REFRIGERANT RECHARGE & LEAK REPAIR IN LEHI

Refrigerant is the working fluid inside your AC — a closed-loop chemical that absorbs heat from your indoor air and releases it outdoors. A properly installed AC system never "uses up" refrigerant. If it's low, there is always a leak somewhere in the system. Shops that "just top it off" every summer without finding the leak are either ignorant or cutting corners. The refrigerant leaks out again within 3–6 months, and each recharge cycle costs more than the leak repair would have.

Low refrigerant shows up a handful of ways. AC blowing warm or lukewarm air even when running. Ice forming on the larger copper line between the outdoor condenser and the house. System running nonstop on a 90°+ day without bringing the house to set temp. Compressor short-cycling. Energy bill climbing without any change in usage. Any of those on a system that's been running fine for years is a leak until proven otherwise.

The three refrigerants you'll encounter in Lehi

• R-22 (Freon) — old-style refrigerant, phased out for new equipment in 2010 and banned from import/production in 2020. If your AC uses R-22, recharge now costs $145–$225 per pound if you can get it. R-22 systems in Lehi are mostly older Main Street homes — newer Lehi neighborhoods all run R-410A or R-32
• R-410A (Puron) — the most common refrigerant, used in virtually every AC installed in Lehi between 2010 and 2024. Still readily available, recharge cost $85–$135/lb
• R-32 — the new standard starting 2025. 30% lower global warming impact than R-410A, better efficiency, slightly higher pressure. New Lehi installs are shipping with R-32. Recharge $95–$145/lb

Why leaks happen on Lehi AC systems

Lehi conditions are tough on refrigerant systems. Bench-side and mountain-side homes in Traverse Mountain catch wider day-night temperature swings — 30°F overnight lows to 95°F afternoons in summer shoulder seasons stress braze joints and flare fittings. Stronger wind gusts off the Wasatch shake the outdoor condenser harder than valley-floor installs, loosening flare nuts over years. Constant new-construction dust coats the outdoor coil and hides pinhole leaks in the copper tubing. New-construction off-gassing in 8–12 year old homes causes formicary corrosion in indoor evaporator coils — the #1 source of slow refrigerant leaks in Lehi. Builder-grade installs from 2010–2015 also commonly skipped the nitrogen purge during brazing, which means oxidized braze joints fail at year 8–12 right on schedule.

How a proper leak detection + repair works

We don't just dump refrigerant in and hope. Our process: pressure check the system, identify whether the leak is slow (needs dye or electronic sniffer) or fast (audible hiss, oil stains on fittings). Electronic leak detection runs $145–$285 depending on system access. We find the leak, repair it (re-braze joint, replace flare, or in worst case recommend evaporator coil replacement), pull a full vacuum to 500 microns, hold it to prove the seal, and then weigh in the factory-spec refrigerant charge. No "close enough on the gauges" charging.

What Valley does differently

Every refrigerant call starts with a leak search — we won't recharge without finding the leak first unless you specifically request a stopgap top-off and sign off on expecting it to leak again. We're EPA Section 608 Universal certified and file the required documentation for any refrigerant handling. If the leak is in the evaporator coil (a common failure on 8–12 year old Lehi systems hitting that formicary corrosion window), we give you honest repair vs. replace math — a new coil is $1,200–$2,200, and on a 12-year-old builder-grade unit that's often the wrong call vs. replacing the whole system.

Quality Service Club HVAC members get 15% off both leak search and recharge labor, plus priority dispatch when the AC's warm and it's 95°+ outside.