> Once I borrowed a halon torch. It didn't indicate anything till I bled
> off
> enough Freon to hear the leak.
That's odd. My old torch could easily detect leaks that would take months
to bleed a system down. Of course, you had to get the hose poked pretty
close to the leak, and the wait for the flame to suck the Freon through the
hose, but it did work.
> A few years back I
> decided to upgrade to modern technology and bought a used TIF 5600 halogen
> detector. Again, it only detects gross leaks
No idea what model it was (that was some 35 years ago), but the electronic
detector I bought was so sensitive that it would pick up the residual Freon
left in the air after repairing a leak. I had to literally put a fan on the
area for about 4 hours before it would quit beeping no matter where I put
the probe. Never really tested it for accuracy, but once it gave a clean
bill of health to the systems I was working on, no one had to touch them
again for several years.
The one at HF appears to have several nice features that the one I tried did
not, including calibrating to the "free air" concentration of halogens and
adjustable sensitivity. Of course that does not mean it works well, but it
does speak to a certain level of design. I'd try it. In fact, I may pick
one up for the next time I try to tackle an A/C problem.
Randall
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