Bob Blick wrote:
>I was "helping" a friend fill his r134a air conditioner yesterday. No,
> the neighbor kids didn't steal the refrigerant so there must be a leak,
> but very slow over several years.
>
> I never have understood how to tell when you have the system near the
> perfect level of refrigerant. It is very hard to measure temperature
> accurately and the pressure ranges given in the service manual are so
> broad it's impossible to use those.
>
> So I decided that with 90 F air entering the condenser and high plus low
> side pressure total about 260 psi (225+35) at high idle, and 45 F air
> coming out the vent is OK. But it is probably still a little low on
> refrigerant.
>
> But other than evacuating and refilling with a measured amount, does
> anyone know a better way with just thermometers and a gauge set?
>
> And with very slow leaks(several years) does the oil also leak out?
>
> I have found useful resources on the web but nothing that tells me how
> to know when it's "full".

It's funny, just this Saturday I had my first experience adding refrigerant=
=20
to a car A/C system. I topped off the A/C on both our cars (an '01 Spectra=
=20
and an '06 Sonata). The gauge reading kept changing on the Sonata, so I=20
found out what happends when you have TOO MUCH refrigerant in the system.

PPPPPSSSSHHHHHHHHTTTT!!!!! -- a white cloud of 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane=20
envelops the front of the vehicle.

PPPPPPSSSSSSHHHHHHTTTTT!!!!  -- the relief valve keeps venting the=20
refrigerant periodically, until the pressure drops to a safe level.

Long-term effects TBD.


--=20
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