00:00:08.090 hey guys Jay here with word of advice TV 00:00:10.75900:00:10.769 I have a lot of videos showing you how 00:00:12.32000:00:12.330 to fix your air conditioner but none of 00:00:14.36000:00:14.370 those videos do I show you how to check 00:00:16.01000:00:16.020 freon pressures so I just thought in 00:00:17.81000:00:17.820 this video I'll go ahead and show you 00:00:19.27900:00:19.289 how you can check your freon pressures 00:00:20.96000:00:20.970 to see if they're right on or if they're 00:00:22.70000:00:22.710 low or high or whatnot so to begin with 00:00:24.59000:00:24.600 of course you will need a set of gauges 00:00:26.15000:00:26.160 the temp probe you don't really need for 00:00:29.06000:00:29.070 checking if you want to know if what the 00:00:30.80000:00:30.810 problem is you're gonna need a temp 00:00:32.08900:00:32.099 probe but anyways this is what a 00:00:33.92000:00:33.930 standard gauge looks like there's 00:00:36.02000:00:36.030 different kinds of gauges that read 00:00:37.58000:00:37.590 different kinds of refrigerant scales 00:00:39.01000:00:39.020 would that have different kinds of 00:00:40.97000:00:40.980 refrigerant scales I should say for 00:00:43.10000:00:43.110 example mine has r22 right there in 00:00:45.20000:00:45.210 green and r410a and 404 a which is 00:00:48.59000:00:48.600 seldom used 00:00:49.45900:00:49.469 but 410 a and r22 are the most popular 00:00:52.49000:00:52.500 so if you're thinking of getting a 00:00:54.11000:00:54.120 refrigerant gauge make sure you check 00:00:56.06000:00:56.070 what kind of refrigerant you have on 00:00:57.65000:00:57.660 your nameplate on your AC unit for 00:01:00.34900:01:00.359 example mine right here says HCFC 22 00:01:03.29000:01:03.300 that's the same thing as r22 that's just 00:01:07.73000:01:07.740 the long chemical name for it it's like 00:01:09.73000:01:09.740 hydrochloric carbide something-something 00:01:11.66000:01:11.670 but short name for it is r22 it says I 00:01:14.48000:01:14.490 have 5 pounds 12 ounces factory charge 00:01:17.06000:01:17.070 that means this thing came with the 00:01:19.82000:01:19.830 factory charge of 5 pounds 12 ounces 00:01:21.53000:01:21.540 that does not include any freon inside 00:01:24.56000:01:24.570 of the pipes so the actual charge inside 00:01:27.20000:01:27.210 this unit may be over five pounds 12 00:01:29.63000:01:29.640 ounces to compensate for that line set 00:01:31.91000:01:31.920 so probably like six pounds six and a 00:01:35.30000:01:35.310 half pounds seven pounds I would guess 00:01:36.83000:01:36.840 but anyways let's take a closer look at 00:01:38.87000:01:38.880 those gauge a little more here's I got 00:01:42.31900:01:42.329 two gauges right here I'll take my 00:01:44.03000:01:44.040 gloves off for now let's take the glass 00:01:46.63900:01:46.649 covers off of this one so you can see 00:01:49.60900:01:49.619 the numbers better and I'll also get a 00:01:54.76000:01:54.770 flat head screwdriver okay so the outer 00:01:58.63900:01:58.649 scale the outer scale is always going to 00:02:01.99900:02:02.009 be your psi so it goes by increments of 00:02:04.67000:02:04.680 five every single little dash is 00:02:06.41000:02:06.420 increments of five then 50 100 150 so on 00:02:09.32000:02:09.330 this is the blue one is always going to 00:02:11.39000:02:11.400 be your low side or the suction 00:02:13.04000:02:13.050 pressure and then the red one is going 00:02:15.17000:02:15.180 to be your high side head pressure or 00:02:17.15000:02:17.160 also known as high side pressure and if 00:02:20.00000:02:20.010 your arrow is ever off let's say for 00:02:23.12000:02:23.130 some reason it starts at like five or 00:02:25.07000:02:25.080 ten psi there's an adjusting screw right 00:02:27.47000:02:27.480 here mine is just slightly over to zero 00:02:30.86000:02:30.870 if I want to adjust it I just put my 00:02:33.11000:02:33.120 flat head in there and you