SUPER SEAL!!!

[PaysonHVAC]

Ok hope the boss don't see this thread but I can't pass this one up :-)


Had this 2 yr old Lennox to work on Monday. Was almost flat on charge. Leak checked and found the leak in the lower section of the evap coil where the copper goes through the galvenized bulk head.
part is under warranty but we didn't install this one.
Anyway I guess our company is no longer selling Lennox so they don't have a open account any more or some B.S. and this evap coil is not available and Lennox would have to "have it made".
So. To get a coil while this one is still in here working temporarily (would last a few days on a recharge) they would have to buy the coil for well over a $1k cost. Then get credited or some B.S. to a account we don't use. Not sure why it's got to be f*ckered up like that but it is.

Anyway. The boss asked if I COULD fix it. Knowing that the repair would be in a crucial point I said it's got a good chance I'd damage it trying and then we'd have NO coil for ANY warranty exchange!
So. The boss had a can of Super Seal for me to try.
Said our ex parts guy swore by the stuff and how some guy demonstrated by punching a hole in a coil with a ice pick and sealing with this sh*t.







I could HEAR the leak by listening with a home made "stephescope" so I know it's leaking. But I managed to pull a long vacuum while I left to go pick this stuff up from the boss and when I shut off the pump and connected the micron gauge it held 750 microns for 5 minutes.





Funny thing is I first went to ARS to buy a can of this stuff per the boss but they said they discontinued that product after carrying it for one week when trane said it would "void warranty"! The boss had a can in his stash so I got this one from him.

So. What do you guys think of this stuff?
Maybe the stuff works. Maybe it will make someothing worse :-P Who knows.

[lennoxman]

Never heard of it. I tend to think there is no such thing as an easy miracle cure. Who knows! Maybe you've found the Genie in the bottle. Let us know if it holds up. I once put alumaseal in my car and ended up with a cracked head. But then again I am hvac'r mechanic not an auto tech.

[MadeinUSA]

Only two things go in a HVAC/R system, refrigerant and oil period.

[Wild Leg]

"Fix-a-Flat"

Gotta love it!

[billg]

My question is what happens to the stuff not used in sealing the leak? Does it decide that the metering device is a leak? Does it decide that the bearing oil grooves are leaks? ha ha ha ha ha..!

[hospitalacguy]

That would be my question. What happens if that stuff gets into cap tubes, TXV valves, Acurator pistons and the like. Also what happens if that stuff stays in the system for an extended period of time. Does it harden? Goo up everything? I've heard of it and don't like it.

[haji7]

you can read about super seal @ http://www.cliplight.com/hvacr

[vaporlock]

reason #37 why I hate Lennox products.........

[ct2]

What TWAL2 said fix a flat-- now how are you going to get that shit out of there--wouldnt a good coat of jb weld work?

[bbdb]

hmmmm mabey ill try it next time i come across a ruptuerd chiller barell

[dpatty]

I used a can earlier this year and told the customer that things might happen. They didn't call back. I guess it did the job to work through the summer. they said they are gonna get a new system with there income tax return.

[midhvac]

I wouldn't get in the habit of using that stuff. There have been some threads here telling of disasters it caused. I remember one of them about how it totally destroyed a heat pump system.

[cde72]

Ya. Those pesky metering devices are very LARGE leaks...

[billg]

Payson I have finely found the end of the rainbow, and there isn't a pot of gold. What I found there is infinitely better.

[rcrainman]

According to the manufacturer:
It was developed specifically for A/C systems.
How it works:
Once a leak is detected the sealant is activated, by moisture and air around the opening of the hole, and forms a barrier at point of leakage and continues to circulate seeking out new leaks.

“The use of your leak sealant has not only proven to be a great tool for sealing multiple leaks but also effective in providing system reliability”.

"What it won’t do:
* Super Seal will not clog the valve core when injected into the system.
* Super Seal will not it harm the hermetic compressor or any other components in the system as it is completely compatible with the electrical windings of the compressor motor.
* Super Seal will not interfere with compressor valves or form wax in cap tubes, orifices, or thermostatic expansion valves, and does not impede the lubrication ability of the system oil in any way.

If a line bursts on a system containing Super Seal it is carried out of the system along with refrigerant and lube oil, any residual remaining will be negligible and ineffective."
I say,
Refrigerant recovery and recycling might be a problem.
But as the last resort it may be the only alternative.
Curtainly worth a try.

[ravenx]

But if a TXV or cap tube retains any moisture from a previous leak in the system, will that stuff plug it up as well?

[dpatty]

If there is moisture from a previous leak then who ever did the repair did not do there job and is most likely the reason you are there. I would say to make this a last resort option for people who cannot afford to fix it properly. just warn them it's a bandaid and some times a bandaid will not get the job done. note this on the sale and hope for the best. In places that it does not get dangerously hot I dont think I would offer it.

[PaysonHVAC]

Actually Lennox told our company to "do what we can" to try and stop the leak as them coils in this model were buggers to get replacements.

Typical LENNOX. these units(s) are only 2 to 3 yrs old! and NO replacement coil. They said THEy would have to have them MADE! WTF??????

The reason I say unit(s) is because, get ready for this sheet, ANOTHER tech in our company came across the SAME problem in the same week. I mean 2 or so days after I got mine.

They told us that the two units this tech and I were working on were the SAME model number only 3 numbers away on the serial number! Our company installed one of them and the other by someone else!!!!

Holy sheep Sheet!

So there are TWO identical units running SUPER SEAL. the other tech said he could HEAR his leak where mine was so small I had to use a stephescope to hear mine. Both just into the galvenized bulkhead of the ID evap coil within inches of the same point!!

I HOPE this isn't going to be a trend with these suckers...

[lennoxman]

Made in America! On a Monday or Tuesday. I told mt boss I had never worked on so many Lemmonex's before I came here and he said that's just because we were a Lennox dealer. I used to work for a Yuk (York) dealer before and almost never worked on them. Coincidence? I think not. But the Dave signature system is supposed to the best. Bummer I only have a Trane.

[Wild Leg]

All this stuff will do is encourage shoddy workmanship.

If you didn't have this "snake oil", what else would you do?

Replace the unit, of course, with a higher efficiency one.

Looks like win-win to me.