Does a freon leak mean I must get a new home AC unit? Can't I just get the leak fixed? A PSE&G technician was at my house to charge the freon in my AC. He told me that I've got a leak & that I'll have to get a whole new unit. This seems a little far-fetched to me, especially because my unit is only 10 years old. Can't the leak just be fixed? The technicians are getting lazy, especially if the companies pay commission , then they would rather try to sell you a new system , than repair !Call and get someone else to perform a proper leak check on your system ,I've got systems that we service that are 40 years old and still operating. Call and get someone else to perform a proper leak check on your system ,I've got systems that we service that are 40 years old and still operating.The technicians are getting lazy, especially if the companies pay commission , then they would rather try to sell you a new system , than repair !good luck Source: Owner of hvac company 9 out of 10 times if you have a good tech with enough technical skills he should be able to find your leak.

if it is a single leak he should be able to fix it. But now a days it is more advantage to sell you a new system than repair it because the fix is time consuming and they would rather have the tech stick to schedule than waste time looking for the leak. inside ac unit buzzingtime is money and techs are paid by the call then by the hourRaymond gonzalezhvac dx units Did he say where the leak is ? trane air conditioner condenser costIf in a fitting or line, simple and cheap to just repair or change that out. If in the exchanger coils, commonly they have to be replaced unless it is in a reachable spot that can be brazed. If in the compressor (compressor bypass leak) then that is a major component, and probably the most expensive part of the system to replace, so in that case you would be putting down a lot of money to fix a system that is out of warranty and is probably 65-85% of the way to its average service life of 12-15 years.

One other possibility which he may have been thinking but did not say, is if it is an R22 refrigerant system, that is costing hundreds of $ to fill now that it is going out of production, and will cost more in the future, so he may have figured you were better off with a system that uses the replacement refrigerants. For more on that subject and when the phaseout takes full effect, see the discussions in Home - HVAC (link right below your question, above).I would call him back and find out where the leak is (if he tested for that, rather than just checking the pressure and saying there was a leak somewhere), and why he recommended a new unit over repair.Then you can decide what you want to do, and if you wnt to get another opinion. You might want to check his firm's rating on Angie's List too, to see how much weight you want to give to his opinion. If the leak is in the "indoor" Evaporator coil, the cost to replace the coil, if not covered by a ten year parts warranty( you should check warranty), is far greater then 50% of a new system.

These coils are not repairable , in most cases, there are numerous pin holes from Formicary Corrossion, and more on the way.The tech should and may have indentified the leak, if not ask that they do so.Most all new systems will have a 10 year parts warranty, though it must be registered with the manufacturer to be valid.Check out Carriers new Green Speed system, terriffic system, much lower utility bills.As always find the best contractors on Angie's List! One thing I did not mention directly, but is in the referenced discussions on R22 (Freon) under the HVAC category, is that refilling your system will cost from $100+ to several hundreds of $, because of the rapidly rising price of Freon. Therefore, unless the tech is certain he has found and totally fixed the leak (by using an inert gas pressure test after the repair and BEFORE refilling the system with Freon), then you could end up sinking a hundred or two in repairs, and a hundred or few in Freon that would just leak back out if there is an unidentified leak.

Therefore, that might weigh on your decision on whether to repair or get a new system.That is why a quality, reputable, HONEST contractor is vital - an honest craftsman will explain your alternatives and truthfully say what he would do in your position, and give you honest pricing for the alternatives, not just give you one choice to take or leave.CLICK HERE to purchase our freon leak repair kit So if your tired of paying a air conditioning contractor hundreds of dollars every cooling season to simply add freon to you system that should not be leaking,CLICK HERE to purchase our freon leak repair kit Also Note that we sell do it yourself Air Conditioner Maintenace Kits. Click here to see options. You should be doing a maintenance at least once a season.In the past, having a Freon leak in your air conditioner wouldn’t be such a big deal as you could simply top-it-off and wait until it leaked again. But that was way before the prices of R-22 Freon prices soared sky-high. At around $75.00-$100.00 a pound of R-22 and the average fill up being around 2-5 lbs.… topping-off an air conditioner with a Freon leak is a very expensive option.

What causes an Freon Leak? There are several things that can cause an air conditioner leak in your system, here are the most common: If you have a newer AC unit and it has a leak, one can possibly suspect that the cause is a bad installation job. People spend a lot of time finding the best price on a new air conditioning unit but fail to realize that what is just as important is who is installing your unit and if they do a good job.  Incomplete brazing on the joints can leave pinhole leaks which lead to very slow leaks and may not be noticed within the first year or up to 5 years after installation. Best advice is to hire the right company to install your unit, not just the cheapest. Just as discussed with the bad installation job – there are times where there may be a factory part defect. In the manufacturing process there may have been an incomplete weld or punctures that may have happened in the packing or shipping process. Formic acid is a naturally occurring acid comes from the ground and can etch the copper coil that can cause microscopic cracks in the copper.

These leaks get worse over time and increasingly require more Freon. With the units pipes located close to walls and other home structures, something as harmless as hanging a picture or hammering nails into the wall can puncture the line set. We have seen this happen and it was not pretty. How we find a Freon Leak: When we suspect a Freon leak in an air conditioning system, the first step we take is to use an electronic leak detector to determine the general location of the leak. When found, we use a leak detection mixture which bubble up on the leak site. There are several options if a Freon leak is found. First, the cheapest and easiest way is for us to do a leak seal treatment. This is a great option if your unit is between 7-12 years old. The other option is to replace the leaky component especially while the product is still under warranty.  If your system is completely empty, then there may be hidden damage in the rest of the system and those damages will not be readily identifiable until the unit is charged and running again.