No more manufacturing or importing R-22 beginning January 1, 2020. That day has come and gone. It is time to take a hard look at how you service R-22 equipment. If the equipment needs charging there is something else wrong. There are two common practices that should end: seasonal topping off and “diagnostic” refrigerant additions.
Topping Off
Simply adding refrigerant has not fixed the problem. Adding refrigerant to a leaky system is like giving aspirin to someone with a fever: it temporarily decreases the pain but does nothing to solve the underlying problem, which will return soon enough. If a system that has been in service truly needs charging, it either has leak or a recreational refrigerant inhaler resides nearby. You need to locate and repair the leak and/or the recreational user. In cases where a leak cannot be found, the addition of dye might help with both issues. Place a large warning sticker on the equipment near the service valves notifying future service techs that “indelible dye” has been added. The recreational inhaler will most likely find another source. If there are leaks, they should show up by the time more refrigerant is needed. Then you can determine if repair is feasible or if the system needs replacing.
“Diagnostic” Refrigerant Charging
I use the term diagnostic loosely here. A “diagnostic” refrigerant charge involves adding refrigerant to see what happens. You are adding refrigerant because the unit is not cooling and you don’t know what else to do. This is a poor practice at best. It is an especially poor practice when servicing R-22 systems.
R-22 Replacements
Although there are many R-22 replacement refrigerants available, there are no replacements that can legally simply be added on top of existing R-22. Fortunately, new and reclaimed R-22 is still readily available at fairly reasonable prices because the demand for it has decreased. I recommend staying with R-22 as long as it is available at reasonable prices, which it is. Converting an R-22 system to another refrigerant is time consuming, costly, and carries with it the possibility of killing the unit. The difference in the refrigerant cost just does not justify the time and expense required to correctly and legally perform the refrigerant conversion.