Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Investigating a complaint of insufficient cooling performance from an Armstrong Air 2.5 ton central air conditioner. Amongst other problems, I believe the compressor may have a fault that's keeping it from pumping to its full capacity. I'd liked to have seen the head pressure higher than it was. Performance from the unit is now acceptable and the expectation is that it only needs get through one or two more seasons.
While I've been to trade school for HVAC/R (2014-2016), have my EPA 608 universal card (along with the 609 MVAC) and completed the program with a 4.0 GPA, I am not a "super tech" and I don't claim to know everything. I'm not perfect and make plenty of mistakes. It's your right to disagree with my approach and diagnose. It's my expectation that you'll be nice when you do so, or you won't be here any more. HVAC/R is not my day job. It's a sideline at best. I'm very far from having seen or diagnosed everything that can happen.
While no new R-22 has been manufactured for years now, existing supplies are legal to have and use for the repair and upkeep of equipment still in service. (Leaks above a certain percent of the unit's capacity do have to be repaired in some cases.) I did perform a cursory leak search on this unit and didn't find anything. The evaporator coil is an uncased type in a very tight plenum and so could not be closely inspected with the leak detector.
Investigating a complaint of insufficient cooling performance from an Armstrong Air 2.5 ton central air conditioner. Amongst other problems, I believe the compressor may have a fault that's keeping it from pumping to its full capacity. I'd liked to have seen the head pressure higher than it was. Performance from the unit is now acceptable and the expectation is that it only needs get through one or two more seasons.
While I've been to trade school for HVAC/R (2014-2016), have my EPA 608 universal card (along with the 609 MVAC) and completed the program with a 4.0 GPA, I am not a "super tech" and I don't claim to know everything. I'm not perfect and make plenty of mistakes. It's your right to disagree with my approach and diagnose. It's my expectation that you'll be nice when you do so, or you won't be here any more. HVAC/R is not my day job. It's a sideline at best. I'm very far from having seen or diagnosed everything that can happen.
While no new R-22 has been manufactured for years now, existing supplies are legal to have and use for the repair and upkeep of equipment still in service. (Leaks above a certain percent of the unit's capacity do have to be repaired in some cases.) I did perform a cursory leak search on this unit and didn't find anything. The evaporator coil is an uncased type in a very tight plenum and so could not be closely inspected with the leak detector.
