Regassing, the honest version
Fridge regassing services, but first, the truth about gas
Refrigerant lives in a sealed circuit. It doesn't get used up, burn off or evaporate with age. If your fridge is low on gas, the gas went somewhere, and a regas that ignores the leak is a fee you'll pay twice. We repair every major brand, including LG, Whirlpool, Samsung, Defy and Kelvinator, with same-day call-outs across Germiston, Midrand, Bryanston and the wider Gauteng metro.
The sealed system, simply
What refrigerant does, and why "low gas" always means a hole
Your fridge moves heat by changing refrigerant between liquid and gas. The compressor squeezes the gas, the condenser cools it into liquid, it expands through a tiny capillary tube into the evaporator where it boils, absorbing heat from your food, and returns to the compressor to go around again. The same few hundred grams of gas circulate for the fridge's entire life.
So when the system is undercharged, there is a breach: a corroded evaporator (often from years of trapped moisture), a pinholed pipe, a fatigued brazed joint, or damage from a botched DIY de-icing session. Find the breach and the regas lasts the rest of the fridge's life. Skip it and the new gas follows the old gas out, usually within weeks or months, taking your money with it.
Does your fridge actually need gas?
Symptoms that point to a refrigerant leak
A genuine gas problem usually announces itself gradually: both compartments slowly losing their chill over weeks, the compressor running near-constantly yet the fridge never reaching temperature, a partial frost patch on just one section of the evaporator, an oily residue on pipework (compressor oil escapes with the gas), or a faint chemical smell. Hissing at the moment the compressor stops can also point to a leak, though gentle gurgling is just refrigerant doing its job.
Here's the part an honest technician tells you upfront: most fridges that "need a regas" don't. Warm-fridge symptoms are more often a defrost fault, a dead fan or a failing thermostat, see our fridge not cooling guide. That's why we measure system pressures before anyone mentions gas. Pay for a diagnosis once, not a guess twice.
Five stages, no shortcuts
What a professional regas involves
- Pressure diagnosis. Gauges confirm the system is genuinely undercharged, and rule out the cheaper faults that mimic low gas.
- Electronic leak detection. A sniffer traces the full circuit, evaporator, condenser, joints and capillary line, until the breach is found, not assumed.
- Leak repair. The breach is brazed or the corroded component replaced. The filter-drier is replaced too, it's saturated the moment a system opens.
- Evacuation. A vacuum pump pulls the circuit down to remove air and moisture. Moisture left inside freezes in the capillary tube and forms acids that eat the compressor from within.
- Weighed recharge. The exact refrigerant type and gram-weight on your fridge's rating plate goes back in, weighed, not guessed. Overcharging strains the compressor; undercharging repeats the original problem.
Then the system runs while we verify temperatures and pressures. You get told what leaked, what was repaired and what went in, on paper.
Why this one is never DIY
Gas work is technician work, full stop
Pressurised & regulated
Refrigerants are pressurised gases handled under SA refrigerant-handling regulations, recovery, not venting, is the law and the right thing to do.
Flammable modern gases
Many newer fridges (including many Samsung, Hisense and Defy models) run R600a, isobutane. Competent handling isn't optional.
Precision matters
Domestic systems hold tiny charges; being out by 20 grams changes how the whole fridge performs. Bakkie-and-bottle top-ups can't hit that.
The compressor pays for mistakes
Running low on gas overheats the compressor, its cooling depends on returning refrigerant. Ignore a leak long enough and a regas becomes a compressor replacement.
Who you're letting near the gas
Why customers trust our gas work
Every van carries gauges, electronic leak detectors, vacuum pumps, recovery equipment and the common refrigerants, R600a and R134a cover most domestic Samsung, LG, Bosch, Whirlpool, Defy, Hisense and KIC units. We will not regas over an unrepaired leak, even if you ask nicely; it fails, it costs you twice, and you'd be right to be cross with us. If the leak sits somewhere uneconomical to repair, inside a foamed-in evaporator on an old cabinet, say, we'll tell you straight and talk through replacement instead. That honesty is cheaper for you and better for our reviews.
More on cooling faults and repairs
Get the leak found, then the gas, in that order
If someone offers you a regas without mentioning leak detection, keep your wallet closed. For the proper version, book a gas system repair or call 081 234 5678.
Brands, faults & areas
Fridge Regassing: the brands we repair and the Gauteng areas we cover
Fridge brands we repair
We service all the major makes sold in South Africa, from everyday models to premium, electronically controlled units: Samsung, LG, Defy, Bosch, Whirlpool, Hisense, Kelvinator, KIC, AEG, Smeg and Electrolux.
Common fridge & freezer faults we fix
Whatever the symptom, we diagnose it with proper instruments before we quote. The faults below are the ones we are called out for most.
Areas we serve across Gauteng
Same-day call-outs across Johannesburg, Pretoria and the wider metro, from Sandton and Midrand to the East Rand. Find your area below.