Diy Aircon Top-up

[Masked Marauder]

If your aircon works, but only needs a top-up then I found this, it may be worth considering.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...item=7968252650

 

I have emailed the seller and asked if there is a stop valve on the kit so you can add it a bit at a time weighing the kit as you go, so you don't over fill the system. I await his reply.

[johnb80]

But how would you know how much was left in your system? overfilling would be very, very expensive.

 

Regards - JB

[Sharanfx]

I used a similar one of these to get mine going again, after I had an O-ring fail and all the gas came out.

 

If you have a look around you can get ones with a filler gauge on them as well for about

[MatTdi]

Wow funny you should mention this....

I have bought one of those and a pressure check Gauge from the same seller.

Ordered on Weds morning delivered this morning.

 

I will be toping off my aircon this weekend as it has been making gurgling sounds and is not blowing as cool as it should be.

 

Fingers crossed

 

M@

[Guest stawarz]

Saw those kits in the supermarkets in the States, couldn't get it back through check in though owing to pressurised canister rulings :-(

[Masked Marauder]

Wow funny you should mention this....

I have bought one of those and a pressure check Gauge from the same seller.

Ordered on Weds morning delivered this morning.

 

I will be toping off my aircon this weekend as it has been making gurgling sounds and is not blowing as cool as it should be.

 

Fingers crossed

 

M@

Can you post an update when you are done? That would be really helpful. Does the filling kit have a valve to close off the gas canister or is it all or nothing?

[Masked Marauder]

But how would you know how much was left in your system? overfilling would be very, very expensive.

 

Regards - JB

Because it needs gas! You can have upto 50g of over-fill so if the gas canister can be turned off/resealed I will add 50g, test how cool, add another 50g, test.......

[Guest vr6galaxy]

Because it needs gas! You can have upto 50g of over-fill so if the gas canister can be turned off/resealed I will add 50g, test how cool, add another 50g, test.......

Works in theory but overfilling can have a bad effect as well! you really need to know the amount left in the system and then top it up to the correct level

[Masked Marauder]

But the worst I could over-fill by would be 50g which is acceptable!

 

Anyway, that was before I saw the gauge for sale which I guess just measures the pressure of the gas. So better, but not perfect.

[GSMGuy]

Firstly how can measuring the pressure tell you how much gas there is??

 

Secondly.. Thae manufacturers have a good "how to" section HERE

 

Mike

[Masked Marauder]

Firstly how can measuring the pressure tell you how much gas there is??

 

Secondly.. Thae manufacturers have a good "how to" section HERE

 

Mike

Because a certain amount of gas will create a certain amount of pressure.

 

All the fridges & freezers where I work are charged by pressure only.

 

Thanks for the link! Will have a read.

[MatTdi]

Well its done!!!

 

Needed half a can as the starting pressure on the gauge was about 10

 

Put in about half a can and it now half way into the good zone and the vent temp at idle was down to 7C....

 

I will test more tomorrow to see what the vent temp goes down to at higher revs!!

 

If you only need to use a bit of gas you can use it agin by closing the valve and leaving the tubing attached untill the next time!!

 

the only downside was that the can gets bl**dy cold and the chrge process slowed down, I will see what happens tomorrow when its warmed up a bit...

 

 

M@

[johnb80]

The pressure in the LP side of the aircon will vary dramatically with ambient temperature and the conditions inside the car. Pressure can't tell you what weight of gas you have in there. Big industrial refrigeration plant has quite large tanks in reserve and they are often run on pressure rather than weight because much of the operating conditions are constant.

My local tractor dealer charges

[GSMGuy]

JB, I agree, for

[Masked Marauder]

The pressure in the LP side of the aircon will vary dramatically with ambient temperature and the conditions inside the car. Pressure can't tell you what weight of gas you have in there. Big industrial refrigeration plant has quite large tanks in reserve and they are often run on pressure rather than weight because much of the operating conditions are constant.

