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An old hvac condenser coil needing repair. Leaking condenser coils like these are common in condensing units that over 15 years old. A sure sign of a leaking condenser coil or even an evaporator coil is the presence of oil between the tube sheets. Over the years the vibrations from the unit transmit to the tube sheet. Passing through the tube sheets are the copper u-bends. The tube sheet eventually vibrates enough to rub a hole in the copper that makes contact with the tube sheet. The hole in the leaking condenser coil can be a tiny hole causing the refrigerant and oil to leak out slowly. The hole also cause a sudden catastrophic loss of refrigerant. Most commercial units are equipped with high and low pressure switches which will lock out the compressor controls if the refrigeration circuit has too much pressure or if there is a sudden loss of refrigeration charge.
This protects the compressor. Too much pressure can damage the mechanical components inside the compressor if the compressor were to continue running under a high pressure situation. If a sudden loss of pressure was experience by the equipment the refrigeration circuit would lose some oil and also deny the compressor of its designed coolant, the refrigerant. Other problematic situations can occur by low pressure in the system. The low pressure switch will prevent these problems when the unit experiences a low pressure situation including a slow or catastrophic loss of refrigerant charge from a leaking condenser coil.
