LG CH35 Error in Bedok: Gas Leak at the Outdoor Connections

A CH35 code with cooling that fades over several weeks, cleared by a top-up and back within the month. A second top-up buys the same few weeks. The pattern that matters here is a charge that will not stay put, not the code itself.

Setup

LG Wall-mounted/10-12 years/HDB/Bedok

Misread as

Simple gas loss, which turns two top-ups into an open-ended cycle.

Check first

The outdoor fan and the pressure sensor, before any leak hunt

A repeat top-up narrows the field but does not close it. CH35 can still be a blocked outdoor fan or a sensor reading low, and both are cheaper to clear than a leak hunt, so both go first. Only with the fan running free and the sensor reading correctly on its own does the outdoor pipework become the place to look.

Refrigerant escapes through corroded fittings at the outdoor unit. The connection surfaces are attacked over years by moisture and airborne salt, and coastal estates like Bedok run that clock faster than inland ones do. A top-up restores pressure against an opening that is still open, so the charge falls back below the CH35 threshold within weeks. The code returns because the leak was never closed, not because the charge was miscalculated.

Sealing the corroded connection and recharging to the correct pressure is the whole repair, and the system then runs long enough to confirm the charge holds. No parts are involved. The adjacent fittings matter as much as the one that failed: connections installed together corrode together, so the neighbours are usually next and are worth inspecting while the unit is open.