r12freon questions

MarkM66 · Mar 1, 2012

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Its not legal to mess with R12 unless you are licensed. Here it has to be drained and disposed of.

No way to top it up at all or you get sent to jail...

Maybe in Canada. In the US, there is no enforcement on at home use.

Business's are regulated by the Govt., not residents. If we were, we'd all be in jail.

.

Vikas · Mar 1, 2012

I would love to find out if the OP is equally worried and frequents a toddler forum

LEAVE YOUR VEHICLES ALONE, MAN!!!

Dakota1820 · Mar 1, 2012

Ok so I like how I ask a question and people say stupid stuff . Fact is my ac is cycling to often . Facts is it is low and fact is some people on this board make new comers not want to come back. I asked for info because I was fairly certain it needed some freon. I don't need any unnecessary lip. And for the record I am not on a toddler forum but I do frequently look up info regarding such. I like to take care of things before it gets to the point of needing to. If it needs freon I'd rather take care of it now then wait till its 100 degrees.

demarpaint · Mar 1, 2012

Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
Ok so I like how I ask a question and people say stupid stuff . Fact is my ac is cycling to often . Facts is it is low and fact is some people on this board make new comers not want to come back. I asked for info because I was fairly certain it needed some freon. I don't need any unnecessary lip. And for the record I am not on a toddler forum but I do frequently look up info regarding such. I like to take care of things before it gets to the point of needing to. If it needs freon I'd rather take care of it now then wait till its 100 degrees.

You're better off checking and charging your AC system when it is hot outside. MY FIL was in the AC business and always said its best to charge them up when its hot. During the winter time your AC will cycle on and off as a function of the system. Yes you can charge it in the winter, but you won't get as good a charge. Freon is not cheap, I'd wait. JMO

Or if you have to charge it now do it in a heated garage at about 80*F, and make sure the car has been sitting for several hours at that temp.

demarpaint · Mar 1, 2012

Let me add if you are opening the system for repair and essentially starting from scratch you can do it in the cold as long as you weigh the amount of refrigerant you add. Just be sure you pull vacuum allow it to hold it for at least an hour or more to get the moisture out before you attempt to charge it up. But I'd still wait till the warmer weather. JMO

JHZR2 · Mar 1, 2012

Originally Posted By: oppirs
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Some applications do this. My 91 BMW got a refurb of its AC system, from R12 to 134a back in 04. It has been completely tight and the pressure is perfect. It cycles every 10-20 seconds, meaning that it is on for a while (longer than it is off), is off for 10-20 sec, then goes back on.

No negative issues.
Backwards R12 was the cats meow!

It sure is, but at the time, R12 was $$$. It has come down a lot now.

Im just saying cycle and the fact that it has worked well.

tommygunn · Mar 2, 2012

Crazy cause I've called [censored] near everywhere locally for r12 and didn't get anywhere...napa advance autozone Bennett auto supplies and nobody had any...one got told me to check home depot cause supposedly housing ac still uses r12...so how arethese people on Craigslist and ebay selling it? Or should I say attaining it? From overseas?

cchase · Mar 2, 2012

No one uses R-12 anymore and I don't believe it is produced any more, at least in the developed world. Anything I've seen for sale is old stock. It's banned and has been for many years.

Chris142 · Mar 2, 2012

Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Crazy cause I've called [censored] near everywhere locally for r12 and didn't get anywhere...napa advance autozone Bennett auto supplies and nobody had any...one got told me to check home depot cause supposedly housing ac still uses r12...so how arethese people on Craigslist and ebay selling it? Or should I say attaining it? From overseas?
You can still buy it but only in a 30 lb cylinder. The little cans are banned. We buy our 30 pounders from Pep boys since they are cheaper than Napa or Oriley.

If someone is selling small cans then it's just old stock they have had in a garage or found at a yard sale. Nothing wrong with old stock as it does not go bad.

cchase · Mar 2, 2012

I thought all the "R-12" being sold today as new was fake?

Jarlaxle · Mar 3, 2012

Plenty of it is...if so, it's usually propane.

oppirs · Mar 3, 2012

Dichlorodiflouoromethame CCI2f2

Not Propane.

wtd · Mar 3, 2012

Go look on Ebay. There is still ton's of old cans of R12 being sold. It may be pricy but it is still available.

