Leak in freeon supply line

[Rick Vollmer]

I am not sure if it is freeon or what, but I have a rather good water leak coming from the pipe (copper) coming in from the out side unit running to the central air unit in the furnace which is in the upstairs of the house. The line runs under the floor joists in the crawl space up to the furnace. I just noticed the leak while I was in the crawl doing other work. The insulation around the pipe is really wet and dripping onto the plastic making a good size puddle of water.

My questions are: Can I remove the insulation, find the hole and patch it for now with plumbers expoxy? I really don't think this is a matter of condensation dripping, but I could be wrong (again). The pipe was really put in badly by the installer and it is over 20 years old. (Has a lot of bends and held against the joists by metal strapping).

Also, can the pipe be replaced by myself or do I need to call in a plumber?
If it is a DIY project, what are the steps and precautions that I need to do/take?

Thanks for any input as I really can't afford to call in a plumber due to many other problems I have had. I can replace copper plumbing lines and have the pipe and tools, but I don't really want to solder on anything that might explode, if you know what I mean.

Thanks again

[gbeaumont]

Rick,

If what you are seeing is water than it must be condensation as there is no water inside the system only gas and a small amount of oil.

Re-insulating the pipes would be a good idea as that would slow the rate of condensation and increase efficiency.

Regards

Gerry

[David A. Andersen]

All insulation on the refrigerant lines should be glued to prevent this.

Water is condensing on exposed pipe (somewhere) and flowing down hill.

Insulate everything.

Refrigerant will not leak out in a liquid state at atmospheric pressures.

[Jeff Merritt]

Do not cut the pipes!!, you will loose all you refrigerant, you should call a qualified contractor if you fell uncomfortable.

[Rick Vollmer]

Thanks for all the reply's. I think the condensation that I spotted is the reslut of my doing a lot of pipe insulation and now the condensation as found a new place to go.

I will take the advice and remove the metal strap holding the pipe and insulate around the pipe and re-secure using nylon straps that are use for ducts.

Thanks again