How to add Freon to a Air Conditioner or Refrigeration System

Adding Freon to an air conditioner or refrigeration system takes very specialized equipment and years of experience...it would be impossible and irresponsible of me to try to tell you how to do it through a computer.

Let me explain this further….
In small refrigeration systems such as you have in a refrigerator or a beveage cooler, the amount of freon in the system can often be measured in ounces of weight. Many times, just a few ounces. To get these charged correctly takes tons of experience and very finely tuned equipment. Just removing the hoses can release enough freon to make the difference between the system working or not working. Very sensitive scales are needed to weigh in the freon. To make sure the correct amount of freon is in the system, the system must be evacuated to a complete vacum. You need to have a special pump to do this.


To add to this, most small refrigeration systems are factory charged and sealed. They do not have access ports built into the system. To do anything to these system an access port must be correctly placed in the system for proper evacuation and charging. Then also add the the equation the fact that if you need to add freon to your system, where did the exsisting freon go? Finding and fixing very small leaks also takes sophisticated detection equipment.

The next problem is the many different types of freon that are used today. Some equipment has the type used, very clearly marked, but many do not. Only knowledge and experience can tell what type freon is in the system, and then it can be very difficult sometimes.

Air conditioning systems can be a bit more forgiving, but are getting more and more difficult to analyze and figure out exactly what is going on. The many types of refrigerant and variable speed compressors are making troubleshooting very difficult. Add temperature sensors and variable speed condenser fan motors into the mix and it becomes a nightmare.

Heat Pumps are very sensitive to either under or over charging. The only correct way to charge a heat pump is to evacuate the system and weigh in the correct charge.

Leaks in heat pumps or air conditioners are often very difficult to find, also. But finding a leak and fixing to correctly is the only way to achieve a successful repair of an air conditioning or heat pump unit.

So hopefully now you can see that refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump system charging is not something that can easily be done without the proper training and equipment.
Oh, and did I also mention that it is illegal to handle and repair any type of system the contains any type of refrigerant with out a refrigerant handling certification in the United States? Yes, and the although rarely anyone has been charged, it still is the law.

Please call for a certified repair technician to repair any refrigeration system and do not try to do it yourself.