Ever recharged your car's AC?
- Thread starter swee'pea99
- Start date
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KneesUp
Guru
My neighbour used to leave his car on charge every night because the battery kept going flat. Way ahead of his time, that chap.
(Plus it also reminds me of the joke about pumping up a tyre because it's only flat at the bottom)
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Deleted member 26715
Guest
You joke but have you ever seen one flat at the top?
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swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Why?
There seem to be an awful lot of people around here who find something strange about the idea of recharging AC. I find that baffling. If you knew a guy who could inflate your bike tyres for only £20, would you take it to him? Why, when you could do it yourself? Me, I'd rather do a bit of homework, then do the work. From what I've seen, this is not inherently any different from inflating your tyres with a little CO2 canister. Would you use 'the experts' for that? Why would you do that? I hire experts when I need expertise. I see very little expertise in connecting a can and a valve via a hose. Still, each to his own.
Jody
Stubborn git
I'm all for home maintenance but there are some things that should be left to those with the right equipment. Re-gassing AC is one of them. It's about £50 for someone with the right equipment to do it and a lot more than that if you damage your AC because the job looks inherently simple or wasted money if it leaks straight out.
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
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Deleted member 26715
Guest
I understand what you are saying @swee'pea99 but if you have a bucket with a hole in it so you mend the bucket or just keep filling it with water
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swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Nope, still don't get it. This is the right equipment:
One end goes on the car, t'other on the can. When you puncture the can, the pressure forces the gas past the car's valve and into the AC system. It is exactly the same as pumping up a tyre. Even to the extent that the valves in the car's AC system are bicycle tyre valves.
So, what 'correct equipment' do you need? How are you going to cause 'a lot more than that' damage? I say again, I wouldn't attempt to service my fuel pump or replace the coil - you need to know what you're doing, and to have the right tools. But this is just pumping up a tyre, on a slightly bigger scale. I reckon I can manage that. And will. (Tho' it appears I might have to look elsewhere for the additional info I currently need.)
lol, carry on then. Let us know how many canisters of gas you get through before figuring out that repairing the leak first is the right order of doing things.
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swee'pea99
Legendary Member
I don't know how badly holed it is. I had it recharged last summer, and when I came to use it this year, it was clearly low. If it proves to be a very slow leak and I have to use a can or two per summer, I can live with that. If it proves to be more, I'll look into fixing the valve. Either way, this does not strike me as rocket science. Certainly far more straightforward than things I do on my bikes as a matter of course.
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swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Won't be more than two, tops.
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Deleted member 26715
Guest
We have a 2007 Rav4, AC ice cold, clearly no hole, 2010 Volvo C30 AC luke cold, might just need a recharge, Buggy in avatar AC depends on weather
KneesUp
Guru
It's not the right equipment though @swee'pea99 - a professional has to test the system integrity first and is not allowed to fill it if it has a detectable leak, on account of the gas being terrible for the environment. They also have to vacuum out any remaining gas rather than vent it off for the same reason. You don't have the tools to test for a leak, to find a leak or to vacuum off any remaining coolant.
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swee'pea99
Legendary Member
It is the right equipment though. All I want to do is top up my AC. A professional has a different agenda and, quite rightly, different rules apply.
I don't positively like the idea of leaking environmentally-damaging gases into the atmosphere; on the other hand, I do propose to drive the car. My guess is that a bit of defrigerant will make negligible difference to the overall environmental impact of driving 5000 miles. So, I don't need tools to test for a leak, find a leak or vacuum off any remaining coolant (which I confess I find baffling - why do you need to do that? Remove coolant, to replace it with exactly the same coolant? How does that make sense?) All I need is the tool to top up my AC. Which is that.
