First thread and fresh member to the forum, forgive me if I my first post is not up to scruff.
PAO 68 A/C oil, I see it's marketed as a universal refrigerant oil... my main questions are how does it run through systems specifically with R134A, R1234YF, R290 and, R600A.
I was educated with the idea that the oil should be miscible with the refrigerant to allow it to circulate back to the compressor with the flow of refrigerant where it serves a primary purpose of lubricating the compressor.
Lately i've fallen down a rabbit hole of researching more into A/C operation as during my compressor replacement (due to the compressor intermittently sticking) I followed the service manual of running the A/C prior to recovery which is supposed to collect the majority of the oil in the compressor. I recovered 0.1 Lbs shy of a full charge with just barely enough oil to cover the creases of the oil bottle. When I emptied the compressor to balance the new one, I only got 0.5 oz of oil. Total system capacity is 5.5 oz. I've owned the vehicle since new, the compressor oil that was drained looked new still at 3 years and 182'000kms old and I had no abnormal noises from the A/C system prior to compressor replacement so i'm assuming it had a proper charge of oil from the factory.
My research to this point revealed that R1234YF is only marginally miscible with (the specified) PAG oil. Less so the hotter the refrigerant gets. Where as R134A mixes just fine and recovering a charge of it usually yields atleast or close to an ounce of oil.
Long explanation short, if R1234YF is slightly miscible with PAG oil, why not just use PAO oil instead. PAO oil is advertised as being slightly miscible as a benefit and allegedly PAO oil is superior to PAG oil with the biggest benefit being it is minimally hydroscopic in comparison.
Reason specifically I ask about PAO 68 is because thats the PAO oil marketed everywhere. Reason I threw in propane and isobutane refrigerants is because without having two separate conversations, I'm "against" R134A/ R1234YF and so recharged my vehicle with Duracool/12A/Replacement refrigerant instead so I was curious how it would interact and hearing it from someone with real experience, not marketing Brochures.
PAO 68 A/C oil, I see it's marketed as a universal refrigerant oil... my main questions are how does it run through systems specifically with R134A, R1234YF, R290 and, R600A.
I was educated with the idea that the oil should be miscible with the refrigerant to allow it to circulate back to the compressor with the flow of refrigerant where it serves a primary purpose of lubricating the compressor.
Lately i've fallen down a rabbit hole of researching more into A/C operation as during my compressor replacement (due to the compressor intermittently sticking) I followed the service manual of running the A/C prior to recovery which is supposed to collect the majority of the oil in the compressor. I recovered 0.1 Lbs shy of a full charge with just barely enough oil to cover the creases of the oil bottle. When I emptied the compressor to balance the new one, I only got 0.5 oz of oil. Total system capacity is 5.5 oz. I've owned the vehicle since new, the compressor oil that was drained looked new still at 3 years and 182'000kms old and I had no abnormal noises from the A/C system prior to compressor replacement so i'm assuming it had a proper charge of oil from the factory.
My research to this point revealed that R1234YF is only marginally miscible with (the specified) PAG oil. Less so the hotter the refrigerant gets. Where as R134A mixes just fine and recovering a charge of it usually yields atleast or close to an ounce of oil.
Long explanation short, if R1234YF is slightly miscible with PAG oil, why not just use PAO oil instead. PAO oil is advertised as being slightly miscible as a benefit and allegedly PAO oil is superior to PAG oil with the biggest benefit being it is minimally hydroscopic in comparison.
Reason specifically I ask about PAO 68 is because thats the PAO oil marketed everywhere. Reason I threw in propane and isobutane refrigerants is because without having two separate conversations, I'm "against" R134A/ R1234YF and so recharged my vehicle with Duracool/12A/Replacement refrigerant instead so I was curious how it would interact and hearing it from someone with real experience, not marketing Brochures.
That could be an example of how quickly lives can be changed in an instance if something went sideways
