Cascade Crew

[Al Hasse]

I know, not the right time of year for it, but for the first time since I've owned my red 89, it has working A/C $50 for a used compressor from kurfbird, about $30 for refrigerant (R134-a) and an hour's worth of labor. So a grand total just under $150, which includes the appropriate taxes.

Now I can dry out the warm air I'm blowing on the windshield to do a better job with defrost in winter, and be comfy in the summer

[chevymad]

Well you've just joined the old guys club... which reminds me.. mine quit working. It's like i'm young again!

[Whiskeychick]

Must be nice R134a, my R12 is starting to get warm

[Schultzy89GTA]

-Schultzy

[Al Hasse]

Now the 92 needs to be serviced. It has R134-a already, but it's been a few years and it's starting to blow warm too.

[BigDaddyVu]

a few years ago my first ac job on my t/a was simple but after awhile it didn't blow enough cold air out of the vent. last summer i decided to do it right, my friend a hvac guy helped me i had to change the orifice tube, air dryer and a new ac pump and fill the oil sump with 8 oz, flush the system seal it and used nitrogen gas to put it under pressure for atleast 24 hours put a vaccum pump with recovery tank on it for 36 hours check for psi drop and while under vacuum charge with 4 cans 134a and put adhesive heat wrap around my air dryer now it blows 34 degrees at the vent. it was a long and painful job changing every freaking o-ring with green o-ring

[Al Hasse]

Apparently, cold air isn't there yet. We knew the orifice tube needed replacing to use R134a, so for now, my air isn't any cooler than the vent setting. Come spring time, we'll recover the R134a, replace the tube, draw vacuum and recharge the system (which was the plan when I had this done). For the time being, I'm just concerned with dehumidified air going on the windshield for defrost.

[chevymad]

If it isnt getting cold, it isnt dehumidifying either. Lowering the temp, lowers the dew point and the moisture comes out of the air. A stock r12 orifice will work just fine for normal AC as well. The r134 or variable orifice are just better yet. I used a variable orifice and it does weird things..like cools better when you're parked idling then when driving 35mph. I've also frozen my windshield while driving with r134.

The filter/accumulator should be changed when you swap to r134. The dessicant bag inside may or may not be compatible with the new fluid. Also the stuff will go bad in normal use. One of the training seminars I went to, they went as far as to tell us that the filter should be changed every 2 years! LOL Like anyone would do that.

There's no need to change any o-rings that havent been disturbed. The old refrigerant oil has applied a coating to them that will block r134. A new r12 o-ring however will not stop r134 from leaking.

Vacuum need only be applied for 45min. Besides removing as much air as possible, the main reason for this is to boil any moisture out of the system. Moisture + refrigerant oil = acid.

I dont see where you applied vacuum. So you probably have too much air in the system for it to get cold. Either that or you have a blend door problem perhaps.

I've done lots of retrofits at work, but they have dried up now that the last r12 cars are so old.

[Al Hasse]

I had a vacuum pulled on the system after installing the compressor from I bought from Bruce. Replaced the O-rings on the compressor, then pulled the vacuum - drew it down for 15 minutes and it held for 30 minutes longer prior to charging the system. It blew pretty cold in the shop yesterday, but doesn't seem to today. The compressor still cycles, that tells me the system has enough refrigerant for it to work.

[chevymad]

Ahh. Just because it cycles doesnt mean its still full. R134 has alot different pressure curve then r12 did. A system can be almost empty and still cycle the compressor fairly well. It will also not cool well if you're even a couple oz's shy.

I would say you have a leak that you missed.

[Al Hasse]

I'm going to venture a guess to the same. It holds vacuum, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will hold pressure. It had to be evacuated and charged twice because one of the new fittings had a bad schrader valve and leaked as soon as the coupling was disconnected from the dryer on the first try.

By comparison, my V6 cycles on and stays on for a good 30-45 seconds or more before cycling off, this cycles on for a second or two before cycling off for about 5 or 10 seconds. I think most has leaked out under pressure.

[BigDaddyVu]

its hard to put 4 cans of 134a without the vacuum. While i was reaching on it my ac project. There coming out with a new refrigerant that will be required on future automobile and appliances could not remember I think its it 134 organic.

[chevymad]

You should only be putting 80% of the full R12 charge into a retrofit.

[Al Hasse]

4 cans = 3 lb of R134a refrigerant. Stock = ~2.4 lb of R12, 80% of that is ~1.9 lb R134a which mine was charged to. Making another visit to the shop to see where my leak is.

[Roshambo]

Damn, I thought someone else on here was running bags too.

[90droptoproc]

ya. me too

I think its just us though

[Roshambo]

[90droptoproc]

air over bags in the front, and 6"bags in the rear, two firestone compressors 10 switches plus keyless front up/down, rear up/down. single ten gallon tank

[Roshambo]

[91RSVert]