Alternative Refrigerant Re-Charge (Update)

[AcuraTech]

I posted a thread a couple months ago about how I recharged my r-12 a/c system with r-414b (a drop-in replacement type of refrigerant).

Results:
Blew really cold for about two months. Started blowing barely cold about a week ago. Now pretty much worthless. Popped the hood and seems that one of the o-rings that I REPLACED before I put the r-414b in is leaking. Again. That was the same o-ring that leaked out all the r-12 charge that was in previously.

SO, I guess that I'm gonna take the line off again and inspect a bit further to see why it keeps leaking in that area. If I can figure it out I may or may not re-charge the system, but if I do, most likely with r-12 this time. The thing is that our shop no longer has any r-12, so I need to find somebody that has a jug.

What a pain. I'd really like to have a/c in my car but I'm sick of jumping through all these hoops to do it. I guess that's the price you pay for driving an older car. At least I don't have car payments!

So, to sum it up, the r-414b worked wonderfully! Blew icicles out of the vents when it was fully charged. Would have liked to see how it held up if it didn't all leak out.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Supposedly there is a difference in quality of o-rings.

 

[duaneb9729]

i have used the drop in replacements long term and they work wonderfully, even better in the early 134a cars, but i do have R-12 and live over in Minneapolis, or you can just get the drop in replacement.

the only issue with the drop in replacement, it fractionates if you have a leak, meaning that the drop in replacement is a blend of refriderants, so instead of topping it off you would recover it all and start over with new.