Fixing Ice Buildup on AC Units

Ice buildup is an especially nasty problem that can lead to total HVAC system failure. Refrigerants are built to evaporate and condense millions of times over their life cycle, but solidification ruins the system. Especially in the cold of Denver air conditioning companies need to be careful about ice buildup. Especially around unfinished replacement windows, temperature changes can wreak havoc on A/C units. Water vapor is a contaminant in a refrigerant system. All vapor must be eliminated before refrigerant can be added to your central air conditioner. To remove water vapor, Denver HVAC technicians reduce the system pressure to vent vapor and contaminants.

When a HVAC contractor sees a system with excessive water vapor, they may use an alternate method to evacuate the excess water. The multiple evacuation method is only employed by professional Denver HVACR contractors. This method is more effective because three evacuations are run simultaneously with nitrogen to dissipate water vapor.

A step by step guide to the triple evacuation system for air conditioning repair follows:

-Attach hoses from manifold gage to low and high sides of the HVAC system.

-Connect two hoses to the manifold center port by installing a T-joint.

-Attach a vacuum hose to the center T-port and the vacuum pump. Make sure to add an isolation valve if it is not built into the pump.

-Use the other side of the T junction to attach a hose to a nitrogen tank.

-Use a vacuum gauge attached far away from the pump to monitor your progress.

-Open all manifold valves and the vacuum pump. Keep the pressure of the system normal until you open the nitrogen tank.

-Turn on the vacuum an run it until the pressure is below 1000 microns.

-Close the vacuum pump valve and turn off the pump.

-Introduce nitrogen by opening the valve until the pressure manifold shows 5 inches of mercury.

-Then shut the nitrogen tank and wait for the nitrogen to mix with the water vapor.

-Start the pump again and vacuum out everything until it is at the previous vacuum pressure.

-Repeat until there is no more water vapor.