can adjust it 00:02:37.25000:02:37.260 just slightly below you can adjust the 00:02:39.26000:02:39.270 arrow or calibrate it that way also as 00:02:42.32000:02:42.330 you can see these hoses attached to the 00:02:44.83000:02:44.840 manifold gauge set but here's one 00:02:49.49000:02:49.500 without any hoses these top ones right 00:02:51.95000:02:51.960 here are the ones that actually go into 00:02:53.87000:02:53.880 the valves the ones in the back are 00:02:56.27000:02:56.280 dummy ports as you can see they have no 00:02:59.57000:02:59.580 holes it's just a dead end here so you 00:03:03.23000:03:03.240 got your manifold right here there's a 00:03:05.15000:03:05.160 hanger you can hang your gauge set with 00:03:07.97000:03:07.980 the wrench you can unscrew this and take 00:03:09.44000:03:09.450 it off if you don't want it also these 00:03:11.36000:03:11.370 handles the valves themselves you can 00:03:13.85000:03:13.860 completely take them off you can take 00:03:15.77000:03:15.780 the gauge sets off right here with the 00:03:17.78000:03:17.790 wrench as well as you can see there's 00:03:19.28000:03:19.290 some teflon tape when I screwed them in 00:03:20.90000:03:20.910 sometimes they do go bad they go 00:03:22.91000:03:22.920 inaccurate and you do have to replace 00:03:24.97900:03:24.989 them but this thing can be all torn down 00:03:26.99000:03:27.000 all the way up to just the body right 00:03:28.82000:03:28.830 here but anyways I'm going a little off 00:03:30.86000:03:30.870 track as I was saying the outer scale is 00:03:33.74000:03:33.750 your psi the green scale it says right 00:03:36.41000:03:36.420 here in green r22 that's going to be our 00:03:38.60000:03:38.610 r22 temperature and then there's r410a 00:03:42.56000:03:42.570 which is the pink scale right here that 00:03:45.68000:03:45.690 will be the temperature of your r410a 00:03:48.41000:03:48.420 refrigerant so now that we went over to 00:03:51.38000:03:51.390 basics let's just hook up my gauges and 00:03:55.61000:03:55.620 show you how I would do that 00:03:58.54000:03:58.550 notice how I'm putting on gloves freon 00:04:01.31000:04:01.320 comes out when it hits air it comes out 00:04:03.26000:04:03.270 at negative 40 so it's really cold and 00:04:05.54000:04:05.550 if your finger stays on it a little too 00:04:07.10000:04:07.110 long you will get frostbite I've had 00:04:08.90000:04:08.910 I've gotten minor frostbite a couple 00:04:10.67000:04:10.680 times it's not very pleasant it's like 00:04:12.50000:04:12.510 getting a burn you know you're walking 00:04:14.06000:04:14.070 around it's always that throbbing 00:04:15.65000:04:15.660 burning feeling so butter not to get 00:04:18.17000:04:18.180 burned by that stuff your ports will be 00:04:22.19000:04:22.200 usually at the entrance of the AC your 00:04:25.37000:04:25.380 freon pipes come out right here 00:04:26.84000:04:26.850 and they go into the air conditioner as 00:04:28.28000:04:28.290 you can see my ports are right here this 00:04:30.08000:04:30.090 is the valve port the valve port is 00:04:32.30000:04:32.310 usually gonna be bigger you don't want 00:04:34.37000:04:34.380 that one unless you have a big king 00:04:36.02000:04:36.030 valve I won't go into that right now 00:04:39.08000:04:39.090 most of them are gonna be Schrader 00:04:40.34000:04:40.350 valves with a small cap like this but 00:04:42.86000:04:42.870 anyways these excess valves will usually 00:04:44.63000:04:44.640 be on the outside of the AC once in a 00:04:47.06000:04:47.070 while they go inside and you have to 00:04:48.89000:04:48.900 take the cover door off to access it so 00:04:51.55000:04:51.560 you'll need a wrench usually or 00:04:56.30000:04:56.310 sometimes they're just finger tight nuts 00:04:58.85000:04:58.860 that you can take off they're plastic 00:05:00.77000:05:00.780 mine are DS metal ones that I have to 00:05:03.92000:05:03.930 take off with the wrench so you put