Loktrace Advanced Leak Detection

Antarctic Vehicle Air Conditioning is proud to introduce a new advanced leak detection service to its customers and to the trade. The system is called Loktrace. It is a method that has been used before in leak detection but it's now available for the automotive air conditioning industry.

It works on detection of hydrogen which is the smallest known atom. It will detect leaks as low as one gram of hydrogen per year, which is very small. No other refrigerant leak detection method will come anywhere near to this detection rate.

As hydrogen is lighter than refrigerant, it rises up and not down like refrigerant, which makes detection easier. It will also detect hydrogen leaking from an evaporator through the vents, therefore avoiding labour cost in gaining access to the evaporator.

Loktrace is a blend of hydrogen and nitrogen. The nitrogen is used as a carrier and the hydrogen is the detecting gas.

As the special detector only detects hydrogen there is no cross contamination from other sources giving false readings. Once it has detected a leak it then zeros itself and starts again homing in on the leak until it locates it.

Although the other methods are quite good in their own way, or used combined, they are still a world apart when it comes to detecting very small leaks.

What does this mean for owners with a persistent leak in their vehicle air conditioner which cannot be found? Well, we have the answer!

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Results We Have Had With Loktrace

• Detected a leak on a truck air con pipe clamp bracket weld, which did not show with all the known refrigerant leak detection methods
• Detected a leak on a newly fitted condenser on a VW Golf which showed no signs of leaks at the actual leak site. All other methods failed to detect.
• Detected a leak on a service port valve (Scania truck) which had a hairline crack when under pressure. All other methods failed to detect.
• Detected a leak on a compressor which was not detected by all other methods.

The above examples had been regassed various times before but no leak could be found using conventional leak detection.

Cost and Availability of our Loktrace Service

Loktrace leak detection service is not a part of regular service and is offered as an additional service when all other methods have failed. Although this is an excellent method of leak detection it is also time consuming and the gas blend is expensive to purchase, plus the cost of special shipping and labour charges.

The cost of the service is $165 for the first hour. After one hour our normal hourly rate is charged at $88. So far we have found leaks within the hour.

We offer this service to other air con service centres if required, as we know how frustrating this can be to professional service technicians.

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