AC-UNIT Leeks

Empire_2

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the pressure test on the evap. only 150 psi?, from the factory??You are all right.leaks are a pain in the A--.hard to find, but sometimes the cusomer cannot afford the search that we must perform according to the EPA.... On the log that I keep on ref. usage, I will recharge only one time before red tagging the system meaning that the customer has not provided the necessary good faith search and repair of the leak. Any thoughts welcome
Mike

RoosterBoy

hay guys my unit was charged up today and I get this weird smell coming from the registers with the cool air

could there be a micro leak in the a-coil

or could it be from the heating season and air running though the coil all winter. and now when the coil gets wet im smelling mold or something.

we put 300 pound test on the line with nitro

this is a 2ton 14 seer ArcoAire unit

thanks

Empire_2

Leak/Smell

If you are recharging the unit, You have a leak period... Sometime they can be found in 20 min, other times you can search for 2/3 hours and come up with nothing but more questions. Mold is a big issue and there are devices to treat or take care of this problem. You dont even need 300psi to check for a leak, if you are using nitrogen, which I am happy to hear you are in the right ballpark. 100 psi will do and see how long it will hold. All systems will eventually leak due to vibration and other factors. It's like Taxes..:)

bigugh_4

Just funning ya!

If you got LEEKS in your system no wonder it stinks.

RoosterBoy

your right i missed my typo there

thanks

BillW@honeywell

Mike's right...

get the service guy back, and have him hunt the leak down & fix it. Also check your coil, the condensate pan may not be draining completely, and standing water is an invitation to mold, algae and other nasty stuff. Flush the condensate line. Pump the condensate to the outdoors, too. Since the service guy is already there, have him clean your coil, and that should eliminate the smell and gain you some efficency,as well. Change your filter regularly, and consider upgrading to an advanced media type or an electronic air cleaner. To prevent the return of any "critters", consider installing a UV light over the coil; that will "fry" any biologicals. Ours is the UV100 series, available from any Honeywell Enviracaire Elite or Perfect Climate distributor.

RoosterBoy

I just called them and the owner stopped by the house for me real quick I had him smell the register and he said it was normal. the air handler was used all this winter for heat and this is the first time I used the a-coil for cooling so. he thinks the oder is from the bacteria draining off the new coil it should go away in a week he said if not call him back in 2 weeks if it's still there

but he thinks it's because it's a new unit
thanks

Jon_2

Odor from A/C coil

Unit smells cause it is new and you used the system for heating all winter. B..S... from the service co. owner about bacteria draining off the new coil, there is quite a few things that cause odor, Duct work not sealed on the returns, drain on coil not right, pitch on coil pan not right, could go on forever, but the installation instructions were not followed is obivious for you have a smell. Secondly, was the leak repaired when it was recharged? There is no reason to recharge a system if it was installed properly unless something has caused a leak and that should have been repaired before recharging. Poor workmanship is the prime cause of most leaks, equipment from the manufacturer has problems at times but the installer should have found those problems at initial charging.

hvac64

Roosterboy, What happened when you put the nitro in? how long did you leave the system under pressure? Leaks can be NIGHTMARES, belive me I know.I found one last week I had been chasing for 2 seasons.I tried nitrogen,finally got it with dye and ultraviolet light, leak was in cond. coil .Have them check for leaks w/ a digital vaccuum gauge, if theres a leak , the system will not hold a deep vac ( 500 microns & under) for long. As far as the smell, dont know.

RoosterBoy

we left it under 300 pounds for maybe 4min at the most then we put a vacuum on the line for like 2 hours :-) he took lunch and left it.

I opened the air handler tonight and looked at the pan there is a bit of condensate in the pan but not above the drain.

and the condensate has a smell when I opened a top off the condensate pump so something in the condensate has a smell

do you think it could be a small micro leak in the a-coil ?
inside the air handler.

I was even thinking this

inside the air handler there is insulation and when the unit comes on it gets damp inside and the air filter even feels damp it has high humidity. do you think the humidity inside the insulation is dripping into the pan and contaminating the condensate sounds stupid but im trying to think of anything

thanks

Ted_9

> we left it under 300 pounds for maybe 4min at the

> most then we put a vacuum on the line for like 2

> hours :-) he took lunch and left it.

>


Thats bogus. If its a small leak, you may not find it with nitro. The system was re-charged? So the system lost refrigerant? If so its a leak and not normal wear for a new unit.


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hvac64

Is the unit vertical or horizontal? Weve had lots of condensation problems with a particular brand of hydro-air unit mounted horizontally...condensate getting sucked into air handler insulation. That could be odor issue.

RoosterBoy

keep in mind this is a bran new ac install just got done today

when we checked for leaks with nitro it was on bran new lineset we did not open the valves on the ac unit so no r22 was taken out.

since the line set was 45 feet and the 2 ton unit was only charged for 25 feet we had to add r22

so im thinking there could be a leak in the coil because the smell is not a nice smell. maybe the installer put to much pressure on the line and caused a leak in the coil

how long will the r22 last in the system if there is a small leak I put it on a few times today to cool the house it all cooled ok but the smell stayed with me even when I went out I could almost smell it in my lungs. and I don't think the company will come back out again. so maybe I will make a appointment with a new company to check it.

this company gave me a 1 year warrantee on the labor and equipment the air handler is less then a year I had them install it when I did my buderus the condenser is a week old and just got done installing today

thanks guys

RoosterBoy

it's a freedom air handler made my ipc A.K.A arcoaire

hvac64

Thats not the unit Ive had problems with. I think the smell is not a leaky coil. r22 doesnt smell that bad. The problems got to be in the duct/airhandler system. Dead animals really stink in them.

don_139

Sounds

like to me your contractor on the ball.Many times this will
happen on a heatpump when you go from heat to cool you will get a smell we like to refer to as dirty socks syndrone.

They make a spray call dirty sox odor neutralizer that can
be use every year when going from winter to summer.
Made by comstar.

Just keep in mind to be use only and after you know everything else with your system is tight and install properly.

So was it you are the wife that notice the smell first?
My money on the wife..they can be like a bloodhound at time
with thier nose.

jim lockard

not long enough

When I do a standing pressure test and we do em on every unit we install. 150 psi then take lunch if the needle has not moved in a 1/2 hour then you can pump it down to 500 mic. with a 300 mic. rise in 5 minutes. Now your leak free. Best Wishes J.Lockard

steve_29

If you have bacteria on the coils they don't just go away...

The odor is their waste and the only way to stop it is to kill the little sea monkeys!

UV lights work great.

These little problems, whether they be bacteria , mold , etc. will not go away during the heating months , they mearly become dormant, and will return when the conditions are right. Cool/warm, dark , and moist.

don_141

uv lights

I'm not sold on them as of yet.I've seen a couple coil that were ate up from the light.

The problem is and will always be trying to run heat and ac off the same distribution system..

Just another reason to have hydronic heat with emitter on the wall or in the floor.

JimGPE_3

Separate the two

The smell and the leak are not related in MHO. R-22 does not really have an odor. The odor resulting from an R-22 leak is mostly the atomized oil, and I would not characterize the smell as bad. I kinda like it, actually.

You should have the leak fixed - the tech should not have topped off the charge without finding the leak.

But the smell is a separate issue, I believe. Changing from heating to cooling freaks out the mold on the coil, they think they're dying. They blow off spores like crazy and that's what you smell. Get a coil spray that is made to cure dirty socks syndrome and use that. It should help.