7 Steps To Fully Recharge Your Window AC

From time to time, you need to maintain your air conditioner and fully recharge it to function like before.

I see a lot of people making crucial mistakes when trying to recharge their AC and then complaining about how it isn’t possible without buying a new unit.

Well… they’re wrong.

I prepared for you a simple 7-step system to follow in order to completely recharge your AC and have it running like a new one.

7 Steps You Should Follow To Properly Recharge Your AC

1. Unplug your unit

First things first, we want to keep everything safe and smooth.

Unplug your unit from the power outlet to avoid any more serious problems before you start searching for leaks.

2. Put on your protective gear

You should grab a pair of gloves and protective eyeglasses before proceeding to the next step.

When you’re filling the refrigerant the freon is toxic and it can make dangerous health issues.

Also, you don’t want to burn your skin.

3. Open the unit

You’ll most likely need a screwdriver to open your unit. Older air conditioners can be easily opened as you just need to slide their front grill.

It would be best if you could find your manual and follow the guidelines written there.

The process is similar when you’re trying to unfreeze your air conditioner.

4. Check for leaks

You can search for leaks by a couple of different methods. I’ll mention my favorite two because they’re easy to apply.

Use soap – pour water into a smaller bucket and mix it with a lot of soap. Now grease the valves and pipes with it and turn on your air conditioner. When you see bubbles coming out, you’ve found a leak!

Leak detector – turn on your leak detector and inspect the outdoor unit. If there’s a leak, you will hear a “beep-beep” sound – simple as that.

5. Fix it

Congrats, you’ve successfully found the leak that’s causing all the problems.

You now just have to fix it.

If there’s a very small leak, then you just have to boost the system.

However, if the leaks are bigger – you have to move to the following step.

6. Attach valves to the compressor

Connect two different valves to the Freon’s container. You can check on Freon kit how to do it as there’s usually a diagram showing you everything in detail.

This will allow you to refill the air conditioner in the fastest way possible.

7. Refill

After you inspect everything and make sure there are no more leaks, turn on your air conditioner and set it to the highest power.

It will cause the refrigerant to start flowing from the tank to the unit.

Don’t forget to turn off the air conditioner after you get a decent amount of Freon in the unit.

After doing everything right, unplug your air conditioner once again to remove the valves, and then turn the AC on.

📚 Recommended Reading: 15 super helpful tips to save money on your AC.

Always clean your air conditioner

Sometimes there are no leaks, but you’re dealing with dirty air filters.

Not only that dirty air filters decrease AC efficiency, but they can also lead to much bigger problems if not maintained properly.

The problem I see often is that people forget about cleaning AC coils and that prevents air conditioners from doing its job flawlessly.

You can even clean your air conditioner without removing it – yup, you read that right.

I personally clean my AC every two to four weeks.

This is important to prevent mold from spreading through your vent system.

If you like this article, you should check out some of our other tips that can improve your experience with air conditioning!