SAS
Member
We have an 11 year old Trane XL15i 48,000 BTU unit. We moved into the house before the start of last summer. The AC unit seemed OK until mid-summer when it was unable to effectively cool the house. We had a technician come. He could not find a refrigerant leak, but he confirmed that the unit was low on refrigerant and added 6 pounds of R410a. It worked fine until today. We were away for 5 days and had the unit off during a heat wave of daily 95+ degree temperatures. I turned the unit on remotely before I headed home. The inside temperature at that time, 8 am, was about 90 degrees. Today was another 95 degree day, and when we arrive home at 4 pm, the inside temperature was around 80 degrees. The unit has been running continuously, but it cannot get the temperature under 80 degrees. The air temperature at the output vents is 68.2 degrees, and the input temperature is 80.1 degrees.
If the problem is once again a lack of R410a, I'm curious as to why it suddenly happened. Or does it gradually decrease until it passes a critical threshold? And if the problem is once again a leak, do I try to have someone find it again? In a prior house we had a leak that no one could find, and I'm concerned that I'll waste a lot of money only to be told that they can't find the leak. In that case do I try to find someone to add refrigerant again? It was $600 last time, and if it's going to happen every year, I guess it's probably time to replace the unit.
If the problem is once again a lack of R410a, I'm curious as to why it suddenly happened. Or does it gradually decrease until it passes a critical threshold? And if the problem is once again a leak, do I try to have someone find it again? In a prior house we had a leak that no one could find, and I'm concerned that I'll waste a lot of money only to be told that they can't find the leak. In that case do I try to find someone to add refrigerant again? It was $600 last time, and if it's going to happen every year, I guess it's probably time to replace the unit.
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