In case you didn’t know, yesterday was Father’s Day. In our household, both Father’s Day and Mother’s Day are pretty low-key, and we normally just get some much-needed family time in. This year for Mother’s Day we prepared the patio and outdoor living space at our home for the Summer activities. For Father’s Day, the schedule was a little different. My wife and oldest had a play to go to in the early afternoon and I had a list of repairs to do as well as some recovery from a dodge ball tournament on Saturday. While most of my repairs were things like fixing a leaking hose, unpacking from the tournament, and weeding the garden, I did not have any major repairs on my list which meant I could take the younger two daughters and head to the pool. That ice-cold water definitely helped with the recovery part of my day, so we went. Met the rest of the crew after their show and had some nice ice cream time then home. I was feeling pretty good as my tasks were all completed, and I was going to be able to just enjoy the meal my wife had fixed for dinner and play some games with my girls. Well, the house had other plans, we arrived home to a thermostat that had crept up while we were gone.
Now, our HVAC system has limped along for probably a decade longer than most, and we continue to regularly maintain it. This is a true testament to how well preventative maintenance can truly expand the life of an item. Needless to say, during my routine inspection and maintenance at the start of the year, we found the unit was low on refrigerant. One of the first steps we performed when we saw it was starting to freeze up was to begin testing for leaks. This task takes a special gas detection meter that will sniff out the refrigerant vs. just air movement. Sure enough, we found a corroded joint in the A-Coil that has developed a fairly considerable leak. This tool made me think of the Ultrasonic Leak Detector that we sell here at EXAIR. It also made me start to correlate how a leak in a refrigeration system can cause the entire process to ice over because there isn’t enough refrigerant present and so the entire system begins to work harder and harder and the coil temp drops below freezing. The humidity in the air begins to collect on the A-Coil inside the house because the coil is so much cooler than the humid air around it and the ice starts to form. Once the ice forms you restrict the airflow through the coil which causes more ice to form and eventually no airflow happens and the entire compressor line will freeze. This often can lead to other failed parts if not discovered early enough. How is this like a compressed air system?
Well, leaks in a compressed air system cause the compressor to work overtime. It drops efficiency within the other items in the system which creates a lack of performance and potentially shuts down the system. Leaks can be found by utilizing a less specialized, Ultrasonic Leak Detector which can be seen in operation in the video below. Fixing these leaks can easily put capacity back in and save additional maintenance and replacement costs.
If you want to discuss how the Ultrasonic Leak Detector can save you money and costly shutdowns, contact an application engineer today.
Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