My local tractor dealer charges

[johnb80]

I've said this many times before, go and find a local argicultural dealer e.g. Massey Ferguson etc. These guys have been dealing with aircon much longer than car dealers, it's been fitted to combine's for many years. They have all the gear to remove gas, weigh it, clean it etc and in my experience always much cheaper than anyone else.

 

Caio - JB

[Masked Marauder]

I've said this many times before, go and find a local argicultural dealer e.g. Massey Ferguson etc. These guys have been dealing with aircon much longer than car dealers, it's been fitted to combine's for many years. They have all the gear to remove gas, weigh it, clean it etc and in my experience always much cheaper than anyone else.

 

Caio - JB

I have rung round all the agricultural equipment repaiers round here and yes they fix aircon, yes they have the kit, no they won't do it as they are "too busy."

 

Whilst I won't try to pretend that the refill kit is no substitute for a proper service it could be useful for many people for all sorts of reasons.

[Masked Marauder]

Well its done!!!

 

Needed half a can as the starting pressure on the gauge was about 10

 

Put in about half a can and it now half way into the good zone and the vent temp at idle was down to 7C....

 

I will test more tomorrow to see what the vent temp goes down to at higher revs!!

 

If you only need to use a bit of gas you can use it agin by closing the valve and leaving the tubing attached untill the next time!!

 

the only downside was that the can gets bl**dy cold and the chrge process slowed down, I will see what happens tomorrow when its warmed up a bit...

 

 

M@

How cold was it getting before? Was it functioning at all?

[johnb80]

You obviously must try to find a better dealer or talk to the guy that does it and see if he can do an out of hours job for you.

 

Regards - John

[MatTdi]

MM

On fiday he AC had no cold air output as it was getting heat soaked due to low gas..

As soon as i got the pressure reading up into the good zone on the gauge the vent temp dropped from the ambient 28c to 7c from the vents, this was at idle and not set to recirc....

 

My aircon has been gurgling on startup and gets heat soaked on anything above 21c, so from fridays results it looks like more gas was deffo required!!

 

Now all I need is some more heat to test it out!!

 

M@

[Masked Marauder]

Well from nothing to 7deg not even on recirc is good enough for me. Will be buying the gauge and refill kit today, thanks Matt!

[Ivor]

My aircon was regassed after a new compressor was fitted under warranty.

 

Yes, they overfilled it.

 

The symptoms of overfill are:-

When the clutch on the aircon engages after starting the engine, the idle revs drop seriously low, almost stalling the engine.

 

I had to switch it to economy mode for fear of damaging the compressor and take it back.

 

They let some gas out (presumably) then it was fine, has been for 2 years now (touch wood!).

[Masked Marauder]

OK dokey, heres the story, Kit arrived yesterday and re-gassed it last night. Piece of cake, a kid could do it.

 

For a MK1:

 

Remove offside front indicator by loosening the screw by the headlight and pulling the indicator lens forward. Look into where the indicator came out, you should see the low (suction) side access valve.

 

Start engine and run for 5 minutes with air con on recycled air at coolest setting.

 

With engine running & air con still on, check pressure with TESTER (8 psi in my case.)

 

Screw can of gas onto the connector lead in the Top-up Kit.

 

With the engine still running & aircon still on, connect the hose from the kit to the valve, screw piercing valve in, then out to start the top-up. Once you have put some in, screw valve on hose closed again, remove hose and test as before.

 

If your doing a major top-up then you may want a big jug of warm water to stand the can in whilst topping up.

 

I used a whole can on mine to put it into the center of the green on the tester. At

[seatkid]

mmm...interesting......

 

 

might be cheaper here

 

 

How do you think I would fare attempting a top up a non-working (3 years now) system?

[Masked Marauder]

mmm...interesting......

 

 

might be cheaper here

 

 

How do you think I would fare attempting a top up a non-working (3 years now) system?

That is where I got mine from, same guy, but got the two can version.

 

As for the not worked for three years, do you know why it has not worked? Can you hear the compressor engage when you turn the air con on?

 

The same guy does leak sealer and leak indicator, but that may not even work.

 

Question is, how much did you want to gamble on being able to fix it?