A Pressure Leak Test or Pressure Decay Leak Test involves pressurizing the coil, component or refrigeration circuit with dry air or nitrogen and monitoring for a pressure drop over a preset time period.
- It is an automatic pass/fail test suitable for finding gross leaks, in the range of tens of ounces of refrigerant per year.
- Pressure decay should be used as a preliminary test prior to Helium or Hydrogen Leak Testing.
- Can replace water bath test but does not provide leak location; a tracer gas leak test such as Helium or Hydrogen/Nitrogen mix is required to locate leaks.