your 00:05:06.08000:05:06.090 adjustable wrench on it crank it open to 00:05:14.24000:05:14.250 access the Schrader valve and this 00:05:16.67000:05:16.680 Schrader valve is really the simple 00:05:18.74000:05:18.750 Schrader well it's almost like the car 00:05:20.15000:05:20.160 tire stuff so on your hoses you got the 00:05:25.64000:05:25.650 Schrader depressor so once you're 00:05:27.77000:05:27.780 putting your fitting on this thing will 00:05:29.93000:05:29.940 depress that and oil pressure to go into 00:05:31.82000:05:31.830 your hose so let's put that back on for 00:05:36.77000:05:36.780 now also there's three kind of fittings 00:05:41.06000:05:41.070 that are most commonly used you got the 00:05:43.73000:05:43.740 regular fitting you got the ball valve 00:05:46.01000:05:46.020 fitting where you can turn it off so the 00:05:47.99000:05:48.000 freon will stop right here not going to 00:05:49.79000:05:49.800 the hose that's very useful to have my 00:05:52.28000:05:52.290 regular set up on my gauges is a low 00:05:54.95000:05:54.960 loss fitting and two ball valve fittings 00:05:57.14000:05:57.150 the low loss fitting I like to put on 00:05:58.82000:05:58.830 the high side because that's usually the 00:06:00.98000:06:00.990 higher pressure and what the low loss 00:06:03.59000:06:03.600 fitting looks like is like this see how 00:06:07.31000:06:07.320 it's twice as big and it literally does 00:06:11.09000:06:11.100 exactly what it sounds like low loss so 00:06:13.46000:06:13.470 when you're taking it off barely any 00:06:15.56000:06:15.570 refrigerant escapes it's just like a 00:06:17.15000:06:17.160 little squirt whereas when you're taking 00:06:18.89000:06:18.900 one of these off it kind of fumes a 00:06:21.98000:06:21.990 little more as you're taking the hose 00:06:23.42000:06:23.430 off but anyways you take off both nuts 00:06:27.71000:06:27.720 from your Schrader valves and then you 00:06:31.01000:06:31.020 take the other nut off 00:06:34.75000:06:34.760 remember how I mentioned that your blue 00:06:36.98000:06:36.990 side is your suction side so blue is 00:06:42.02000:06:42.030 suction or low side red is high side or 00:06:44.27000:06:44.280 discharge head pressure the discharge or 00:06:47.66000:06:47.670 the high side is always going to be your 00:06:49.10000:06:49.110 thin line the suction or the low side is 00:06:52.31000:06:52.320 always going to be your thick line so 00:06:55.04000:06:55.050 the blue blue gauge will go to your 00:07:00.02000:07:00.030 thick line and before you put your hoses 00:07:02.78000:07:02.790 on make sure that your valves are fully 00:07:05.87000:07:05.880 closed so for example this one was open 00:07:08.39000:07:08.400 right now close that up otherwise it 00:07:11.60000:07:11.610 will allow refrigerant to go in here and 00:07:13.25000:07:13.260 go into the other two hoses as well so 00:07:16.97000:07:16.980 make sure this side is closed off that 00:07:18.59000:07:18.600 means the refrigerant will come in and 00:07:19.97000:07:19.980 just stop right here 00:07:21.23000:07:21.240 it won't go any further and make sure 00:07:23.12000:07:23.130 you close this valve off as well so 00:07:26.14000:07:26.150 those two are closed I like to just turn 00:07:30.50000:07:30.510 my ball valve off while I'm putting this 00:07:32.63000:07:32.640 on and just try to do this quickly 00:07:37.85000:07:37.860 because a little bit of refrigerant will 00:07:39.50000:07:39.510 come out in my case that was it was so 00:07:43.88000:07:43.890 minimal that you didn't even see it but 00:07:45.53000:07:45.540 sometimes it'll kind of bust like that 00:07:47.21000:07:47.220 anyways now that I got that on I can 00:07:49.52000:07:49.530 open up the ball valve and if you take a 00:07:51.50000:07:51.510 look at my pressure when I do that boom 00:07:55.40000:07:55.410 it goes up to 100 psi and next we want 00:07:59.00000:07:59.010 to put on our high side which