A water cooled condensing unit loses charge steadily but no oil stain or detector reading can be found anywhere on the machine or its piping. What should the technician suspect about a tube failure in the condenser bundle?
Correct Answer
A) Refrigerant is passing into the condenser water and leaving at the tower
On a high-pressure machine the refrigerant side of a water cooled condenser sits well above the pressure in the water circuit, so a failed tube lets refrigerant cross into the water rather than the other way round. The refrigerant is carried to the cooling tower and released there, which is why nothing shows at the machine. Sampling the water or testing the air at the tower is how the leak is confirmed.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The condenser's refrigerant side runs at high pressure while the water circuit runs at a fraction of that, so refrigerant crosses into the water through any failed tube. It is then carried away and released at the cooling tower, leaving no trace at the unit itself. That direction of flow is the opposite of what happens on a low-pressure machine, where the refrigerant side sits in a vacuum and water is drawn inward.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option B: Water is being drawn into the refrigerant circuit through the failed tube
Water moves into the refrigerant circuit only when the refrigerant side is the lower pressure, which is the low-pressure chiller case rather than this one.
Option C: The loss is going into the compressor oil and will return when it warms
Refrigerant dissolved in oil comes back out as the system operates. It does not account for a charge that keeps disappearing month after month.
Option D: The refrigerant is condensing inside the tube and cannot leave the shell
Condensation inside the tubes is normal operation of a condenser. Nothing about it removes refrigerant from the circuit.
Memory Technique
Pressure decides direction. The high side always pushes into the low side, water circuit included.
Reference Hint
On a high-pressure water cooled condenser, a failed tube passes refrigerant into the water, which releases it at the tower.
More epa-608-type-2 Questions
A walk-in cooler condensing unit holds a full charge of twenty-five pounds of R-404A, which is below the fifty pound threshold that brings an appliance under the leak repair provisions. What still applies to this unit?
An office building has thirty water source heat pumps on a common water loop, and each one left the factory assembled, hermetically sealed and charged with four pounds of R-410A. How is one of those units classified?
A data sheet for an unfamiliar refrigerant lists a boiling point of about fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure. What does that tell a technician holding Core and Type II certification?
A technician holds Core, Type I and Type III certification and is sent to recover the charge from a twenty ton rooftop unit charged with R-410A. What does that combination of sections allow on this job?
A fleet garage technician holds only the vehicle air conditioning certification issued under Section 609 and is asked to recover the charge from the shop's own rooftop air conditioner. What does that credential allow?
A split system's outdoor unit, indoor coil and the line set the installer ran and brazed between them are being considered. For the purposes of the refrigerant rules, what makes up the appliance here?
On a new installation the line set is brazed to a factory charged outdoor unit and an indoor coil shipped under a nitrogen holding charge, with the outdoor unit's service valves still closed. What does the recovery requirement call for before that brazing?
A rooftop unit's data plate has weathered until the charge figure cannot be read, and the technician needs the full charge to place the appliance under the evacuation and leak provisions. Where should that figure come from?
A computer room air conditioning unit holds forty pounds of R-407C and connects to a remote air cooled condenser through refrigerant piping run and brazed by the installer. How is that unit classified?
A shop's office manager, who holds no technician certification, is sent to a supply house to pick up a new recovery machine for the commercial crew. What does the sales restriction require at that counter?
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A technician passed Core and Type II but has not taken Type I or Type III. Which unit on the day's work list may that technician open and service without another certified tech present?
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An office building has thirty water source heat pumps on a common water loop, and each one left the factory assembled, hermetically sealed and charged with four pounds of R-410A. How is one of those units classified?