Ripped off by Air-conditioning Company in Torrevieja

If your aircon units needed re-gassing then they will have a leak somewhere, which they should have investigated.

More so as you stated the 2 units are recently installed? I would’ve got the company who did the installation out in the first instance, as it is obviously a fault due to their works which you then thought was simply a regassing requirement?

Hi, thanks for your reply,

The Aircon units were fitted brand new, they required gassing with R410a in order for them to operate.

Both units were checked after fitting by holding Vacuum for 30 minutes plus. This proved that there were no leaks. But as you say they should also have checked to verify this, prior to filling.

Hi SteveC, thanks for your reply, point taken regarding the initial installer, however it would have been nice for TORREFRIO Company to have returned to check the gas quantity (780 grams) and measure if any had been lost this would of:-

A) indicated a leak

B) if the correct amount was still in the A/C a faulty function, no fault code is apparent on the self diagnostics.

If I had to pay for this, not a problem, but the fact that they wouldn’t turn up indicated a Bodge-it-and- Scarper attitude!!

Hi Bigden

You say that you got Torrefrio out to regassing the units after they had been installed - did this company do the initial install or was it somebody else?

You are right that any loss of gas would confirm a leak - when the units were initially installed did they come with a pre-charge already in the unit (condenser), and did Torrefrio diagnose that an additional 780 grams was needed post installation to bring the units into service? Yyou have said the unit in the lounge didn’t get as cold as the other unit straight from the start, I would suspect that they may not have put sufficient gas in anyway - the way to confirm this is by monitoring the pressure at commissioning stage as the units settle down, but as Torrefrio were only on site for 20 mins then this wouldn’t have been monitored sufficiently?

If I was in your position I would get a reputable company out to test and add any gas, if they diagnose that this is required, but in reality this should have been done by Torrefrio

We had ours serviced last year by person who installed it cost €35 and a cup of tea!

Hi Pete,

Thanks for your input it is very much appreciated. You are spot on it did have gas in it to start. This unfortunately exhausted due to a misunderstanding of the instructions. The service port valves were opened to do a vacuum test to check for leaks. My own fault.  This is why I needed to have a re-gas.

Whilst in hindsight I have contributed to my situation, it would be nice to have had the Torrefrio people back to check the charge amount. Although saying that I know after reading it on google, that the amount put in should have been weighed, and incidentally should have been pumped in due to it being a “blend” (3 different refrigerants) 

Torrefrio started the A/C up and coupled the bottle to the unit and opened the supply bottle and let the unit draw the refrigerant in, until it got cold.

I never saw weighing scales, or a pump used!!

Hi thanks for the info,

Although I feel a little sick when you told me the price !!

There’s no bigger fool than an Old Fool ...... ....ha ..........ha

Hi Pete,

Yes I fitted the Evaporator & Condenser units when I came over for a holiday in March. My son who is an electrician in UK came for a recent holiday and did the wiring for me. I am a qualified A/C technician (C&G 2079) in the UK but work on cars, vans, Hgv etc. Using R134a gas I bought a vacuum pump and digital manifold gauges with me

I had a problem with my connectors (1/4 flare), but R410a required a 5/16.!! 

This was where the gas came out Pete!!