Refrigerant top-up loop traced to leak at flare connection

What we found

Refrigerant does not burn up or expire. If a system keeps needing gas, there is a physical hole somewhere. We started with a leak search instead of another top-up.

• System pressure was low, confirming gas loss
• Indoor coil showed no obvious oil stains or major rupture signs
• Outdoor condenser coil was visually clean
• Applied leak detection solution to the outdoor flare joints

We found micro-bubbles forming at one of the outdoor flare joints. A flare joint is the connection between the copper pipe and the outdoor unit. It had weakened over time, creating a tiny gap. Gas was leaking slowly — just enough to drop pressure over 3 months. Each top-up leaked out through the same gap.

What we did

No major parts needed. The leak is at the flare joint, not the compressor or coil. We can create a fresh copper flare, pressure test to confirm the seal holds, then recharge the system. The top-up cycle stops once the joint is properly sealed.

We completed the flare repair and recharged the system. The unit started cooling normally. No further top-ups have been needed since.

What we learned

Why repeated top-ups mean there is a physical leak.

• A top-up restores pressure and cooling, but it cannot seal a leak. The same gap lets gas out again over weeks or months, repeating the cycle.
• The leak point is often small and in an easy-to-miss location like a flare joint connection — finding and sealing it stops the cycle permanently.
• Refrigerant is a sealed system — it does not burn off or evaporate. If the level keeps dropping, there is a physical gap somewhere letting it escape.