This was a service call on a walk in cooler that had a large refrigerant leak, I located and repaired the leak and got the unit operational again.
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This video is brought to you by spore'ln quality, integrity and tradition. Okay, so we've got a complaint that we've got a warm walk-in box and this is a convenience store. Listen to that sound. I bet you anything that we're low on refrigerant right now, not to me sounds like an expansion valve, so we're gon na jump on the roof and check out the condensing.

You know I don't see any ice present. So this is my condensing unit right here. So it's running it's our 22 unit, we're gon na open everything up, so I just shut it down, but it was definitely flashing. I like to pay attention when I take service caps off the first thing is: look at this one.

You want to look to make sure that the caps have the o-rings. This one does there's definitely some oil inside the cap, which is an indication that there is refrigerant leaking out of that. But I don't see oil around it, so the cap might be stopping it because, once I put my gauges on here, it's gon na be hard to leak, check those ports and this one doesn't have an o-ring at all and there's definite all around it. But there's no oil on the fitting, so we're gon na definitely not stop with that, but we're gon na check everything so yeah, I'm just looking to see if I see anything obvious and I don't this one's gon na suck because it's in our 22 unit.

So it's gon na be a bit pricey. I'm gon na go, engage up and check it out; okay, definitely definitely low. So before I add gas to this unit, I'm going to look for a refrigerant leak. So what's happening is the head headmasters bypassing it's hard to say whether it's just short, the winter charge or whether it's the full charge of the system? So it's kind of hard, judging by the size of that receiver, this is going to be at least an 18 pound charge total charge for this unit, at least so.

I'm gon na do a quick leak check before I go any further and then that'll determine where we're going to go with this to do a leak check. What I'm doing is I equalized out my gages turn the system off and open up the high side and the low side. So I'm equalizing the pressures between the two and then I'm gon na go start at the eave opps and check for leaks, anything jump and obvious in here. You know I'm just kind of looking for signs of oil.

There's a mechanical fitting. I don't see anything. I'm looking for something obvious right now and then then we'll start getting into the nitty-gritty, but I don't see any oil marks or anything on that condenser. No big oil marks on the condensed refrigeration lines.

Nothing really in here! That's jumping out and scaring me at the moment so we're looking for a pretty good accumulation of oil. More than likely so we'll go look at the expansion valves and the evaporators. So we're looking for obvious signs and notice. There's oil all up in there and I can hear it.

This is one that I didn't even have to get out the leak detector. It's a big old fat leak around that. So it's hard to get it on camera, but it is leaking right in here. So it's a weldable leak, put a braze joint on it.
I'm just gon na put a bunch of solder in here. I did inform the customer that you know the coppers really starting to pit out and rot away, and it's something they're gon na need to consider some kind of a replacement eventually, but you know we're okay, for now, I'm gon na go ahead and put a braze Joint on there and then vacuum the unit down change the liquid dryer, and I will also check the other coil to for leaks, but this one's so big right now that I want to get this one fixed and then we'll go from there. You also got to be careful too, when you have something this old. When you light that torch, you can create other leaks too, but we'll do our best to get them running.

Okay. So what I'm gon na do is. I went in and closed the valves on. My gauges, the pressures, did equalize out.

I'm gon na go ahead and front-seat the king valve on the receiver. That one has a packing. It's not packing up. First, before I go too far times I get ahead of myself.

It's kind of leaking up the top guess of the way that I have the setup. That's my liquid line down there. I've got access on the service table on that, and then I have got my suction line open up here on the roof, so it could be purging nitrogen and we are there's a small nitro purge went out of this. You may be able to hear that so very small nitro purge coming out and using this Western enterprises regulator.

That's alright does what I need it to so. Anyways, we're gon na go downstairs and stand up that joint and put a Lea beat of solder on it and try to clean it up and the sand the whole fitting, because the braze joint is going to encompass everything. So you want to make sure you cover your basis, there's a lot of nastiness on. I think that is an ugly bugger to get in there and get that extra stuff.