is the red 00:08:03.38000:08:03.390 hose I can turn that off as well for now 00:08:08.56000:08:08.570 sometimes that's not a very easy spot to 00:08:12.50000:08:12.510 put these on but most of the time 00:08:15.14000:08:15.150 they're pretty accessible 00:08:18.35000:08:18.360 [Music] 00:08:22.52900:08:22.539 okay so as you can see when you're 00:08:26.26000:08:26.270 putting these on 00:08:27.10000:08:27.110 sometimes a freon will squirt like that 00:08:28.89900:08:28.909 with a little cloud that's why you wear 00:08:31.57000:08:31.580 gloves because negative 40 will give you 00:08:34.38900:08:34.399 a frostbite really quick 00:08:35.52900:08:35.539 sometimes your gloves will even turn 00:08:37.32900:08:37.339 white but anyways we've got that hose on 00:08:40.40900:08:40.419 we turn it up as well turn it on as well 00:08:45.55000:08:45.560 I should say and our high side pressure 00:08:49.32900:08:49.339 is a little bit higher my AC was just 00:08:51.81900:08:51.829 running so that's why it's a little 00:08:53.80000:08:53.810 higher but basically when your system is 00:08:57.87900:08:57.889 off your pressures will equalize which 00:09:00.61000:09:00.620 means your low side and your high side 00:09:02.50000:09:02.510 pressures will eventually get to the 00:09:04.54000:09:04.550 same point where they're the same 00:09:06.12900:09:06.139 pressure that's when the unit is off and 00:09:08.56000:09:08.570 then when it turns on your high side 00:09:10.60000:09:10.610 pressure will go higher and your low 00:09:12.22000:09:12.230 side pressure will go lower and they 00:09:14.31900:09:14.329 like to reference my freon charges by 00:09:16.12000:09:16.130 temperatures and what I mean by that is 00:09:18.46000:09:18.470 the green scale for r22 and this pink 00:09:21.25000:09:21.260 scale for the r410a but basically your 00:09:24.69900:09:24.709 normal operating pressures unlike semi 00:09:28.09000:09:28.100 hot day let's say it's 80 85 degrees 00:09:30.12900:09:30.139 will be on the low side it'll be 00:09:33.22000:09:33.230 anywhere from 40 to 45 degrees so if you 00:09:35.92000:09:35.930 watch this green scale it'll be the 00:09:38.50000:09:38.510 arrow will be right here between 40 and 00:09:40.30000:09:40.310 45 that's normal pressures on the low 00:09:43.66000:09:43.670 side and then the high side is typically 00:09:45.30900:09:45.319 110 115 degrees which will be about 00:09:48.75900:09:48.769 right there for an AR 22 and as you can 00:09:53.11000:09:53.120 see the pink scale is a little different 00:09:55.12000:09:55.130 so 40 45 on r22 is right here 00:09:57.87900:09:57.889 well r410a is higher pressure so 40 45 4 00:10:01.18000:10:01.190 it is over here so the pressures will be 00:10:04.38900:10:04.399 different between the two refrigerants 00:10:05.86000:10:05.870 that's why you have to know which three 00:10:07.54000:10:07.550 on your system uses so now what we're 00:10:09.73000:10:09.740 gonna do is actually turn the AC on and 00:10:11.92000:10:11.930 you're gonna see the pressures drop so 00:10:13.56900:10:13.579 this one will go down and this one will 00:10:15.40000:10:15.410 go up so let's get it started 00:10:21.31000:10:21.32000:10:29.21000:10:29.220 so I've let my unit run for a while you 00:10:31.40000:10:31.410 usually want to let it run for like five 00:10:33.44000:10:33.450 to ten minutes for the pressures to 00:10:35.72000:10:35.730 stabilize right now in Minnesota that's 00:10:38.27000:10:38.280 where I live the outside temperatures 00:10:40.64000:10:40.650 are not too hot it's probably like 70 00:10:43.22000:10:43.230 degrees maybe 65 that's why my high side 00:10:46.37000:10:46.380 pressure is lower than it should be 00:10:47.93000:10:47.940 usually it's over 200 psi but right now 00:10:53.36000:10:53.370 it's a little lower and that's okay 00:10:55.07000:10:55.080 usually the biggest focus should be the 00:10:57.80000:10:57.810 low side the low