DIY aircon service

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Tue 25 May 2004 17:40
DIY aircon service - peteH
drove past the local aircon service place and they have a sign out "DIY aircon topup" from £7.00

Turns out it is a can of 134a with a screw adapter to "topup" the coolant.

I always through that the gas was added by weight rather than pressure, so unless you remove what is already in - how would you know how much gas to add? or do this kits just work on the pressure within the circuit?

lastly - if aircon is regassed, does oil also need to be added at the same time (or a product such as leak stop) or will the oil still be in the system?
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Tue 25 May 2004 19:05
DIY aircon service - Sooty Tailpipes
It's probably aimed at people with bangers who just want to see if they can get it working or improve it without spending much money, as what you say is true.
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Wed 26 May 2004 10:27
DIY aircon service - NARU
Quite common in the states - you can (or could last time I was there) buy a tin of gas from home depot and the like. But I thought it was illegal over here.

If you do a search of some US web sites, I'm sure you'll find plenty of info and tips.

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Thu 27 May 2004 13:27
DIY aircon service - Hairy Hat Man
Can anyone find anywhere on the web or near Nottingham where I can get some of this?

I have an old banger with aircon that barely works. I doubt the gas has been pped up for it's whole 9 year life, but I can't justify spending £70 odd to have the system drained / tested etc.
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Thu 27 May 2004 13:35
DIY aircon service - SimonJ
Have a look on ebay.
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Thu 27 May 2004 20:30
DIY aircon service - Damp Squib
HHM. Wouldn\'t it be worth £70 to get the a/c working for Summer and /or make it worth more than £70 extra if sold it with working a/c? Whatever, here is an e bay link which includes refrigerant.

tinyurl.com/2s3hy

Or put \"134a\" into the e bay search engine and up it comes!

Good luck

{Link amended using tinyurl.com as the original one was screwing up the page width of this site due to it\'s long length. DD}
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Thu 27 May 2004 23:27
DIY aircon service - Dave N
These are known in the US trade as 'Death kits'.

Without vacuming the system or adding the correct amount by weight and monitoring the high side pressure, you'll kill the system. Not too bad I guess, until it takes the belt with it, along with the alternator, PAS etc.

A by-product of too much gas, or an obstruction, and a mixture with air, is extremely high pressures. Sometimes these pressures can rise quicker than the HP cutout can operate, the result is a system that blows up in your face. There can be 4 or 500psi in there. If you connect the can to the high pressure side in error, then the system pressure is higher than the burst pressure of the can. Result, the can blows up in your hand.

Basically, don't mess about with high pressure systems when you don't know what you're doing. There's a saying about things blowing up in your face, and with a/c systems they literally can.
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