I almost need like a rotary tool or something to get in there and sand that here on the top, we can right up top right there, I'm over here, struggling to sand this Milwaukee 12-volt, that's what I'm talking about hell yeah little die grinder whatever you want To call it and that dremel copy that worked out really well, that little thing kicked ass man, you got it shiny, clean, it's kind of hard to get in there and see that, but boy, that's good, so we're gon na lay a phat beat right across that All over that whole thing and they went crazy with it trying to seal up anything on the top. Hopefully we didn't cause any other leaks, the Nitro pressurized right now, okay, so I'm letting the nitrogen out of the low side right now remember. High side still has normal r22 in it low side has the nitrogen did a pressure test in the leak test, so once that's done, we're gon na hook up the vacuum pump. Now this is an instance where I'm not gon na get my big fancy hoses out because we're not gon na get a perfect vacuum on the system number one anytime, you have a pump down system, especially with old valves like these.
They always leak by so you're. Never gon na get the ideal vacuum, and this is not gon na take very much time to vacuum this down, Plus. On top of that, I guarantee this unit has more leaks so, and it's also raining right now, so I'm not gon na change. The drier we'll come back and do that.

I just want to get it dehydrated as best as possible and we'll come back and change the dryer, we'll bring it up to the customer and see if they want to do an equipment replacement or whatever. I'm just trying to get them operating right now and trying to get out of the rain as soon as possible. It's not like pouring rain, but it's just enough to annoy the heck out of you and everything's wet so, and another thing too, is is that you know, since this is a pump down system, there's still refrigerant, that's boiling out of the oil the entire time. So, in all reality you know there's still refrigerant pushing out of the system so, but I always, you know, stress, to change the dryer whenever you open up a system and I'm gon na come back, but unfortunately because it's raining, I don't want to do it right Now so my glass is running clear, liquid line level and the receivers good I'm gon na get some new caps for these guys and then yeah we're just kind of wrapping it up.

Okay, we're back up and running systems charged it's coming down in temp. Getting cool in here open up. This whoa make sure there's no giant leaks in here. I'm gon na take the information down off the walk-in box.

It's a nine door. Convenience store, cooler, nine glass doors, one main door and I'll take the dimensions of the box. So that way who wants me to go ahead and get him a quote? We can do so all right. That was a service call on a walking cooler for a convenience store.

Like I said it was a nine glass door. Cooler with you know, just one big door on the side. Two coils inside it was low on charge, found a rather large leak on one of the distributor lines coming out of the expansion mouths you guys saw. I went ahead and was able to find that without even having to get my electronic leak detector out.

Sometimes we can be lucky, I did after all was said and done leak check the other coil to nothing. It was just that one, but the other coil is just as bad a shape as the first one, so you guys saw sometimes when you're, when you're brazing on these older systems. You know you got to just blanket the thing with solder, so I used you know. Quite a bit of solder on that more than you really should on a joint, but you just got a bugger it up to make sure that everything's good, and you know that also goes to when you're, when you're doing anything with a you know and you're gon Na braise on anything, you want to sand more than the area that you are working on because often times things happen, you may be laying some sofas on a joint, and you know you may accidentally or inadvertently unbrace something else.
You may cause another leak. So you always want to think the worst case scenario when you're getting ready to braise something okay and you want to sand the heck out of it. So you know I went ahead and sanded up that thing really thoroughly laid solder all around it up top and bottom and everything - and you saw that I used that little Milwaukee rotary told I think, worked out really nice. Luckily, in the same parking lot as that convenience store was a home depot, so I just walked over there and picked that thing up with a little stainless steel brush on it and you know, was able to get right into those little nooks and crannies and get It all cleaned up, but anyways you guys saw - and you know not everything's perfect so on this particular visit.

I didn't get to change the the liquid line. Dryer I did go back. I talked to the customer know that I wanted to come back on a day when it wasn't so wet outside and he was cool with it. So we went back and just changed out the dryer and we're in the process of giving him a quote to replace some evaporator coils, and you know that's pretty much it.

Okay. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to watch these videos and we'll catch you on the next one. Okay.

48 thoughts on “Walk in cooler refrigerant leak”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars w5cdt says:

    MWB – Music while brazing ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars King Solo says:

    Iโ€™ve worked on walk-ins for 12 years. When the unit is old and the copper looks bad I put in leak stop. How do you feel about this method? I never had a problem really. What are the pros and cons of this. P.S. I never use leak lock in walk into freezers refrigeration systems though.

