My 05 Jayco air conditioner has gradually lost most of its cooling. It only cools with the knob set all the way. This is a coleman mach 13,500 btu unit.
It runs fine otherwise. I figured is has lost some r-22 over 15 years or so. They do not make a service port on these units. There is no place to check with a gauge or to add r-22. They just say, buy a new air conditioner.( they are $700-$1000).
So having nothing to lose plus the fact that i own a 30lb tank of r-22, i decided to try one of the line tap kits. I used a supco bpv31 tap kit. It clamps to the line and pierces the low pressure line.
I cleaned the copper line till shiny and cleaned with with carb cleaner. Clamped the tap on and pierced the line. I purged my ac gauges with the r-22 tank and hooked up the low pressure line. Opened the needle and the pressure was only about 42-44 psi. For r-22 that's about 20 degrees at the evaporator. I did not weight as i did not want to lose what was in the unit and have to vacuum it down. I added r-22 till i got about 70 psi, which is about 40 degrees f at the evaporator. It was 83deg f ambient and humidity 65%.
So far so good, no leaks. The unit seems to cool well. I will check it in a week and see if its holding.
My question for the a/c guys, is 40 f at the evaporator about right or is that still too cold? I believe this unit is a fixed orifice.
Thanks
It runs fine otherwise. I figured is has lost some r-22 over 15 years or so. They do not make a service port on these units. There is no place to check with a gauge or to add r-22. They just say, buy a new air conditioner.( they are $700-$1000).
So having nothing to lose plus the fact that i own a 30lb tank of r-22, i decided to try one of the line tap kits. I used a supco bpv31 tap kit. It clamps to the line and pierces the low pressure line.
I cleaned the copper line till shiny and cleaned with with carb cleaner. Clamped the tap on and pierced the line. I purged my ac gauges with the r-22 tank and hooked up the low pressure line. Opened the needle and the pressure was only about 42-44 psi. For r-22 that's about 20 degrees at the evaporator. I did not weight as i did not want to lose what was in the unit and have to vacuum it down. I added r-22 till i got about 70 psi, which is about 40 degrees f at the evaporator. It was 83deg f ambient and humidity 65%.
So far so good, no leaks. The unit seems to cool well. I will check it in a week and see if its holding.
My question for the a/c guys, is 40 f at the evaporator about right or is that still too cold? I believe this unit is a fixed orifice.
Thanks
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