Great job! That has to be one of the more daunting home improvement projects I’ve seen and you were successful. Making this a family DYI is brilliant and cheap. Good bless.

jippi, more videos in the pipe :) And yes, it can be stressful. We just got our three exterior doors replaced by professionals. Some stuff I just want to keep in the hands of the pros.

If you shorten the lines you should be removing refrigerant not adding more. You can't charge by temp, you derive your target superheat or subcooling from the line temp + pressure. That unit is most likely way overcharged. Also when a system is opened the filter dryer must be replaced. Those lines were not done properly. If that was in fact plumbers solder used that unit probably only have a few years before the acid buildup kills the compressor. Those line will also need to be flushed when the unit is replaced to remove the acid. I would recommend replacing them since those cold solder joint will be an endless source of problems. When doing lines in a wall, under a foundation, or anywhere inaccessible in the future, it's a good idea to sleeve the lines with a 3in or 4in PVC pipe so they can be replaced in the future. Different manufactures, SEER ratings, equipment types, etc. call for different line sizes. So even if the lines last, sometime in the future when the equipment is upgraded those smaller lines would be a restriction if not replaced. That's why it's always a good idea to at least consult with someone who is a professional and not just someone who knows someone who is a professional. I wish you the best of luck.

Just for anyone trying to replicate this: Don't hold your torch on the pipe constantly while soldering or you burn out the flux leading to leaks. Watch the DIY HVAC Guy to get best practices not covered here. This was like glimpsing back in time 10 years. Haven't seen someone charge a unit that has no receiver without a refrigerant scale in my entire life 😅

Luckily r22 is a lower pressure refrigerant. Hopefully you got that family discount 😅

Fix the leak don't just top off the unit. You have all your leak test supplies in this video. You're just willfully letting refrigerant into your home/atmosphere.

If your lines are cherry red, that's brazing, not soldering. But when you braze you don't use flux. So which was it, braze or solder? Also, when you braze you have to run nitrogen to keep oxide from forming which will damage your unit, and I didn't see any mention of that. Did you replace the dryer/filter? Do you have one? I didn't see one, but maybe I missed it. If you don't have one, all those oxide particles are not going to be good for your system. Nitrogen testing is done at 400 psi, not 60. I'm surprised about the analog gauges, they are not accurate enough for the leakdown test. (Although doing an overnight test help ameliorate a lot of that, since even an inaccurate gauge should be able to see that.) Why did you not replace the lineset? It would have been cheaper than having to resolder so many spots, and you would have gotten insulation for them. It is not necessary to heat the R22, the suction side of the AC will pull it in. Using just pressure to charge a system is error prone, you need to also measure subcool and superheat.

What Decade did you find this HVAC Tech? Dit gauges been out for over 10-15yrs! & Using Map Gas? Then Stay bright solder too? Damn!!!!! Hope you didn't pay more than 100-200 bucks. WOW!!!!

I bet you he didn’t nitro the lines while brazing haha

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