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars raffael delpiano says:

    Love the addition of music.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Duke Stripling says:

    It the oring in the schrader cap is bad or missing, do yo buy o'rings, or new caps?

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tom Finley says:

    great work I started hvac/r back in the late 70s always something different

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tom Finley says:

    sounds like dental work

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars LEO 1984 says:

    I learn more from your videos then I do from the senior HVAC-R mechanic at my job! Much appreciated br0

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Frank Mashione says:

    I was like thatโ€™s going to be a pain to clean that joint up. Then you busted out the grinder. That was so cool.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Carlos Gamez says:

    Whatโ€™s up with the dog nuts. I can do Without the music.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars keith chapman says:

    music at (:20 no credited what is it?

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars mdwightj says:

    That evap was made by Krack owned by Hussmann.
    I worked for Hussmann for many years.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars 95thcobra 2 Productions says:

    so when inspecting equipment for why it's not working you just looking for something that jumps out and grabs you by the neck basically

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars John Orr says:

    You sure are good at your job. Are you in Kanata ?

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars HVAC AE says:

    As a hvac technician myself i can relate on your work and you just present the troubleshooting and analyzing clearly understandable especially with a newbies and some technicians keep up and more videos to come

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars SpazyFunk says:

    Just a note when you are doing a nitrogen test on a pumped down system you should never put more psi nitrogen then whatโ€™s on the other side of the valve. Because Iโ€™ve had nitrogen push through a valve and contaminated the R22 on the other side.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ronald Zeigler says:

    He is right you can open up a can of worms on old units Service area Orleans??

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sean says:

    what model victor torch is that? J28?

  18. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jeffrey M says:

    Nice job,,I love your work my friend,im also HVAC tech here in jeddah K.S.A

  19. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars G POWER DRAGON says:

    You ever had a case where a couple Mouse chewing wires making the air conditioner go crazy or not working

  20. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Michel Grenier says:

    A good temp repair those evaps will need replacement soon ; What I would watch for is pressure testing the low side with a pumped down high side , If the low side nitro press exceeds the static pressure of the R-22 in the high side the nitrogen will flow through the discharge valves and into the discharge line and add nitrogen to the refrigerant on the high side.

  21. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MTZ ARMANDO aqui lo revisamos says:

    Thanks men for share your videos i really like that job you do the best teacher for us

  22. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mark Jenkins says:

    Astonishingly individual friendly content . Enormous info offered on couple of clicks.

  23. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars TheDeafMechanic says:

    This is a general question for my own curiosity. Do you ever work on chillers?

  24. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars dang0088 da says:

    stay brite might be faster and u dont need nitro the line, bring small acc tank and u are done.

  25. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Wazim Edoo says:

    Good job ๐Ÿ‘

  26. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Robert Arnold says:

    I was trying to solve an air leak problem the other day with a pneumatic actuator valve & reheat coil. After fixing a few cracked pneumatic lines, I still had a small air leak I could not pinpoint. Just then I remembered one of your videos about using Big Blue leak detection fluid. Although I wasn't using it for refrigerant, I thought it might help me out in this situation. I used the stream setting like you recommended & like magic, I was able to see very small leaks coming from an fitting on the actuator head. A few turns of a crescent wrench solved my problems. Now I keep a bottle of Big Blue on my work cart. Works great for refrigerant leaks & pinpointing air leaks!

  27. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Autumn_wind3x says:

    Luckily the leak was accessible enough to fix. Great Video as always. Sometimes the leak can be further inside the coil. That will take more time to repair and not guarantee that another leak will happen again.

  28. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars armando lopez says:

    Dude I wil paid u just for you to let me go on road with u and learn from the best Are you in Barrhaven ?

  29. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ty Huffman says:

    Nice troubleshooting! The more that can be assessed without turning the system off is more better. That's kinda what I do, noninvasive equipment evaluation, usually I find the problem before the customer knows there is a problem. The old saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" holds true, in that a machine that isn't running well is trying to tell the mechanic what's wrong, eventually we all learn to listen to the machine first. Again good job!

