Pressure Leak Testing on an Underperforming Air Conditioning Unit at a Care Home

The Challenge: Underperforming Air Conditioning in a Care Home Treatment Room

During a routine planned preventative maintenance (PPM) visit to a care home, our engineers identified an underperforming air conditioning unit serving one of the facility’s treatment rooms.

The system was showing signs of a potential refrigerant leak, affecting its ability to provide effective cooling and maintain a comfortable indoor environment.

In care home environments, reliable temperature control is particularly important, especially in treatment rooms where comfort and consistency are essential for residents and staff.

Following the initial inspection, a return visit was arranged to carry out a comprehensive pressure leak test, identify the source of the refrigerant loss and determine the most appropriate long-term solution.

The Investigation: Pressure Testing and Leak Detection

On arrival, our engineers discovered that the air conditioning system had completely lost its refrigerant charge.

With the system calling for cooling, the compressor was attempting to operate and pulling the system into a vacuum, indicating a significant issue with the refrigerant circuit.

The system was safely isolated before being pressure tested using Oxygen Free Nitrogen (OFN) at 35 bar to investigate the source of the leak.

Inspecting the Outdoor Unit

Our engineers carried out a thorough inspection of the outdoor unit, checking several potential leakage points, including:

• Flared connections
• Outdoor condenser coil
• Brazed joints
• Service connections
• Coil return bends

No evidence of refrigerant leakage was identified within the outdoor unit.

Identifying the Leak in the Indoor Unit

Attention then turned to the indoor evaporator coil, where our engineers successfully located the source of the leak.

The leak was identified on the return bends of the indoor evaporator coil, which showed significant signs of corrosion and deterioration.

The heavily corroded return bends provided clear evidence of the likely cause of the refrigerant loss and explained the system’s poor performance.

The Solution: Recommending a Reliable, Long-Term Fix

Following the inspection, our engineers determined that the indoor evaporator coil was beyond economical repair.

Due to the extent of corrosion, repairing individual return bends would not provide a dependable long-term solution, as further leaks could develop elsewhere on the deteriorating coil.

We therefore recommended replacing the complete air conditioning system with a new Mitsubishi Heavy Industries unit of equivalent specification.

To minimise disruption and unnecessary installation costs, our recommendations included retaining suitable existing services wherever possible, including:

• Existing refrigerant pipework, subject to compatibility and condition checks
• Existing electrical supply, subject to suitability
• Existing interconnecting cable, where compatible
• Existing condensate drainage, subject to inspection

We also recommended improving the existing indoor pipework installation by tidying the pipework routes and installing suitable trunking.

This would provide a cleaner, more professional finish while ensuring the replacement installation is practical and properly contained.

Why This Matters: The Importance of Preventative Air Conditioning Maintenance

In a care home environment, maintaining reliable temperature control is particularly important, especially in treatment rooms where comfort and consistency are essential.

This project highlights the value of routine preventative maintenance, thorough fault diagnosis and providing customers with practical, long-term solutions rather than temporary fixes.

By identifying the problem during a scheduled maintenance visit and carrying out a detailed investigation, our engineers were able to establish the root cause of the refrigerant loss and recommend the most appropriate course of action.

Regular air conditioning maintenance can help:

• Identify developing faults early before they lead to more extensive system damage.
• Improve system reliability and reduce the risk of unexpected breakdowns.
• Maintain energy efficiency by ensuring equipment operates as intended.
• Reduce unnecessary costs through timely fault diagnosis and informed repair or replacement decisions.
• Support comfortable indoor environments, particularly in care homes, healthcare facilities and other temperature-sensitive settings.

Rather than recommending a temporary repair to a severely deteriorated component, our focus was on delivering a practical, reliable solution that would provide long-term value for the customer.

Need Support With Your Air Conditioning Systems?

Whether you’re responsible for a care home, healthcare facility, commercial property or other managed building, keeping your air conditioning systems operating efficiently and reliably is essential.

Our experienced engineers provide professional support with planned preventative maintenance, refrigerant leak detection, fault diagnosis, repairs and air conditioning system replacements.

From identifying the root cause of an issue to recommending the most suitable solution, we’re committed to helping customers maintain reliable and efficient building services.

Get in touch with our team today to discuss your air conditioning requirements or visit https://www.mattair.co.uk/services/ for more information.