Car air con top-up

[dickturpin]

Anyone any experience of topping up via the diy cans available?

[Frosties]

Yup. Tried quite a few over the years on a mates Rover 800 he was using as a shite box. THE only one that worked was this one which Halfords sells (I bought from Amazon).

http://www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/...g-recharge

Assuming you don't have a leak (which you check going through the re-charge procedure) then this should sort you out. Forgot to mention - I bought the kit with the reusable trigger gauge and leverso you'll need this aswell  http://www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/...nser-gauge

Good luck fella.

[fazersharp]

Yeiks I clicked expecting to see £9.99 but for that price (£40 ) garages usually have offers on to do it just a s cheep dont they

[dickturpin]

Saw the 3 for 2 offer, thought two bottles of gas and one guage and might get 2+ cars done?

[sinto607276]

You've also got to be really careful on where you put the old gas you take out the system.
I deliver the freon gases used for doing this to local garages and the like, and if your not registered for disposal of said waste, you could be in for a heavy fine if caught trying to get rid off it by other means.

[Robbie8666]

You've also got to be really careful on where you put the old gas you take out the system.
I deliver the freon gases used for doing this to local garages and the like, and if your not registered for disposal of said waste, you could be in for a heavy fine if caught trying to get rid off it by other means.

showing my ignorance so please excuse silly question but . ... if it is a gas and it is released, surely it just dissipates into the atmosphere? how do you capture it and/or dispose of a gas?

[Freck]

It is illegal to knowingly release the gas into the atmosphere under COSHH regs.
If you want to take the risk it's up to you but be careful, it's an asphyxiant!


Steve

[Dead Eye]

I guess it would eventually dissipate... just like nerve gas would eventually dissipate...

[sinto607276]

Tbh, yes it would certainly dissipate into the atmosphere but that's not the reason for just doing it!

Freon and various other gas releases have to be controlled due to environmental issues, and as mentioned earlier come under COSHH regulations and are therefore have legal obligations attached to them.

If found releasing any gases under these regs, without a licence and various other requirements,  there can be some serious fines to pay. Leave that job to the experts. It's pretty much a minefield, granted, that's another reason to leave it well alone, but if you think asbestos was just dumped years ago and look at the hassle it's causing now, just imagine if everyone just released any type if gas they wanted into the atmosphere, what state this planet would be in.

[dickturpin]

Why would topping up release gas?

[sinto607276]

Topping up air-con is not the industry standard, although they'll let you believe it is to make money, if you think why are you topping it up? It must have a leak somewhere and topping it up doesn't make sense as your not actually fixing the problem as you'll still have the leak. Re-charging is another misconception on this as why would it need re-charged? Industry will tell you to do it as a money spinner,  personally, I'd find out where it's leaking and fix that first, then get it topped up/re-charged as you see fit, I'm only talking if my experience,  another way to look at it is.... How often do you refill or re-charge your fridge or freezer? I'll bet you don't do it? It's the same sort of system and gas in them and if they leaked you'd not refill or re-charge them till you found out the problem, why do it with air con units? Much has been written on the Web about the use of air-con units at least once a week regardless if it's needed or not to keep it in working order as the gas settles, yeah I know it's gas, but it's heavier than air and will settle at the bottom of the units, bit like your water cooling system or oil if not used it all falls to the bottom eventually.

[Frosties]

Fridges are Hermetic compressors - they don't move or have as many parts so no fridge charge loss.

Cars have Variable Displacement compressors - bounced around over thousands of miles and expect a fridge charge loss of 10% per year.

No problem with letting refrigerant go if the A/C not working due to no gas......unless it's the solenoid, clutch or electrical fault.

Need to reclaim/decant it - buy a Vacpump for a wedge and a half and a set of gauges. Going to charge it on a vacuum.............liquid or vapour charge? - vote now!

All this bollox about COSHH is based upon the years old "global warming" issue which was blamed on anything that could be pronounced......"You've released refrigerant - that's another penguin killed you tw@". BULLSHIT!!!

Hefty fines yes - justified no! Global warming is just the earth going through another of it's cyclic terms.

Get an expert to do it!! - he'll just charge it with an added dye to check for leaks. If it leaks who gets prosecuted - No one ffs.

Dick - crack on fella and ignore the scare mongering.

[sinto607276]

Frosties, I'm not an engineer and don't confess to be one,  very interesting about the differences you pointed out though, I never thought that way and will read more into it, cheers
But I did say it was my personal view as to what I've done etc
But as far as the COSHH regs go, they are real and you could be fined heavily for disposing of gases in the wrong way.
But again that's down to personal choice of how they choose to get rid of it.
It wasn't meant to be scare mongering, was mearly stating facts.
It's a bit like the national speed limit, it's there, you know the rules, you know the fines, but you take your chances as to whether you keep within the law or not :eek

[Oldgit]

Freon 12 and other Freon refridgerant gases destroy the ozone layer around the earth, that's why you are not allowed by law to release these types of gases into the atmosphere, good old ICI for you, the same people who gave you PCB's in the cooling oil for electrical transformers, don't you just love them. :pc

[Dead Eye]

Global warming is just the earth going through another of it's cyclic terms.

Winter is coming...

[Red Ceri]

I agree with most of what has been said regarding atmosphere damage, but the more immediate issue is the nature of the gas being an asphyxiant, if you are working in enclosed space it WILL suck the oxygen from the air and be a danger to anyone working in the area.

If you have had a leak, probably your condenser has corroded away, then the likelihood is that moisture has got into the system and will be in the new condenser and that needs to be removed for the system to work correctly and not completely use up the desiccant, so really a job for professionals who will evacuate the system causing a vacuum, that causes any liquid to boil and get sucked out as a gas, then refill and leak test the system. plus top up the compressor oil.

Don't ask me how I know but working for an OE car company in Final Assembly for years helps.