  30. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Kevin Granados says:

    Amazing videos, keep up the good work. The (925) says hi ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿผ

  31. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars nbroda62 says:

    Dude, Awesome brazing. Can you make the brazing part be a stand alone video. I would love to show people your skill in our industry. Are you in Ottawa ?

  32. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tu Hermano says:

    Thank for your valuable information. God Bless you.

  33. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Donnie Robertson says:

    Great job again like always

  34. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jay B says:

    Where would we be without Milwaukee tools? Haha they make some good stuff man I'm even using their hand tools now. Good video brother excellent work as always

  35. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sean Mack says:

    I dread the dentist even more now bc of this video

  36. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dino greatfuliano says:

    Great videos , here in UK we decommission R22 units when we are called to repair ,or offer retro drop in refrigerant since jan 1st 2015 , I know its still lawful to work on R22 in US until Jan 2020 , but here generally were up to spec on phase out programmer , I have subscribed and think your work is very informative thanks

  37. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mazin Alrawe says:

    Nice work man ๐Ÿ‘ Service area Ottawa??

  38. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars stan1488 says:

    I recommend to everyone to always when possible use flux coated rod or flux with all field repairs or field devices

  39. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars stretchtofit says:

    Love the video. Also it helps me as a newbie to HVAC person, looking forward to more of ur videos Service area Nepean??

  40. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars chal ruk says:

    Can you show the detail how to charge the customer also. That's actually part of business.ย I have similar problem today and it is really similar quipment but my broblem is I lost allย ย r22 from the line cut.ย You saidย it probably take at least 18lb( 18x $75/lb = $1350 for freon charge alone)ย . The service manual say fill up freon until no bubble in sight glass. Well, I didn't really think it takes that muchhhhhhhh.ย  How to talk to customer to replace a new unit when my customer doesn't really want to pay for a new fillter/drier. Are you in Orleans ?

  41. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tito Alas says:

    Eres un buen ticher๐Ÿ‘

  42. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Greg Salis says:

    As always an excellant video!

  43. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars JULIO CHAVEZ UNACOSA says:

    Hello Chris, just wonder if have been trying fixing this kind of leaks with solder like stay brite 8. Good Videos Thank you .

  44. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Clint Glasgow says:

    ๐Ÿ‘

  45. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ed says:

    That battery die grinder is nice! I have a Dremel 120 volt. Don't use it very often but that little thing I always thought of it as a light duty "craft" tool but it works and has saved my ass a couple of times. Nice job Chris.I remember some 60 ton ac units Carriers with the txvs in a real bad spot. Pull the whole top cover off the rtu and climb down inside the "V" of the evap coil and there's the txv. No way to braze /unbraze a 1 5/8 distributator down there. Cut the liquid line and gently bent the distrib tubes to get the txv where we could work on it. Sliced the txv connection on the distrib and heated it and pealed it off. grind the old braze off the distrib with the dremel and stay bright the new txv pushed it back in and brazed the liquid line. Do what you have to do. not easy

  46. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julian Figueroa says:

    Whatโ€™s does a oil separator do? Why is it needed? I feel like that is just a added feature just to charge customers extra. And what are the symptoms of a bad oil separator, how will you know if itโ€™s going bad? Thanks in advance. Service area Kanata??

  47. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars stazeII says:

    I'm not an HVAC tech, but I'm an IT guy and all around curious sort. Watched a ton of your videos, and think I understand a lot of it, but I'd really love if you could do a decent primer or maybe a concepts video. Like, what's a headmaster for? Why would it be in bypass? What generally are you looking for in pressures (is that just experience, or do you have general rules of thumb for what acceptable high/low side pressures are for a given refrigerant)? When you say you're back or front seating the valve, what does that mean? I think I've seen there are R-22 compatible refrigerants for retrofits, but do you bother using those, or would you just replace the whole thing with a modern option? You know, just stuff like that. I'm sure it would bore the hell out of the pros, but maybe we all learn something in the process. =) Thanks for the good work!

  48. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rory Calhoun says:

    Nice. Milwaukee does make good stuff. I worked in Milwaukee for 25 years. DWTS! I prefer central WI and Northern WI is awesome if you like wildlife. You would be a good heating guy.

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