Oil will blow-off with refrigerant gas and mark the general areas of leakage.
Oil spots appear wet and have a fine coating of dust. Determine that the wetness is oil and not
condensate by rubbing the area with your fingers to feel for oil slickness.
Successful leak detection is solely dependent on the careful observations made by the testing technician. |
Fortunately, all refrigeration systems
circulate compressor oil internally.
Oil will blow-off with refrigerant gas and mark the general areas
of leakage.
Oil spots appear wet and have a fine coating of dust. Determine
that the wetness is oil and not
condensate by rubbing the area with your fingers to feel for oil
slickness.
The faint dark area on this vibration eliminator is evidence of oil-refrigerant seepage.
Oil spotting is the technician's first quick-check, but not reliable for the following reasons:
| 1. Oil is always present at Schrader valves and access ports due to the discharging
of refrigerant hose gauges. Often these ports are falsely
blamed as the main point of leakage. 2. Oil blotches can originate from motors, pumps, or other sources. 3. Oil residue may be the result of a previous leak. 4. Oil is not always present at every leak site. It may take many months, even years of unit operation to cause enough oil blow-off to accumulate on the outer side. 5. Oil may not be present with micro leaks. 6. Oil may not reach certain leak positions. 7. Oil will not be present on new start ups. |
 Tightly cap off all valve parts and continue to search for the real leak source |
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