A/C recharge kit

joshp · 07-07-2007, 12:17 AM

What does it mean when they refer to high side and low side valve in the instructions for recharging? Would the high side be the line on the top of the compressor and the lowside be the lower of the two lines? One of the sealer bottles says if I attach to the high side the bottle could explode.

How dangerous is it to do this? One of the manual states various ways you can die while doing this while the other states nothing really, lol.

The kit came with a metal sealer and a rubber sealer. Then I got a large recharge can. I have a 97; that is R134A right so no need for converting?

I've never messed/worked on the a/c of a car.

PurdueGuy · 07-07-2007, 04:20 AM

you are correct about the R134A being the right refrigerant. Do you have any way to make sure you put the correct amount of refrigerant in?

**Ssicarman** · 07-09-2007, 12:26 AM

R-134 is set up so that you can not mix up the fittings between the high and the low sides.

Any compressed gas is dangerous. Refrigerants can be more so because when they are compressed for AC system they are liquid. They boil at sub freezing temps which if spilled on to you can cause very bad freeze burns. Gotten into the eyes they will freeze your eyes.

Something to be very respectful of.

If you think that I am trying to scare you you're right. DIY kits can be more then dangerous because they are used by people that know liitle to nothing about these systems and their dangers.
Added problems are is that you don't know how much R-134 is left in the system and you will be charging a system that is only supposed to take 1.5 LB of R-134. Not enough of a charge is not a big problem. To much can over load things and make you think that you need to add more R-134. This can lead to further problems.

None one can not make you do this but take a good deal of care with this.

SillyMe · 07-09-2007, 08:59 PM

I thought I would ask my question too... I have a 98 SC2 that needs a little refrig. added. I have 134a and a gauge... The ambient temp. today is about 90, so I figure I'm looking at 50psi on the low side. I haven't hooked up the guage to see where the refrig. psi is at now, but I thought I'd poke in here and see if anyone had any helpful, hints or thoughts.

Thanks

stevejr47 · 07-09-2007, 10:08 PM

since this thread is here i thought i would ask here, my ac will not get cold, and nothing is leaking so do i need a recharge?

**Ssicarman** · 07-10-2007, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SillyMe

I thought I would ask my question too... I have a 98 SC2 that needs a little refrig. added. I have 134a and a gauge... The ambient temp. today is about 90, so I figure I'm looking at 50psi on the low side. I haven't hooked up the guage to see where the refrig. psi is at now, but I thought I'd poke in here and see if anyone had any helpful, hints or thoughts.

Thanks

It is nearly impossible to properly recharge an AC system by topping it up. At best you are guessing. with only 1.5 pounds in the system it does not take much to under or over charge.
Without pulling the system into a vaccum and recharging the proper amount by weight the best you can do is guess by low side pressure and vent temperatures.

**Ssicarman** · 07-10-2007, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevejr47

since this thread is here i thought i would ask here, my ac will not get cold, and nothing is leaking so do i need a recharge?

You more than likely need a recharge. If you need a recharge then you do have a leak in the system somewhere. Depending on the age of the car it may be so small that it might not be able to be found.

SillyMe · 07-10-2007, 11:56 AM

Thanks. I was @ 30psi @ 88*F Ambient, I got it up to about 44psi and it now blows ice cold.

If anyone has any input as to what a bench-mark psi for the SC2 that would be terrific.

Thanks.

stevejr47 · 07-10-2007, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ssicarman

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevejr47

since this thread is here i thought i would ask here, my ac will not get cold, and nothing is leaking so do i need a recharge?

You more than likely need a recharge. If you need a recharge then you do have a leak in the system somewhere. Depending on the age of the car it may be so small that it might not be able to be found.

its a 2002 L200 w/ 80K miles im not sure if any thing has been done to the a/c in the past

nutjob · 07-11-2007, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SillyMe

Thanks. I was @ 30psi @ 88*F Ambient, I got it up to about 44psi and it now blows ice cold.

If anyone has any input as to what a bench-mark psi for the SC2 that would be terrific.

Thanks.

A/C work requires measuring pressures at 2,000 rpm and not at idle speeds. Consider this; do you drive at 800 rpm or more around 2000 rpm? The pressures measured at 2,000 rpm is representative of actual conditions within a sealed a/c system. There's a reason the store bought refill kits won't specify the high rpm when checking pressures, LIABILITY, in case of an inadvertent transmission engagement. Pressures vary throughout the rpm band and using 2k rpm is the factory recommended rpm for pressure reading, not idling speed. If you can accept this then don't allow the pressure to drop below 30 psi on the low side otherwise one of two things may occur; overcharging or freezing the evaporator into an icebox that effectively shuts off air flow. Overcharging can lead to dangerous high pressures over 350 psi and if higher will trip the hi/lo pressure switch to prevent compressor damage.