Supposedly R134a is going the way of R12 and being replaced by something else so prices of it will end up going higher than they are now. I've stocked up some of it for future use.

As others have stated, wait until the outside temps are over 80 before trying to diagnose your system. The only way to know for sure if a system is fully charged is by having the exact weight of refrigerant in the system. Trying to go by pressures is just guessing. They are just a general guideline to go by.

AC repair is something that needs to be done correctly the first time or you are just going to be doing it over again and with the price of R12 and it being harder to get these days, you definately want to do it correctly.

Wayne

bullwinkle · Mar 3, 2012

Originally Posted By: cchase
I thought all the "R-12" being sold today as new was fake?
It's not fake, just reprocessed-when refrigeration/A/C guys (like me) take it out of a system we put it in a recovery tank, and then the supply house sends it back to be reprocessed & tested, then they put it back in a regular tank. Like NextGen! Of course, they don't get MY R-12 (nor R-502 either)-I use that (to keep the relative's old R-12 car A/Cs running)! The R-502 gets used in older ice machines & ice cream machines.

bullwinkle · Mar 3, 2012

Of course, I have heard of new R-12 being smuggled in from Mexico and other places, but I wouldn't trust it.

cchase · Mar 3, 2012

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Of course, I have heard of new R-12 being smuggled in from Mexico and other places, but I wouldn't trust it.

Okay, I think this is what I must be remembering reading somewhere.

Either way, no NEW R-12 is being produced legally!

Chris142 · Mar 4, 2012

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: cchase
I thought all the "R-12" being sold today as new was fake?
It's not fake, just reprocessed-when refrigeration/A/C guys (like me) take it out of a system we put it in a recovery tank, and then the supply house sends it back to be reprocessed & tested, then they put it back in a regular tank. Like NextGen! Of course, they don't get MY R-12 (nor R-502 either)-I use that (to keep the relative's old R-12 car A/Cs running)!
Interesting. I just suck it into the recovery machine, press "recycle" and when I'm done with that car I shoot it back in.

45ACP · Mar 4, 2012

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Crazy cause I've called [censored] near everywhere locally for r12 and didn't get anywhere...napa advance autozone Bennett auto supplies and nobody had any...one got told me to check home depot cause supposedly housing ac still uses r12...so how arethese people on Craigslist and ebay selling it? Or should I say attaining it? From overseas?
You can still buy it but only in a 30 lb cylinder. The little cans are banned. We buy our 30 pounders from Pep boys since they are cheaper than Napa or Oriley.

If someone is selling small cans then it's just old stock they have had in a garage or found at a yard sale. Nothing wrong with old stock as it does not go bad.

You can buy the little cans on EBay! They want a certificate...

And that was my concern.. it DOENST go bad?

So that means it must still be produced..

I have found R12 systems to be "colder" than R134A? But, maybe that has changed.

45ACP · Mar 4, 2012

Originally Posted By: toneydoc
Leave it alone until it is not COLD. Then worry about it.

Thats good advice there. When it blows hot? .. THEN.

Also i heard it is good to run it full blast once a week/month even in cold weather so it doesnt "dry out" (?)

I am always amazed how long the refrigerant lasts, keeping it cold.........

BTW, any shop can still service/refill R12. They just charge a LOT of money vs the new stuff, which is not as cold...

mechanicx · Mar 5, 2012

Putting aside the ozone depleting theory, R12 was the cat's meow. It is lower in toxicity than R134a, doesn't leak out of systems as easy, easier to detect leakage, and used mineral oil for compressor lubricant which is much better than the moisture asorbing PAG commonly used with R134a. And on top of all that, it is a more efficient refrigerant than R134a.

Systems use to commonly hold 2-3 lbs of it. And it was super cheap. You didnt have to worry about recovering it and paying for the cost of recovery machines. That made AC service and repair much more costly. Now they're switching to a new refrigerant. When will it end?

That said, I've had good results converting R!@ systems to R134a particularly GM models. There is going to be some loss in performance with R134a. It doesn't even work quite as good when the system is designed for it.

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