This post is specific to India.
If a technician is suggesting you to top-up or refill gas in your air conditioner.
Then you should be careful as they can easily fool you.
Ways Technician Scams You
1. Does not repair the Leakage
The first thing to note is that if the technician suggests refilling, this means your AC has gas leakage.
Air conditioner gas is not like a car’s gas which needs to be refilled again and again. The refrigerant used inside an AC will remain as long as the AC remains unless it leaks out.
So if your AC really is low on gas, then first the leakage should be identified and fixed.
Then only it should be refilled.
Otherwise, your AC will need gas refilling every year.
Many technicians do not care about fixing the leakage. It’s your duty as a consumer to get it fixed.
2. Does not fill Gas to the desired pressure
There should be a right gas pressure maintained inside the AC for it to work efficiently.
This varies on the type of refrigerant – R22, R32, R410A, etc.
At the time of gas refilling, a technician may not fill the gas completely making the gas pressure lower than required.
Why does he do that?
He sells the remaining gas in the market. There is a very good commission in this.
Impact on you?
Your AC does not work at its 100% efficiency, consumes more power, and uses more electricity.
Ultimately you get scammed for your money.
Solution?
You should check the gas pressure at the time of refilling.
What should be the gas pressure at the time of refilling?
It depends on the refrigerant used inside your AC.
| Refrigerant | Suction Pressure (PSI) |
|---|---|
| R22 | 60-70 |
| R32 | 110 |
| R410A | 110-120 |
Note: The above values are only true when the compressor is running.
At the time of refill, technicians use a pressure gauge which they attach to the suction line.
The gauge at the left blue in color is used to measure suction pressure at the time of refill.
You have to make sure that the gas pressure is according to the refrigerant used in your AC.
Before the service guy removes the pressure gauge, ask him for the pressure attained.
If the value is nowhere near the required value according to the above table and when the compressor is running.
Then he is fooling you.
So my 1.5 ton Hitachi split ac was repaired recently.. The technician did not talk anything about leakage and suggested for a gas refill.. He may have filled it to 75 psi again, he claimed to have charged 2500 for gas filling and also he mentioned about repairing the mother board that would cost 2500… My ac is working absolutely fine now though and i did not pay the person the total amount
Can you guide me further, should i get another technician to repair the leak and does a problem with the mother board ever occur
If your AC requires gas refilling that means it has leakage in the coils. The leakage must get repaired otherwise in the next season your AC will again need a gas refill. Problem with the motherboard can occur if your split AC is old.