Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Come along for the next forty minutes or so and tilt at the windmill of the leaky recalled dehumidifier with UXWBill. Will some better tools and different methods lead to an answer? Watch and find out! (The maximum pressure my nitrogen regulator can handle is around 350 psi, and that's what I brought the system up to with trace refrigerant gas in the mix. It took every bit of that to get the slightest response from the leak detectors. Being as this was an R-410A system, I believed applying that much pressure to be safe.)
The previous video: youtube.com/watch?v=XpdkoMukFzE
I believe the leak has to be in the coils. I checked the rest of the line set anyway and found nothing.
Yes, dehumidifiers are a real thing. Most of them are air conditioning systems where the cooling effect has been deliberately short-circuited (evaporator and condenser coils in the same airflow path). The cold evaporator coil will cause moisture to condense out of the air, where it can then be collected in a bucket, pumped away or sent to a drain. Other approaches to dehumidification exist, such as small heated rods and desiccant chemical types. There are even some small dehumidifiers built around thermoelectric (Peltier) elements.
Tools used (not affiliate links; links may go bad over time):
Inficon Tek Mate G1 -valuetesters.com/inficon-tek-mate-hvac-refrigerant-leak-detector.html
Fieldpiece DR82 infrared leak detector: valuetesters.com/fieldpiece-dr82-infrared-refrigerant-leak-detector.html
Bacharach/MSA H-10 Pro: valuetesters.com/bacharach-h-10-pro-deluxe-hvac-refrigerant-leak-detector-3015-8004.html
Testo no longer sells the 550 digital manifold shown in the video. They have newer models.
Harbor Freight Two Stage Vacuum Pump, updated since I bought mine: harborfreight.com/3-cfm-two-stage-vacuum-pump-61176.html
Time stamps of interest:
0:00 - Introduction (what, why, how, backstory, etc.)
5:44 - Nothing's Ever Easy!
6:31 - Still Not Easy!
6:50 - Nitrogen only charge.
7:20 - Test pressures, nitrogen only.
8:03 - Timed pressure test start.
8:37 - Timed pressure test results.
10:40 - Nitrogen release.
11:16 - Leak detector gallery.
14:23 - Recovery cylinder with R-134a.
15:11 - Leak detector quick tests.
16:38 - Inficon Tek Mate G1
21:34 - Fieldpiece DR82
25:03 - H10 Pro
27:33 - Results of higher pressure and more leak searching.
29:25 - Vacuum pump test.
32:13 - Vacuum pump hose configuration.
32:46 - The next morning...what happened?
36:30 - Vacuum confirmation of the leak(s).
37:08 - What do the numbers (microns vacuum) mean?
I welcome corrections, amplifications, suggestions, and similar ideas to make the video better or increase all of our knowledge. Just be nice. And yes, I hold both my EPA 608 universal and 609 MVAC cards. I also hold certifications from a trade school for residential, commercial installer work (though I am not hugely confident in my skillset as an installer, especially for ductwork and sheet metal design/fabrication).
Come along for the next forty minutes or so and tilt at the windmill of the leaky recalled dehumidifier with UXWBill. Will some better tools and different methods lead to an answer? Watch and find out! (The maximum pressure my nitrogen regulator can handle is around 350 psi, and that's what I brought the system up to with trace refrigerant gas in the mix. It took every bit of that to get the slightest response from the leak detectors. Being as this was an R-410A system, I believed applying that much pressure to be safe.)
The previous video: youtube.com/watch?v=XpdkoMukFzE
I believe the leak has to be in the coils. I checked the rest of the line set anyway and found nothing.
Yes, dehumidifiers are a real thing. Most of them are air conditioning systems where the cooling effect has been deliberately short-circuited (evaporator and condenser coils in the same airflow path). The cold evaporator coil will cause moisture to condense out of the air, where it can then be collected in a bucket, pumped away or sent to a drain. Other approaches to dehumidification exist, such as small heated rods and desiccant chemical types. There are even some small dehumidifiers built around thermoelectric (Peltier) elements.
Tools used (not affiliate links; links may go bad over time):
Inficon Tek Mate G1 -valuetesters.com/inficon-tek-mate-hvac-refrigerant-leak-detector.html
Fieldpiece DR82 infrared leak detector: valuetesters.com/fieldpiece-dr82-infrared-refrigerant-leak-detector.html
Bacharach/MSA H-10 Pro: valuetesters.com/bacharach-h-10-pro-deluxe-hvac-refrigerant-leak-detector-3015-8004.html
Testo no longer sells the 550 digital manifold shown in the video. They have newer models.
Harbor Freight Two Stage Vacuum Pump, updated since I bought mine: harborfreight.com/3-cfm-two-stage-vacuum-pump-61176.html
Time stamps of interest:
0:00 - Introduction (what, why, how, backstory, etc.)
5:44 - Nothing's Ever Easy!
6:31 - Still Not Easy!
6:50 - Nitrogen only charge.
7:20 - Test pressures, nitrogen only.
8:03 - Timed pressure test start.
8:37 - Timed pressure test results.
10:40 - Nitrogen release.
11:16 - Leak detector gallery.
14:23 - Recovery cylinder with R-134a.
15:11 - Leak detector quick tests.
16:38 - Inficon Tek Mate G1
21:34 - Fieldpiece DR82
25:03 - H10 Pro
27:33 - Results of higher pressure and more leak searching.
29:25 - Vacuum pump test.
32:13 - Vacuum pump hose configuration.
32:46 - The next morning...what happened?
36:30 - Vacuum confirmation of the leak(s).
37:08 - What do the numbers (microns vacuum) mean?
I welcome corrections, amplifications, suggestions, and similar ideas to make the video better or increase all of our knowledge. Just be nice. And yes, I hold both my EPA 608 universal and 609 MVAC cards. I also hold certifications from a trade school for residential, commercial installer work (though I am not hugely confident in my skillset as an installer, especially for ductwork and sheet metal design/fabrication).
