No AC again

[riotwarrior]

So here comes da HEAT of summer...again

My truck has ..in theory AC.

Turn it on....nadda...

I have now decided to say eff it n order some combo guages...for AC R12 134 Type. I have a very large ac type vacuum machine for charging ac systems..but not much in way of experience...essentially NONE

Time to get AC working as I sooooo hate the heat...plus a short run into a store etc..can leave truck n ac on for...

Sherydan

This keeps ******** at bay from hassling me.

So any tips on what guages...or other things I need...guages run bout 40 bucks on ebay.

Thanks for reading

 

[icanfixall]

Ebay is the best bet for a set of gauges WITH GOOD HOSES... Please.. Please wear a FULL face shield when charging any ac system and only add freon to the low pressure side. I also never connect the high pressure hose to the high side.. you can see 450 plus on that side. Add 3 cans and call it done... Will freeze you out of the cab this I know. Three cans of R12 is three pounds but actually equals 36 oz of freon. Suck it down to 26 or better vacuum. Let it sit for 30 minutes to see how bad the leak is. If it holds then add feon.. Easy as Bob's your uncle....

 

[riotwarrior]

R12 not available here

 

[BrianX128]

I put red tek 12a in mine (after someone on here had advised me to try it) and my truck is an r12 system in my 1990 which was totally empty and got two cans of ester oil and put some of it in here and there as I was going as I had also read to do that as it helps the seals and o-rings swell back up and hold the charge and to my surprise it worked. Haven't had to add 1 can in three months now and it was 92 here today and I only had the fan on 3 and was comfy inside.

Is your system totally empty? If you jump the connector on the low side by the fill port does your compressor spin up and can you notice any cold in the cab if it does? I don't think your supposed to leave it on for very long when doing it this way though in case it is empty.

I'm far from an expert on this, and I'm sure I mostly got lucky after some helpful advice that my o-rings and seals must have slowly leaked to 0, and just needed some slight encouragement to hold a good charge again and work without leaking, but I feel your pain. I didn't mind not having mine until the first day it was 80 something after I had bought the truck and was stuck in traffic and realized I HAVE to fix this before summer or I'll never drive the thing.

 

[F350camper]

here is a my .02 for a system topoff
I only charge a system on a hot day, mid 80s or above.
I always monitor high and low side while filling, and based on ambient i have an idea where I want them to be when done. ( google for the right chart )
I jumper out the low pressure switch to keep the compressor from cycling.
I put the hvac control on max ac, fan on high, temp on high ( yes temp on high )
I keep filling till the ac/drier is beer can cold and sweating like a ***** in church.
Then I close the manifold to stop the fill and let run for a bit, do a final low side and high side pressure check, add a bit more if required based on pressure readings. (almost never need to)
Remove low pressure switch jumper and re-connect the switch.
Verify that the compressor doesn't cycle.
I change the temp to cold, and check the air from the vents.

This is all based on tips from my father, 40+ years in HVAC.

 

[chris142]

R12 not available here

Are you in Canada?

 

[Shawn MacAnanny]

Vacuum it out, I use a cheap set of gauges from napa or something. You can connect vacuum to one of gauge lines. My gauges require turning of low side gauge to let freon in. I always connect to the high side so you can see that your compressor and orifice are working properly. 40-50 on the low 200-250 on the high for r134. My 1993 was r12 and I filled with with r134. It worked fine for a few months but the compressor went up (it was on its way out before r134 had to charge to 60 psi low to even get to 170psi on high). Been refilled with r134 since then and fine.

 

[jwalterus]

2-80-a/c for me

you gotta soak it up to keep yourself from freezing solid in -40 weather (that's always my excuse )

 

[MTKirk]

What I did was to totally disassemble the system, flushed everything with a loaner sprayer from Autozone, replaced all o-rings, replaced compressor (with new PAG 46 oil), replaced dyer/receiver, replaced orifice, pulled a vacuum to check for leaks. Opened system to atmosphere, then refilled with three cans of enviro-safe. Blows just as cold as with the original r-12, at lower high side pressures, and doesn't leak out of the 29 year old r-12 hoses.

 

[riotwarrior]

Are you in Canada?

Second line...under me avatar...says it all....

 

[Shawn MacAnanny]

Second line...under me avatar...says it all....

Well you never finish your posts with "Eh?" so i can understand the confusion

 

[riotwarrior]

Jumped the switch...clutch enguages no strange noises...no cool air what so ever from vents

 

[Shawn MacAnanny]

Without gauges you won't know what pressures you have. If you don't have atleast 30psi on low side and get it up to about 130psi on high youre not going to feel cold at all. There's no vapor expansion so there's no cooling effect

 

[riotwarrior]

Went to Canadian Tire got the following and installed it whilst jumping switch

1 can r12 proseal and 1 can r12 oil, 2 cans r12a Red Tek kit...got cold air blowing..
. kit guage read bout 50 lbs...getting cold air now...might try 1 more can r12a stuff...

Seems work ok but could for sure be colder...

Hmmm.

 

[Shawn MacAnanny]

You gotta read the high side too to see if your orifice is plugged resulting in higher pressure or your compressor is worn and not making enough pressure.