How to Charge an Air Conditioning Compressor
Charging an air conditioning compressor will become necessary from time to time. If you have a slow leak or just an old unit, you may need to do this a few times through the life of the air conditioner. You can hire a technician to do this, or you can save money by doing it yourself.
If you notice that the air conditioning system in your home seems to get betting warmer, then it is likely your refrigerant is low. If this is the case, then you will need to know how to charge your air conditioning compressor. This can be done pretty easily with the right tools and a few steps.
What You’ll Need:
- Bathroom Scale
- Refrigerant Cylinder
- Refrigerant Gauges
- Refrigerant Vacuum Pump
- Find the gauges on the side of your condensing unit and connect them to your fittings. The yellow or middle hose in the gauges should be connected to the vacuum pump. You can then turn on the pump and get rid of any refrigerant that is left over.
- Take off the vacuum pump from the gauge and connect the cylinder there instead. Put the cylinder onto the scale and keep track of the weight. Open the valve all the way up and keep an eye on your gauges to figure out the weight of your system.
- Wait until the gauges are at about 45 pounds and start up your unit. Set the thermostat so it will begin to run. Check the cylinder’s weight to figure out how charged it is. The system should be set for 70 psi on the lower side and 250 psi for the higher side.
- Shut the valve off and then open up your blue hose. Turn off the smaller part of the valve and open up your high pressure valve. Take the high side hose off and then the low side.