should have pointed out to the owner that I was concerned about the low temperature and nobody wanted to reschedule.
In any case, I'm wondering if having them just add r410a refrigerant as a first step, and then if that fails to hold, would I then be better off spending the (couple thousand) on properly diagnosing the leak than introducing a leak sealer into the system? Also, I wasn't made aware of what the owner did, if anything, to attempt to diagnose the leak in any areas that were accessible with soap bubbles or whatever. I will ask the technician if any way to at least attempt to detect the leak in accessible areas, and will ask about just adding refrigerant as a first step.
Also, the owner didn't mention that the noise I've been hearing in warmer weather is definitely due to the low refrigerant, but I should have asked him to clarify on that before he left.
The system is 9 years old and has expected lifespan of 20 years. Let me know what you think. Sorry about the length of this post.
See links to MP3 files for comparison:
Liquid Line making extra noise in addition to the sound of the blower in background: https://aminfromen042.us.epikshare.o...L9cpwnfXzPICAD
Liquid line NOT making noise and only blower heard in background: https://aminfromen042.us.epikshare.o...9S2qT9BkacLysP
Today, I was expecting the technician who did the check-up in April to come over, but the owner came over. He hooked up gauge(s) to the condenser and thinks it needs more refrigerant r410a. I think he said 2 pounds. He told me he thought it was a slow leak, and I asked about how we could detect where it was leaking. He said "you could spend a lot of money" (a couple thousand) and have the lines cut and do some type of test to detect where it's leaking or you could just use a leak sealant that's sort of "like fix-a-flat" for (several hundred). And then there's the charge for the refrigerant charge-up itself and service call. He recommended the leak sealant. I'm a little concerned about introducing something extra into the system other than what is supposed to be there which is r410a refrigerant and oil. I asked "is there any downside to using the sealant" and he said "none". This was the owner. He also told me the AC vent temperature was supposed to be 20 degrees colder than the room temperature but it's only like 8 to 10 degrees colder.
I put in a call to speak with the technician to ask question and hopefully get an appointment for him to come over on a day he is available. He is actually out on the field more than the owner, and, by the way, the owner had asked the tech two questions himself regarding the system so it seems to me the technician is more familiar with the system.
BTW, I had both zones checked out in April and the technician said everything was okay, but it was only 45 degrees out day (even though I had mentioned I was concerned it would be too cold that day, but they didn't want to reschedule). On that day, they had said everything was okay and measured refrigerant levels and vent temperatures, but it did seem like they were at first maybe thinking one of the units might need more refrigerant but than said both are okay that day.
Today, I'm told by the owner there is a slow leak and I am wondering why they didn't find it during the checkup (was it the temperature?). The owner had said that they should not be doing the check-up when it's only 45 degrees outside. I should have pointed out to the owner that I was concerned about the low temperature and nobody wanted to reschedule.
In any case, I'm wondering if having them just add r410a refrigerant as a first step, and then if that fails to hold, would I then be better off spending the (couple thousand) on properly diagnosing the leak than introducing a leak sealer into the system? Also, I wasn't made aware of what the owner did, if anything, to attempt to diagnose the leak in any areas that were accessible with soap bubbles or whatever. I will ask the technician if any way to at least attempt to detect the leak in accessible areas, and will ask about just adding refrigerant as a first step.
Also, the owner didn't mention that the noise I've been hearing in warmer weather is definitely due to the low refrigerant, but I should have asked him to clarify on that before he left.
The system is 9 years old and has expected lifespan of 20 years. Let me know what you think. Sorry about the length of this post.
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/2239616-Should-an-HVAC-company-use-quot-leak-sealant-quot-to-solve-a-slow-refrigerant-leak?goto=newpost
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