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Re: Does anyone here Service thier own A/C?
On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:57:03 -0500, Ray O wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> "Hachiroku" <Trueno@ae86.gts> wrote in message
> news:bflHg.10250$6s.1163@trndny08...[color=green]
>> On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:28:32 -0500, Ray O wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>>
>>> "david" <carroll6@kc.rr.com> wrote in message
>>> news:Xns98297707B969weddle@24.94.170.102...
>>>> I'd like to service my own A/C on my 1986 Toyota Celica.
>>>> I'd like to try other freon substitutes, or at least,
>>>> buy some R12 on Ebay.
>>>>
>>>> Is this doable? Is it practical?
>>>>
>>>> thanks,
>>>> David
>>>
>>> First, you need a certificate in order to purchase and handle R-12.
>>>
>>> R-134-A is the current refrigerant of choice and it is not compatible
>>> with
>>> R-12 so the existing R-12 must be evacuated from the system before
>>> charging
>>> with 134-A. It is illegal to discharge R-12 into the air so the proper
>>> way
>>> to evacuate it is to recover it with an R-12 recovery and evacuation
>>> system.
>>>
>>> If the refrigerant leaked out a while ago and you are now getting around
>>> to
>>> try to fix it, the desiccant in the receiver/drier is probably saturated
>>> and
>>> should be changed. Also, if the refrigerant leaked out, the source of
>>> the
>>> leak should be pinpointed or else you will spend a lot of money trying to
>>> re-charge the system.
>>>
>>> Prior to re-charging the system, it should be evacuated with a vacuum
>>> pump,
>>> and you will need a set of refrigerant gauges to check its condition.
>>> The
>>> gauges for R-12 and R-134-A are not the same.
>>>
>>> By the time you invest in the equipment to do the job properly, you could
>>> have paid someone to do the work, so my recommendation would be to go
>>> that
>>> route.
>>>
>>> People often buy small cans of refrigerant at auto parts stores (pros
>>> call
>>> those small cans "suicide cans") and just fill the system, but without
>>> evacuating the system, the results are mixed.[/color]
>>
>>
>> Yeah...the R-134 'mixes' with the R-12 and blows the compressor...
>>
>> That's what happened to me![/color]
>
> I think those little cans were called suicide cans because people who did
> not know the difference between the high side and low side sometimes
> installed them on the high side, and if the high side pressure were too
> high, then the can could burst.[/color]
Yeah, believe me, I read the instructions, and then took a half an hour
tracing the tubing to determine the Low side!!
On the LHS, it's easy...the caps are marked "H" & "L"...
I still shy away from those cans, though!
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