I did. A/C cooler. A couple of 5 second trigger pulls. Mickey Mouse gauge didn't budge. Earth still spinning.
ac recharge from a shop vs bottle from store?
- Thread starter jalikaria24
- Start date
There's the the right way to do it and then there's what you can get away with to make an old dog cool again.
The right way is of course to evacuate and charge in the correct amount of refrigerant by weight. It is also best to fix any leaks before refilling. People have chimed in on this in just about every AC thread, and they are right.
However what you can frequently get away with, particularly on an old system that does not have a variable displacement compressor, is to charge in a little at a time watching outlet temperature and system pressures and stop when you have a good result. (I suspect even with a variable compressor while the pressures won't tell you much you can still add a little refrigerant at a time until outlet temperature is good.) This of course assumes the poor cooling is due to low refrigerant and not some other problem.
Also, when you have a slow leak where you only have to add refrigerant once or twice a season you can also get away with just doing that. I've done this for years with great success. One of my vehicles has a slow evaporator leak which would require taking out the entire dashboard to fix properly. Sorry, I'm not going to do that, especially with pure R134a (no sealers or other adulterants) going for just $4.88/can at WalMart.
The right way is of course to evacuate and charge in the correct amount of refrigerant by weight. It is also best to fix any leaks before refilling. People have chimed in on this in just about every AC thread, and they are right.
However what you can frequently get away with, particularly on an old system that does not have a variable displacement compressor, is to charge in a little at a time watching outlet temperature and system pressures and stop when you have a good result. (I suspect even with a variable compressor while the pressures won't tell you much you can still add a little refrigerant at a time until outlet temperature is good.) This of course assumes the poor cooling is due to low refrigerant and not some other problem.
Also, when you have a slow leak where you only have to add refrigerant once or twice a season you can also get away with just doing that. I've done this for years with great success. One of my vehicles has a slow evaporator leak which would require taking out the entire dashboard to fix properly. Sorry, I'm not going to do that, especially with pure R134a (no sealers or other adulterants) going for just $4.88/can at WalMart.
Originally Posted by Aredeeem
Geez, I'm talking about a system that's 9 years old that's a bit weak. Put a can of R134 hooked up to the low side, give the trigger a couple of 5 second tweaks and call it a day. We're not landing on the moon here.
I agree. Last year I had 3 cars, a 2010, 2008 and a 2007 that were marginal in cooling. Everything I read said, don't over-fill. So I split a can between all three of them. All are much better now. Almost no system is perfectly sealed and over a period of 9, 12 and 13 years, they probably just lost a bit VERY slowly. Cost me pennies and problem is solved.
Geez, I'm talking about a system that's 9 years old that's a bit weak. Put a can of R134 hooked up to the low side, give the trigger a couple of 5 second tweaks and call it a day. We're not landing on the moon here.
I agree. Last year I had 3 cars, a 2010, 2008 and a 2007 that were marginal in cooling. Everything I read said, don't over-fill. So I split a can between all three of them. All are much better now. Almost no system is perfectly sealed and over a period of 9, 12 and 13 years, they probably just lost a bit VERY slowly. Cost me pennies and problem is solved.
I think it's reasonable to try one can of r134a. Try in short bursts to see if it helps. No stopleak. Dye would be good. If one can does not fix it then bring it to a shop. You can buy tools to do the repairs but they are not cheap. And when they change the refrigerant you may need more tools.
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