side should be between 00:11:00.47000:11:00.480 40 and 50 typically and mine right now 00:11:03.92000:11:03.930 is at about 42 degrees the r22 scale 00:11:08.24000:11:08.250 that's the kind of refrigerant I have 00:11:09.56000:11:09.570 which is 75 psi and most air 00:11:13.07000:11:13.080 conditioners when they're working 00:11:14.12000:11:14.130 properly you're gonna see that suction 00:11:15.74000:11:15.750 line start to sweat like mine is right 00:11:18.41000:11:18.420 there and after you're done checking 00:11:22.07000:11:22.080 your pressures sometimes they'll be too 00:11:23.96000:11:23.970 high if both pressures are too high that 00:11:25.76000:11:25.770 means your condenser coil is dirty you 00:11:27.74000:11:27.750 want to wash it off if they're very low 00:11:29.51000:11:29.520 that may mean you have low evaporator 00:11:31.31000:11:31.320 air flow or maybe your charge is 00:11:34.61000:11:34.620 actually low you got a leak somewhere 00:11:36.59000:11:36.600 but anyways I'll save that for another 00:11:38.87000:11:38.880 video once you're done checking your 00:11:41.00000:11:41.010 pressures the way I like to take the 00:11:43.94000:11:43.950 hoses off is the high side first so I'll 00:11:47.42000:11:47.430 close my ball valve off if you don't 00:11:49.07000:11:49.080 have a ball valve just take it off quick 00:11:50.72000:11:50.730 some refrigerant will squirt out but 00:11:53.18000:11:53.190 most of it will stay inside that's why 00:11:55.16000:11:55.170 you wear gloves so you go quick 00:12:05.60000:12:05.610 take it out like that and just so you 00:12:08.99000:12:09.000 know this is rare but sometimes that 00:12:12.44000:12:12.450 trader valve will get stuck and by the 00:12:14.66000:12:14.670 way those are replaceable there's a tool 00:12:16.43000:12:16.440 a Schrader valve replacement tool that 00:12:18.62000:12:18.630 you can use to replace those Schrader 00:12:20.03000:12:20.040 valves but sometimes that Schrader valve 00:12:22.69900:12:22.709 gets stucked and a little bit of 00:12:24.29000:12:24.300 refrigerant will keep squirting out 00:12:25.56900:12:25.579 after you're done panicking you can take 00:12:28.16000:12:28.170 us flat-head screwdriver and just what 00:12:31.55000:12:31.560 gloves on of course try to hit that 00:12:33.86000:12:33.870 trailer valve to make it stop leaking I 00:12:36.00900:12:36.019 got my red side or the high side off I 00:12:40.18000:12:40.190 put it on my gauge set here two manifold 00:12:45.07900:12:45.089 and one other thing I should mention is 00:12:48.47000:12:48.480 the biggest enemy of an air conditioner 00:12:51.98000:12:51.990 unit the freon system is moisture you do 00:12:54.80000:12:54.810 not want to get water inside of your 00:12:56.75000:12:56.760 unit so if it's raining you're better 00:12:58.94000:12:58.950 off not checking while it's raining so 00:13:01.55000:13:01.560 now I got my high side back on the gauge 00:13:03.80000:13:03.810 set and what I like to do is turn off my 00:13:06.31900:13:06.329 yellow auxilary hose here open up my red 00:13:11.71000:13:11.720 like that if there's any air air is bad 00:13:15.74000:13:15.750 for the AC freon system as well is there 00:13:18.05000:13:18.060 any air or water droplets or whatever I 00:13:20.96000:13:20.970 like to just purge my hose out just a 00:13:22.69900:13:22.709 little bit by opening it up you'll see 00:13:24.53000:13:24.540 some refrigerant come out like that and 00:13:28.57900:13:28.589 as you can see I still have over a 00:13:33.05000:13:33.060 hundred psi refrigerant in here which is 00:13:35.48000:13:35.490 like an ounce or two of freon and I 00:13:37.57900:13:37.589 don't really like wasting it if you take 00:13:39.50000:13:39.510 off your hoses and leave that 00:13:41.06000:13:41.070 refrigerant stays in here so I purge out 00:13:43.43000:13:43.440 the air and whatever I have in here I 00:13:46.38900:13:46.399 actually sucked back into