Leaking King Valve on Minisplit

[TimDolbear]

Hey all.

Is there any other solution to fix a slooooow leaking king valve (gas side) on a mini split other that replacing the unit? Its under warranty but I am looking for a cost effective and more importantly FASTER solution.

Unit is 5 months old.

 

[Mike-]

Hey all.

Is there any other solution to fix a slooooow leaking king valve (gas side) on a mini split other that replacing the unit? Its under warranty but I am looking for a cost effective and more importantly FASTER solution.

Unit is 5 months old.

I don't see any bubbles or where the leak is, try to front seat it then back seat it again. You can also put thread sealant on the cap.
Assuming it's not the flare connection!

 

[brewchief]

Leaking from where? If it's where you put the allen wrench to open it it should seal with the cap on, if not try some leak lock or nylog.

The cap is where the seal is really made, the majority of units will show some leakage with the valve cap removed.

If it's leaking at the schrader valve you can buy a tool to replace the schrader core with losing the charge, of course the only real way to properly charge most minis is to pull the charge and weigh in new so that's as good of time as any to replace a schrader core.

 

[acmikee]

why is it back seated. is that where the leak is. front seat the valve and put leaklok on the cap. are you sure that its not the flare nut leaking.

 

[Jackfre]

Do not use leak lock on anything on those. If anything clean the threads and put it back together. I've seen manuf refuse warranty when any type of dope is put on the threads. If this has been leaking for months your charge is way off. I would recommend you recover the remaining charge, triple evacuate and re-charge. It cannot work properly without the proper charge.
I screwed up a flare on my daughters dual system and had to go through this. After doing so it has worked well for the past year, fortunately.

 

[TimDolbear]

We know there is a leak in the are of the connections and valves, puddle of oil showed us that.. but using the wand, leak detector the only place with a reading was inside where you put the allen wrench to open/close the valve. But it was faint. From what I am reading here, that may be normal.

So should I have him recharge it and and we see what happens? We could not get a bubble anywhere, but we could get that one reading. If the cap was not firmly tight, it could have leaked, it took 5 months to leak to the point of not working. thoughts?

 

[acmikee]

the leak is probably at your flare nut. pull the charge pressurize with nitrogen 150lbs and soap the flare nuts...repair evac and have him put a micron gauge on it to verify no leaks. weight in the charge.......

 

[TimDolbear]

Thanks all! I had another tech come out and we are on the right path, the first tech was on glue.