How to Add A Refrigerant to an Air Conditioner?
If you are aware that Freon is about to be eliminated as a coolant that can be used legally, you know that you ought to change out this hydrochlorofluorocarbon as soon as possible. This is something that any HVAC professional will be able to do. They can come out to your location, extract the gas, and then put in any other type of coolant. In most cases, they are going to recommend one over all of the others. Some of them are very energy efficient. You should be able to find a professional to do this, but if you can’t, there are ways that you can add a refrigerant to your air conditioner without having to pay a professional to do this for you. Let’s go over the steps that you need to take to get this done on your own if that’s what you would prefer doing.
What Supplies Will You Need?
There are certain supplies that you are certainly going to need if you’re going to do this on your own. First of all, you need to have a reusable injection hose. This will allow you to put in the new coolant that is going to replace the Freon. You will need what is called an air conditioner sealant. This is because you will be opening up different parts of the air conditioning unit, and it needs to be properly sealed in order to function properly. There are instructions on the web that can show you how to do this, step-by-step, and also tell you how to buy refrigerant, specifically videos that have actually been created by HVAC professionals. They are well aware that they are giving you these steps, which you could do yourself, but you also realize how complex this can be and you will likely call them for their assistance. Other tools that you may need will include screwdrivers, temperature gauges, and something to check the pressure once the process is complete. Once you have all of these tools, you will then begin the process of taking out the Freon. This begins with turning off your entire system.
How To Remove The Freon
If you want to remove the Freon, you should be able to do this in the span of about an hour. It may take longer if you have never done this before. The first thing that you need to do is get on all of your safety gear. This will include goggles, a breathing mask, and gloves. It is not toxic for humans to breathe in small amounts of Freon, but it’s always a precaution that you need to take. Once you are fully protected, you will then be able to begin to remove the Freon. You will attach the temperature gauge to the valves that are there. It is important to wait five minutes or so to get an accurate reading. Once you have done that, you need to make sure that the temperature is just around 45°F. This is after you have removed the Freon and put in the new coolant. Also check for leaks just to make sure that there are none. That’s why you will have a gauge to detect Freon that has leaked out. You can also do this buy looking for low pressure, which is typically something that is 65 psi or lower.
Put The New Coolant In The AC Unit
You can put the new coolant in using what is called a trigger dispenser. Although these are different for each type of air conditioning unit, they will work in a similar way. The can of refrigerant, which must be vertical, is going to be connected to the dispenser which is almost always reusable. It is recommended that you get each of these separately. You need to get the refrigerant and the dispenser, ones that are made for each other, instead of a combo kit. In most cases, these are going to be cheaper, which means there might be leakage. Always go with something that is known for working. This will be attached to the compressor. This is where the replacement for Freon will be injected. There are a few things you need to do before you do this if you need this to work.
Preparing To Recharge The System
Adding the refrigerant requires you to make sure that the container is fully vertical. If you tip this, it could actually cause problems which could damage your entire system. You will simply open the valves, just as you did to extract the Freon, but this time you are opening the side which will put the new coolant in. You will check the readings to look at the pressure, and once it is done, seal the valves and then wait about 20 minutes. You should also have some type of the temperature gauge which can judge how cold it is. Most people can tell if it’s the same or colder by simply how it feels.
Once you have completed this process, you will have to take the Freon to the nearest location where it can be disposed of properly. Depending upon where you are in the country, this will be very easy to do. You should have no problem at all finding a way to dispose of this on your own. However, if this all seems too complicated, you should certainly consider contacting HVAC professional that can do all of this for you in a very short period of time. It will probably be worth your time and money to work with these individuals because of how quickly and efficiently they can do all of this for you and take care of any problems that they find along the way. If you are approaching 2020 at the time you are reading this, you do need to contact one of these professionals to do this or do it on your own. Freon needs to be replaced in any unit that you have. If you can do this, you will soon be able to have a fully functional air conditioning unit with a proper coolant inside.
