Jessica does a visual inspection first. The A-coil shows some signs of galvanic corrosion and has a few spots that feel oily to the touch. Oily spots may indicate leakage, so Jessica marks those up and knows to check them later.

Per the manufacturer’s recommendation, Jessica starts checking for leaks by spraying the coil enough to make it damp. Then, she sprays some Big Blu on the coil to see if bubbles form. Sure enough, some microbubbles begin forming on the spots that Jessica marked. After that, she uses the AccuTrak VPE-GN Ultrasonic Leak Detector to confirm the leak, and it worked very well; Jessica compares its effectiveness to the Bacharach H-10 leak detector.

The AccuTrak Ultrasonic leak detector is not a traditional “sniffer.” Instead of sniffing for traces of refrigerant, the Ultrasonic leak detector detects escaping nitrogen, which occurs naturally in our air. As such, you can use these leak detectors on systems without refrigerant; you’ll still locate leaks.

Read all the tech tips, take the quizzes, and find our handy calculators at https://www.hvacrschool.com/.

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