Quote:
Originally Posted by flybouy
"Back in the day".... Several decades ago (before the ramifications of R-12 were highlighted) we (DW & 2 young daughters) were about 3 hrs from home on a sweltering August day. About 97° F and 90% RH. The a/c on the 1985 Pontiac Perisian started blowing warm air. I pulled off the highway into the parking lot of a shopping center that had annoutparts store. Told the DW to take the girls into the pizza shop next door for a bite and cold drinks.
I bought a cheap a/c recharge kit and 4 cans of R12. Refilled with 2 cans and checked and attempted to assess the situation not having my hose and gauge set with me. Drove about 2 hrs and had to pull over and put in 2 more cans that kept us cool until getting home.
Point is the refrigerant was leaking out. Simply replacing it doesn't fix the leak. Unlike the cooling system for the tow vehicles engine an a/unit is a sealed system. In a vehicle engine cooling system it's an open system. The radiator cap controls the pressure by venting it to a "coolant recovery tank". If you continue to drive while it's boiling out then the volume will overcome the tank and you will have a loss of coolant.
As an a/c system is a closed loop the only way for it to be low on refrigerant is via a failure in the plumbing, a leak. Leaks don't fix themseves so adding more refrigerant doesn't fix it. Just want to make it clear so someone's first experience doesn't end up with a "but I added refrigerant last week and now it's not working again".
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To piggyback on that, since we have lots of folks that can relate, I'll add another note to adding refrigerant.
Years ago ACs seemed to have lots of leaks for various reasons. You could get R12 and all kinds of little "charge kits"; screw it into the proper port, turn the little twisty handle until it punctured the can and there it went, right into the system and "instant cool air". Well, one of the ways
I was told to assess low freon were the bubbles in the sight glass - which there were many. So, took the little hose kit and started adding freon waiting for the bubbles to go away - no gauge..... Well, did you know you can overcharge a system and still see bubbles? I didn't, but do now. Kept putting that freon on in and while intently staring at that little glass "POW"!! I thought something had blown up inside the compressor! I had overcharged the system and although it sounded like it must have split that compressor in half it didn't. It did however necessitate a quick trip inside to "straighten things out".
Oh, and I did buy the kit with a gauge....