A/C Charge at Home

[joejakegrace]

Finally got some highway miles on this weekend and confirmed that the 16 year old untouched A/C needs charging! - It blows "cool" but clearly not cold! Pretty sure there are no leaks so I'm hoping it's a top off.

Who's done it at home and what do you need? Jumping into the manuals tonight but a/c I haven't messed with before. Heck, where I grew up, if it wasn't cold enough, you stuck your head further out the window!!

Side note: Took it to the first show this weekend. What a hoot! 30 people or so wanted to talk about it in detail. Kind of split 3 ways. 1/3 said something like - wow, it's beautiful [not a clue that they were looking at anything but some T/A / GTA. 1/3 said something like...wow, this car was amazing in 1989 and still today (the ones that knew what it was). The final 1/3 - something along the lines of "cool dude, how much you spend to wedge the turbo in there???" - Not sure if it spoke to automotive ignorance or stupidity (seeing as how I had a placard 3 feet by 3 feet next to the guy that showed all of the magazine reviews of the TURBO T/A PACE CAR). It was kind of funny to see my 7 year old correcting the guy though!

 

[83ttypecooled]

AC service

Hi,
It does indeed sound like all you need is a can or so of refrigerant. The issue is, does the system still contain R12, or has it been converted to R134a? The latter is relatively cheap, but R12 requires a license to purchase and is running about $30 a can. R134a has been rapidly escalating in price lately, up to 12 a can or so too. Charging equipment is cheap at your auto parts supplier,simple hose and coupler setups. Good luck!

 

[Jan Larsson]

I had my complete system drained of the old R12 and then I got a kit with everything needed for like $35 USD from Target or Walmart and just filled it myself .... topped it up a couple of times since then and you can get the cans from the same place for about $5 - $7 each. The kit you buy includes hoses and adapters etc so nothing else to buy.

 

[49-blues]

Jan- why did you remove the old R-12? Was it still working or because of a leak? When you remove the whole system you should put it in a vacuum with a vacuum pump to remove any air, moisture or contaminates which will make the system function much better. if you didnt do this i would have to venture to say the system is not cooling as well as it should. What air temps come out of the vents now? noncondensables and air will cause high head pressure and reduce the cooling effect.

 

[Jan Larsson]

My R12 was pretty much gone and with it being impossible to find (as it's illegal to use) over here (in the UK) I had the system emptied professionaly and then I filled it with R134, gets really cold and have had no issues with it since I did it about 2 years ago.

 

[89ICBM]

Originally posted by 49-blues

Jan- why did you remove the old R-12? Was it still working or because of a leak? When you remove the whole system you should put it in a vacuum with a vacuum pump to remove any air, moisture or contaminates which will make the system function much better. if you didnt do this i would have to venture to say the system is not cooling as well as it should. What air temps come out of the vents now? noncondensables and air will cause high head pressure and reduce the cooling effect.


49-blues,

It's my understanding that the main reason 134 doesn't cool as good as the 12 is that folks don't replace the orfice at the accumulator. 134 requires more pressure to cool correctly so the orfice has to be changed.

 

[Who Needs 8]

Has anyone tried FREEZE 12? From my understanding, it requires less to use than R-12, because it's a lighter chemical compound. And, it uses the same oils as R-12, so you can simply add it to a R-12 system. However, it is better to flush the old R-12 out, because Freeze 12 is a colder refridgerant than R-12 or R-134a. Best of all, Freeze 12 is Legal, requires no license to purchase, and can be purchased in most auto parts stores.

I'm thinking of looking for some at the store this weekend.

 

[GNandTTA]

When you converted the R12 to R134 hope you drained out the oil out of the compressor. Otherwise it may blow cold for a while but enevitably you will probably kill the comressor. They call those R134 conversion kits "black death kits" for a reason. The oil in a R12 system reacts with the R134 refrigerant and forms a almost gel like substance. Freeze 12, have a whole 30# drum I bought a few years ago. Problem with Freeze 12 is its a blend of refrigerants. If (when) some of it leaks out over time you NEED to flush the whole system and refill the whole system because you have no idea what % of what chemical leaked out. Best bet is to do a complete retro to R134. Flush the system. Replace the accumulator. Remove the old oil. Replace with correct R134 oil. Pull a vacuum and charge by volume with R134. Went through all of this a few years ago.