Air conditioning on the fritz? Could be a refrigerant issue

"The Freon Don" has set up shop in York, offering complimentary refrigerant pressure checks for automobile air conditioners.

A blue Chrysler minivan pulls into an alcove near the corner of West Princess Street and South Richland Avenue in York.

A man gets out, and "The Freon Don" moves in, taking the driver's seat and checking the temperature of air streaming from the vents.

It doesn't look good.

"It's cold, but not as cold as it should be," Don Mason says. "If your air conditioning isn't working properly, you want a pressure check. That will tell you everything."

Mason, through his business, offers free refrigerant pressure checks, he says - no obligation.

"I've had a lot of people thank me, even though I didn't fix anything," he said. "I just showed them what the problem was."

Recently laid off, the York resident promotes his business from the trunk of his Subaru Forester and rents nearby garage space, he said, where he can recharge your car's refrigerant for between $50 to $75.

Mason uses the brand Enviro-Safe, a hydrocarbon refrigerant, but frequently refers to it as the more well known brand "Freon," a registered trademark of DuPont.

Recharging means "adding Freon to a system that doesn't have enough pressure," he said. "It makes the air cooler."

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Air conditioning on the fritz? Could be a refrigerant issue