my suction 00:13:49.13000:13:49.140 side so first you want to purge this as 00:13:51.35000:13:51.360 well just in case there's any kind of 00:13:52.93900:13:52.949 little air bubble because 00:13:54.88900:13:54.899 non-condensibles are bad so you open up 00:13:57.62000:13:57.630 that with the hose off of course I 00:13:59.90000:13:59.910 already took it off and you open up the 00:14:01.91000:14:01.920 low side slowly 00:14:06.00000:14:06.010 and it just throttled the refrigerant 00:14:07.98000:14:07.990 that you sucked out back into here as 00:14:09.69000:14:09.700 you can see my arrow is kind of bouncing 00:14:12.54000:14:12.550 around there 00:14:16.65000:14:16.660 we're gonna go now you suck most of the 00:14:18.90000:14:18.910 refrigerant out of the high side hose 00:14:21.00000:14:21.010 back into the unit and now I take off 00:14:25.29000:14:25.300 the low side as well 00:14:27.68000:14:27.69000:14:33.10000:14:33.110 and put it back on my manifold and then 00:14:37.96000:14:37.970 you can just release the pressures in 00:14:41.53000:14:41.540 your hoses a little bit so it's not a 00:14:43.30000:14:43.310 bunch of pressure inside of your hoses 00:14:44.74000:14:44.750 like that and like that 00:14:52.63000:14:52.640 and there you go don't forget to put 00:14:55.75000:14:55.760 your caps back on on both your low side 00:15:03.61000:15:03.620 and your high side tighten them down 00:15:07.00000:15:07.010 with a wrench that you don't have to go 00:15:13.38900:15:13.399 to beast mode on it there you go 00:15:17.05000:15:17.060 and you have successfully checked your 00:15:19.38900:15:19.399 freon charge and guys if you noticed 00:15:21.97000:15:21.980 when I was putting on my high side hose 00:15:24.28000:15:24.290 the red one and taking it off you see 00:15:27.22000:15:27.230 how a little bit of freon escape there 00:15:28.84000:15:28.850 that's where these low loss fittings 00:15:31.09000:15:31.100 come in nice and I usually do have a low 00:15:34.00000:15:34.010 loss fitting on my red side here but 00:15:37.21000:15:37.220 mine started to leak through like 00:15:39.34000:15:39.350 whenever you would put it on there would 00:15:40.56900:15:40.579 still be a little bit of refrigerant 00:15:42.10000:15:42.110 just constantly leaking out there's a 00:15:44.05000:15:44.060 little repair kit for that I just 00:15:45.57900:15:45.589 haven't gotten around to fixing it 00:15:46.90000:15:46.910 that's why I'm just using a standard 00:15:48.43000:15:48.440 ball valve but like I said earlier my 00:15:50.92000:15:50.930 normal setup is a low loss fitting on 00:15:53.65000:15:53.660 the high side and then two ball valves 00:15:56.71000:15:56.720 on the low side and auxilary and I just 00:15:59.65000:15:59.660 want to say that people that do not have 00:16:01.93000:16:01.940 any kind of HVAC background or education 00:16:03.75000:16:03.760 probably should not be messing with 00:16:05.76900:16:05.779 freon because you could do more damage 00:16:08.29000:16:08.300 than good 00:16:08.94900:16:08.959 and potentially hurt yourself doing it 00:16:11.19900:16:11.209 so if you don't have any background and 00:16:13.24000:16:13.250 you're not sure what you're doing I 00:16:14.41000:16:14.420 wouldn't recommend messing with this but 00:16:16.96000:16:16.970 basically what I showed you is how you 00:16:19.32900:16:19.339 would check your freon charge I hope you 00:16:21.49000:16:21.500 found this video helpful if I missed 00:16:23.38000:16:23.390 anything or if you want to add something 00:16:24.79000:16:24.800 please do so in the comments below thank 00:16:27.10000:16:27.110 you so much for watching don't forget to 00:16:28.30000:16:28.310 mash that like button on your way out 00:16:29.71000:16:29.720 and we'll see you next time 00:16:33.61000:16:33.620 you 00:16:37.89000:16:37.90000:16:45.65000:16:45.66000:16:49.63900:16:49.649
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