Thread: Aircon de-gassing

Had air conditioner on my Defender degassed several years ago. One aim to replace condenser with one that does not go in front of intercooler and has coarser fins that do not block up as readily. Also, connected with flexible hoses so it can be moved a bit to allow easier blowing dirt out of it and radiator core. After removing poorly functioning standard heater which takes up a lot of space, originally to try and fix/improve it, finished up making up another much smaller one using a copper/ brass element which works overall at least as effectively. Without standard heater, is now room to raise height of top of left footwell. Can then raise air con evaporator to allow more footroom.


I hope to sometime get air con working again. Including having layout of plumbing arranged so it is possible to remove the whole air conditioner assembly from vehicle without disconnecting anything that lets gas out. Top coming off footwell would allow removal of evaporator. Of course though when you have to make and modify parts to allow all this, it is a time consuming process. Especially designing things to fit when there is nothing to model them from.


I gather some machines, eg some big tractors have couplings rather like hydraulic ones that allow eg the cab to be removed for doing major mechanical repairs without releasing air con gas.


Has anyone seen vehicles or machines where my proposed project has been done before? ie Setup allowing the whole air conditioner assembly to be removed and replaced without releasing or need to replace gas. Even at times just being able to get part of it right out of the way would be handy. eg Maybe having condenser sit on top of motor while work is done eg like making Tdi timing belt replacement easier.

Mate if you were aware of how many AC guys just stick another charge in and say "see if it leaks away ".... and the thing ends up getting 3->6monthly "re gasses" you wouldn't at all worry about just cracking a flare nut and letting it out. Recharge it with hychill yourself. I'm sure someone on AULRO will have an A/C setup near you.

PS: I do have a recovery unit here ... the only bonus I see of using it is you want risk refrigerant burns if you recover the stuff into a bottle.

I bought an old car for my wife a couple of years back. It came with a rheem of invoices... It had countless A/C repairs ... thousands of $$$ spend on "regasses".... Obviously the only thing that can't be checked is the evaporator.... 17hours of labour it was to get the god damn dash out of the heap of ****.... The evaporator was leaky as anything.... the system had more tracer die in it than oil.

The whole auto A/C industry is a complete joke with the regulations it has. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the auto A/C guys are brilliant, it's just the regualation that are crazy and un-enforced from what I can tell. Eg: if I had to get A/C work done I couldn't do myself, I wouldn't go anywhere other than Ballarat Auto air up in martin drive in Ballarat. The guy up there sure does know his stuff and is honest.

seeya,
Shane L.

Originally Posted by scarry

We had the ARC audit recently as well,weak as water is my opinion of them.

I also found some guys doing completely the wrong thing with no license,proof was there,invoices as well.ARC couldn't/wouldn't do a thing......

I'm not in the trade, but supply to the trade. My audit required cylinder test dates, fill records, test / service records for leak detection units, logs of reclaim cylinders sent fro destruction. It was a big task to get that info together, even with all the systems that are in place to have that info readily available. In the end, most of the info was just glossed over.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Mate if you were aware of how many AC guys just stick another charge in and say "see if it leaks away ".... and the thing ends up getting 3->6monthly "re gasses" you wouldn't at all worry about just cracking a flare nut and letting it out. Recharge it with hychill yourself. I'm sure someone on AULRO will have an A/C setup near you.

This is all too common. I worked in a hotel once where the owner was refilling the refrigeration system almost monthly with kilograms of gas, instead of forking out for a new system. Being by the ocean, condensors / evaporators (can't remember which- the one on the roof) wouldn't last long at all.

Is Hychill a flammable refrigerant blend? I've always wondered what the deal is with that... it seems to be a no-no to have 400g of flammable refrigerant in a system, although there is 80 litres of high octane fuel in a nearby tank, and sometimes a LPG tank in the boot. Go figure! Using LPG in automotive AC applications is common in many other countries.

Years ago,when the govt. had inspectors,we used to have to pull deep vacuums on large A/C systems,and they had to hold over 24hrs.Less than 100microns are the figures that come to mind.
If we had issues with a system,a good purge with HP nitrogen sorted out the system every time.[/QUOTE]



Currently have three out of seven VRF systems on a 24hr 250 micron test, Not many people do this these days from what I have seen in the construction industry, but for me dehydration is paramount, having good Vac pump makes it easier

Originally Posted by Kev the Fridgy

Years ago,when the govt. had inspectors,we used to have to pull deep vacuums on large A/C systems,and they had to hold over 24hrs.Less than 100microns are the figures that come to mind.
If we had issues with a system,a good purge with HP nitrogen sorted out the system every time.

Currently have three out of seven VRF systems on a 24hr 250 micron test, Not many people do this these days from what I have seen in the construction industry, but for me dehydration is paramount, having good Vac pump makes it easier[/QUOTE]

That would be because there are not many people these days that actually know what they are doing

What do they do with the recovered gas? R12/R134A???

Originally Posted by scarry

Currently have three out of seven VRF systems on a 24hr 250 micron test, Not many people do this these days from what I have seen in the construction industry, but for me dehydration is paramount, having good Vac pump makes it easier

That would be because there are not many people these days that actually know what they are doing[/QUOTE]



One of the reasons I am looking for other means of work these days or go back into the Supermarket industry............ tired of arguing with Mech plumbers, Sheeties and builders

Originally Posted by Kev the Fridgy

That would be because there are not many people these days that actually know what they are doing

One of the reasons I am looking for other means of work these days or go back into the Supermarket industry............ tired of arguing with Mech plumbers, Sheeties and builders[/QUOTE]

and electricians