Leaks in your HVAC don’t just make it harder for your system to heat and cool your building—they also force your system to work harder and put more wear on all of its components to keep up with your building’s temperature regulation needs. Leaks need to be taken care of as quickly as possible, otherwise your HVAC might end up working itself into a larger repair issue—think of it like trying to run on a sprained ankle; you’ll only make things worse.
In the video below, you can see one of our expert repair technicians walk through the process of inspecting and diagnosing a customer’s rooftop AC unit that was having trouble keeping up with the building’s cooling needs:
Diagnosing the RTU AC for repair
Our customer had an IntelliPak Rooftop Unit (RTU) air conditioning unit with two refrigerant circuits, one of which had gone completely flat; the other, on its own, could not keep up with the cooling needs of the entire building. Our technician started out with a visual inspection, first checking the circuit that had gone flat.
In this circuit, our technician discovered minor leaks at several service valves and major leaks at both rotor locks. The service valves needed their packing and caps tightened to seal the leaks, and both of the rotor locks needed their gaskets replaced to ensure a tight and leak-free seal. The new gaskets held a pressure test, and the technician could pull a vacuum on them down to 550 microns, and weighed in the charge at 70 pounds of R-410 refrigerant.
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Moving onto the second circuit, which had not gone completely flat but was still struggling to keep up with the rest of the building, our technician took a look at its rotor locks and service valves as well and found that both rotor locks had minor leaks and needed their caskets replaced. One service valve was also leaking because its cap had been removed but not replaced; our technician found it rolling around in the unit and replaced it.
After taking steps to seal those leaks, he moved onto inspecting the circuit’s refrigerant. He found five pounds of refrigerant in the tubing assembly and added five more pounds to it. Return air exiting the system was about fifteen to twenty degrees hotter than the supply air with only one circuit running. Given the amount of refrigerant the unit holds as a whole, five pounds should not have made that much of an appreciable difference in the circuit’s capabilities.
To further diagnose the issue with the customer’s RTU, our technician had to run the unit, get gauges on pressure, and test the unit for performance. Afterward, we could make the necessary repairs and get the AC back up and running at full strength.
Learn more about our RTU HVAC services
At Chiller Systems Service, we put the right people, equipment, and service on your case to get the job done right. We’ve been servicing business and industrial boiler and chiller units for clients all throughout the metro Denver area since 1997. If you have a process chiller or HVAC system that is malfunctioning or has broken down, get in touch with us and experience our dedication to complete customer satisfaction: