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HVAC refrigeration leaks (also referred to as freon leaks) can cause serious issues with HVAC equipment. HVAC refrigeration circuits are designed and built to hold the refrigerant. It is a sealed hermetic system. The HVAC refrigeration circuit should never need refrigerant. A refrigeration system does not burn refrigerant. The refrigerant is used over and over again to move heat from one place to another. Aside from a leak, once the refrigeration system is properly charge, the system should never need refrigerant for the life of the equipment.
It does happen though even to the best HVAC equipment. Over time or even on new equipment. A freon leak can occur because of HVAC equipment design flaws, poor installation, defective coils, or a lose connection including a lose shrader core. A shrader core is the valve where the freon is charged into the system. It looks like the stem core on your vehicle tire. If the HVAC equipment is installed properly, has no defects in the equipment or coils the HVAC unit the unit will eventually begin leaking freon whether it starts leaking freon in a month or starts to leak freon in twenty years. Eventually the copper or aluminum in the system becomes brittle from all the heating and cooling. The vibrations from the system cause tiny fatigue cracks in the copper or aluminum. This eventually happens to all systems. In the system above the leak came from sheet metal in the tube sheet rubbing against the copper tube which runs through the tube sheet.
