Not cooling · Is the refrigerant going?
It Was Recharged and Now It Is Warm Again. Why?
- Signed
- Dean Halvorsen
- Role
- Refrigeration technician — sealed systems and airflow
- Certification
- EPA Section 608 certified
- Published
Short answer
Because refrigerant goes round a closed loop and is not used up, so a charge that fades is leaking out again — through the original hole if it was never repaired, or through a new one. Adding more only restarts the countdown. Sub-Zero Repair Edmonds looks for where it is going, starting with the $89 service call: (206) 210-3547.
What a lasting repair includes
A sealed system should never need topping up. When one does, Sub-Zero’s service manuals for its built-ins set out the whole job, in this order:
- The remaining refrigerant is captured, not vented.
- The leak is repaired where it is, if it sits at a soldered joint, or the leaking part is replaced.
- A new filter-drier (a small filter in the line that holds back moisture and grit) is fitted. The manuals say this must be done whenever the sealed system is opened.
- Air and moisture are cleared out of the system before the fresh charge goes in.
A visit that only added refrigerant stopped short of steps two and three, so the unit kept losing it.
How the system was opened matters
To add refrigerant, access valves have to go onto the tubing. Sub-Zero’s manuals call for solder-on process valves and warn against bolt-on ones because they are prone to leak. If a bolt-on valve was left on the line, it is among the first places tested.
On the visit
The ordinary causes are checked before the gauges: a stalled fan or a frosted coil can leave a unit warm even with a full charge. If the pressures do show a shortfall, the leak is traced to its spot, and the repair is priced before any work starts.
What it may cost
$89 to find out — the visit and the diagnosis, taken off the repair if you go ahead.
- Compressor or sealed-system repair Shows as a compressor that clicks and will not start, or refrigerant slowly lost $1,300–$3,270
Ranges, not starting prices. The technician names one figure inside the band before any panel comes off, and Sub-Zero Repair Edmonds holds to it.
Wait or call today?
Can wait until morning
- The drift has only just begun and the fridge still reads 40°F or colder: keep the doors shut and book.
- Find the paperwork from the recharge before the visit; what was done matters more than who did it.
Call today if
- The warmth came back within days of the recharge rather than over weeks.
- The fridge thermometer reads over 40°F, or food in the freezer is going soft.
- A fitting added to the tubing at the recharge looks oily or wet.
Anything in the second card is a reason to phone Sub-Zero Repair Edmonds on (206) 210-3547 today rather than tomorrow.
Questions people ask next
Why did the recharge work at first?
Because a short charge really was why it was warm, and filling it made up the shortfall. The hole it leaked through was still there, so the new refrigerant followed the old out, faster or slower depending on the size of the leak. The fact that it worked for a while is itself a clue: it points to a leak rather than a worn-out compressor.
What should I find out about the earlier recharge?
Whether the leak was found and repaired or refrigerant was only added, whether the filter-drier was changed, and what kind of access valve went onto the tubing, since Sub-Zero's manuals call for solder-on valves. Bring those answers, or the invoice, and Sub-Zero Repair Edmonds starts the search from there: (206) 210-3547.