Air Conditioning - Air conditioning leak

I interested to know what an average time to find a leak in an a/c & heat pump unit. I realize there are many variables involved with this, but I recently had an tech come out to the house and do a leak test and the test lasted all of thirty minutes. When it was done he said he was unable to find a leak and he suggested recharging the system's freon. I did and now the unit has stopped heating and cooling again (Air still circulates, but there is no temp change), I am assuming because of freon levels and I am hearing from other companies now that a good leak test will take several hours when properly administered. I guess the question ultimately is this: is it possible to administer a proper leak test in a half hour or is that a red flag in which case I should be calling in another company to do the testing?

Thanks very much

Tim

Some leaks can be found in minutes, some hours. I have been at both ends of the spectrum.

The fact that no leak was found, worries me. If your system is already low (assuming that is your current problem), you have a huge leak which should be easy to find.

Another opinion may be in order. If you want the leak found, be sure and tell them.

Some techs are much better at finding leaks than others it does take a bit of patience and experience. I would say that your first man was not a leak finding type of guy LOL. It is almost impossible to call and actually speak with a tech at any service companies, you can only leave all the info with the phone answering bimbo and hope it gets translated to the service guy. Luck of the draw pal on who they send out, the next guy may be worse or maybe, just maybe, you will get lucky. Roll the dice man do you feel lucky?? Whoever comes out make sure that you are there and explain to the man exactly what you have so he has the correct info and most likely the leak can be spotted pretty easy. Good Luck

An overcharge could also cause the heat pump compressor to stop working (too high head pressures). If your unit has a HPCO switch of the manual reset type there you have it.

There's always the temptation to "add" refrigerant when the house seems not to be cooled (or, in the case of heat pumps, heated) properly; and doing so only makes things worse.

HPCO = high pressure cut-out

Leaks could at times be quite difficult to find out (and terribly time consuming), whether the tech is a rookie or a seasoned pro. The luck of the draw.