Central Air Conditioning Unit

by Marie
(Roseville, CA)

Hi, I have a central air conditioning unit that's five years old. Recently I had to have someone put five pounds of refrigerant into the ac unit, so the ac unit must be leaking, or is it just normal to need to charge up the central ac every so many years?

If it does have a leak, is it expensive for someone to find the leak and repair it? Am I better off just replacing the unit? Thanks!

Dadan replies:

Hey, Marie

Yes, there are small leak that occur. This prefect small leak could occur anywhere in the copper pipe joint or at the condenser coil or the evaporator coil

No, it not normal to have big leak and add five pounds of refrigerant, central air conditioner unit is close-loop system. Once the refrigerant is in, it stays there.

Sometime fixing the small leak is more expensive than adding the refrigerant. And some homeowners prefer to adding refrigerant every 1 or 3 years than repairing the leak.

I’m not sure how much the tech in your area will charge to find and repair a leak. If I was to guess, I would say around 150 to 300 dollar. This will also depend on the amount of Freon it need and what types of Freon (r410 or r22). I will said it is r410.

It would be better to find and repair the leak than replacing the entire central air conditioner unit. Your central ac unit is only five years old. It should last way longer than five.

The problem with this central air is a bad installation. This leak have to occur in joint or valve. If it leaks within the condenser or evaporator coil, then we can complaint to the manufacturer. If the copper pipe was to rub against other material, this could somewhat cause a leak.

I hope that help.

Regards,

Dadan