Thread: Caravan aircon regas?

Pedro,I thought Beeutys frog may have got the bugs.
Andrew

Originally Posted by rick130

It won't work, the old unit will be on R22, read my post above.

https://hychill.com.au/products/minus-40


I'd use it in a heartbeat... It'll only be a few hundred grams.... It would be perfectly safe in a caravan IMO. Think of how bad it stinks if it leaks. You'd know immediatly.

Infact, I've got it in my cars (-30)... Brilliant stuff. I would NEVER use it in a cool room as they have too larger a quantity, and the evap side is in a sealed room, not a vented cabin like a caravan.

seeya,
Shane L.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

anyone with a clever idea on how to access a caravan air con?
skyhook?

Put something that will support your weight across your roof. (eg: ladder/length timber).... No fun at all

200g can of butane is enough to blow a limb off. Or create a nice bbq for a good few minutes. I personally wouldn't want 'only a few hundred grams' of anything flammable burning/exploding in my general vicinity.

In my understanding, Hychill and other natural refrigerants are OK to use, but not recommended for vehicle applications. Most of this has to do with its flammability (opposed to the non flammable, non toxic equivalents used by the OEMs).
What's not ok is to handle a CFC, HFC, or HCFC system without the proper handling licence. ie converting from R22, R134a or whatever to Hychill needs to be done by a professional. 'Letting the gas out' will get you in trouble with the law, the hippies etc.

Originally Posted by Toxic_Avenger

200g can of butane is enough to blow a limb off. Or create a nice bbq for a good few minutes. I personally wouldn't want 'only a few hundred grams' of anything flammable burning/exploding in my general vicinity.

In my understanding, Hychill and other natural refrigerants are OK to use, but not recommended for vehicle applications. Most of this has to do with its flammability (opposed to the non flammable, non toxic equivalents used by the OEMs).
What's not ok is to handle a CFC, HFC, or HCFC system without the proper handling licence. ie converting from R22, R134a or whatever to Hychill needs to be done by a professional. 'Letting the gas out' will get you in trouble with the law, the hippies etc.

Yeah I know.... It's stresses the living **** out of me. With the 70litre of LPG in the boot, the 80 litres of high octane petrol in the plastic petrol tank. That 300grams of butane in my A/C frightens the hell out of me.

Do some research. There is refrigerant fires in cars .... All I could find were R134a. It's the oil that burns under pressure. Having said that, I sure wouldn't want to see a car with 300grams of lpg sealed in it ignited. There would be more chance of me winning tatts 4 weeks in a row than this happening though. almost all leaks are very slow ... and no car I've ever own wouldn't just leak any lpg stragith back out the bottom.... 'cos there sure not air tight.

seeya,
Shane L.

Your call mate.
I think we've already ascertained that you live on the edge.

Your other DG on board your vehicle is outside the scope of this discussion. The fact stands that Hychill is a DG Flammable gas 2, while R22 / R134a is DG 2.2 (Non flammable, non toxic). In a fault situation, where the system may lose pressure, this is a pretty important characteristic of the gas. There is merit in this fact, even if you don't care to admit it. I'm sure these same considerations are taken into account when all the vehicle manufacturers charge their vehicles with r134a over all the cheaper, flammable alternatives.

What I would really like is for you to elaborate on the below.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

It's no big deal to unscrew the quick release fittings on your A/C setup, leak test and recharge the A/C.

Are you in the trade?

Hychill makes an early range rover a much nicer creature in summer.. but I have it done professionally as it is beyond me

FWIW HC's are in use in domestic fridges and and commercial applications, eg. all the freezers in any Aldi use R290. (Propane) Anything that has to be done on the refrigeration system in those and the cabinet has to be removed from site.
Talking to a couple of engineers from Electrolux, all the switches, controls, etc in their domestic fridges are spark proof, even though a full size fridge contains only 60g of R600 (isobutane)

I just checked a P/T chart, and R290 looks like an excellent drop in replacement for R22 with much better efficiencies, if you aren't worried about the flammability aspect. Charge weight is extremely low too.
Would I use it commercially ?
No.


FWIW most of the domestic air con manufacturers are moving away from R410a and going to R32, another (mildly) flammable refrigerant.
Fujitsu started the transition several years ago, and Daikin and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have moved to it.
Another bloody refrigerant to carry, and supposedly we all need spark proof vac pumps, recovery units, etc now.