"Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) - Nu-Calgon EasySeal User Review"

 By Ron Stultz

11 August 2012

Summary: does work and can do-it-yourself (DIY) but after you seal going to have system charged (professional or DIY?).

Background:

22 year old 5 ton York high voltage air conditioning (HVAC) system evaporator coils freezing over.

No air coming from vents (frozen coils preventing air getting through).

Called HVAC repair man.

He put in a can of Nu-Calgon EasySeal and 3 pounds of R22 "Freon" at a cost of $500.

System worked fine for 2 weeks and then coils freezing up again.

DIY:

My theory was that system did seal or seal some but leaked off R22 to the point of coil freezing.

Call professional again?

Decided to get can of Nu-Calgon EasySeal, required can tap/injection hose, and try sealing system myself.

With system running.

First time opening up low-pressure-side service port (small threaded, capped port, on larger of 2 pipes coming out of outside compressor unit) but no problem.

Followed instructions on side of EasySeal.

Took maybe 2 minutes for can to empty into system.

R22A

With can of EasySeal in system, could call professional again for more R22.

Illegal to mix refrigerants.

Can buy R22a, which is compatible with R22, on eBay and other.

No EPA license required for R22a.

As my system was mixed with York compressor and Carrier evaporator coils, no way to simply lookup best high and low side pressures when system fully "charged".

Procured pressure measuring manifold and connected to high and low side ports.

Using a rule-of-thumb, got high side pressure to be 25degress above outside ambient temperature.

System now running fine and has been for 2 weeks+.

Summary:

Any leak that can not be sealed with Easyseal will probably require either high or low side piping to be cut and replaced, which is significantly beyond the capability of a homeowner.

But because of the cost of professional AC repairs today, Nu-Calgon is worth a try if you are handy and are careful.

Note that it apparently did take 2 cans of Nu-Calgon EasySeal to seal my system with a charge in between cans.