I have a 79 F250 with factory air conditioning and I am trying to recharge the system. I bought a couple cans of refrigerant and a charging line to fit the R12 system. The problem is that the low pressure line fitting on my 79 points straight down, and when I try to connect the charge line, the charge line interferes with the high pressure line fittings on the pump head and I can't get the charge line to thread on. Does anyone make a 90 degree adapter for the R12 fittings so that I can connect my charge line without it hitting the high presssure fittings? Has anyone else had this problem?

It is weird, because the high pressure line fitting points straight out away from the pump, so it is very easy to connect to, but I cannot recharge into the high pressure side. HELP!

 

Go see NAPA. They have a short 90 that makes the port point out where you can get one of the new hoses on it without a problem. I think mine cost about 8.50.

 

Cool, thanks man, I really appreciate it.

 

You can also Stop by any Automotive AC shop for all sorts of options..for parts if you DIY

 

You need to go to the A/C Forum with this. What are you using to try to charge the system with the r12 fittings? I hope you are not mixing refrigerants.

 

I stopped by my local NAPA, but they had nothing for an R12 systems except an R134a retrofit kit. I really don't know of any do-it-yourself automotive AC shops around. There are shops that service auto AC systems, but none of them will sell you parts so that you can do it yourself. They only want you to drop the vehicle off, come back when its done and pay them a ton of money for the work.

 

That's because R-12 is illegal to have...,. so no more parts.

You "have to" convert to R134 these days.


Bad A/C place..

 

You could loosen the union fitting and turn it to a suitible position. If there is enough slack in the hose. You would probably lose the remaining freon that you have. It takes 2 pounds to refill. If I were to do that I would put a vacuum on it to clear out the dryer, then recharge.
Mark

 

R-12 is not legal to own or use. I was remove from general public use. It is recommended to do a conversion but is not required. Only have to do it when you can't get needed parts. But a lot tighter controls. We all will discover soon as Dupont's patten expires on 134, we will go through it again, but I'm not going there. If you have a CFC license you can still buy it, ~$30/lb the last time I checked. Or go to Mexico and get it for $1.50/lb.

134A if done right cools as well as R12, but the system must be design for it. Which means larger condenser, new evap, comp (different comp ratio) and new hoses. Should replace them any way if it's the old style, without the liner.

R134 and R12 expansion valve will work on either system. the control is not as fine due to different vapor pressures.

There is some new ref that works as well as R12 and is fully compatiable with R12.

 

r12 was deemed ozone unfriendly at a time when duponts patent was up. them came r134 that is " ozone friendly " they say. to buy r12 you need a refrigeration license. the stock is depleted and too expensive. i saw some 2 years ago at a swap meet, and it wAs 100 cheaper than going prices. the 12 oz cans have been obsolete and unavailable for years. but not illegal here in the states.

 

I have a ~80lbs of it, in 30 lbs cans, plus ~20lbs of recovered R12. I want buy refigerant in the small cans, you just waste to much if you don't use the whole can. And I don't want to setup my recovery unit to recover 4-6 oz. I have the Universal + Mobile license. I bought most of it before the prices went through the roof, so I have had it for a long time.

 

I would be careful of anything from Mexico. They tested some of the R12 a few years ago and there was nothing but Butane in the cans.

I blew all of my R12 out a few years back thank to a ruptured hose. Not wanting to go through all of the hassles of converting another vehicle to 134 I just replaced the hose and charged it with Autofrost or more commonly know as R406A.

 

R12 is NOT illegal to have in the US. You can buy it and use it legally as long as you have a 609 certification. You can go online to imaca.org and take an online, open book test which takes $15 and about an hour and you will have a 609 certification.

There are more myths about R12 than there are about Roswell, New Mexico. Actually R12 prices are coming down because the vehicles that require it are hitting the wrecking yards in large numbers, thus lowering the demand for it.

There are a myriad of replacement refrigerants, but I won't use ANY of them. All of them fall into one of two categories. They are either flammable or blends. The problem with the flammables is obvious. The problems with blends is that the components leak at different rates, so when you get a leak, the only way to get it right again is to empty the system, evacuate and completely recharge.

For me THE BIGGEST problem with junk refrigerants like Freeze 12, Duracool, etc. is that if ANYTHING other than the labeled refrigerant is recovered into one of my recovery tanks, ALL of the contents of that tank are CONTAMINATED. If everyone followed the law when using a replacement refrigerant by using the correct fittings and labeling the system, the problem would not be so bad. Since so many people don't, I have to refuse to service any a/c system on which I am not 100% confident of what refrigerant I am recovering.

Sorry for the rant.


ford141,

Go to ackits.com and they can sell you the 90 degree adapter that you need. This is also a VERY helpful site and the people who run it are in the business, but very honest dealing and helpful.

If you have any other specific a/c questions, private mail me and I will try to help. I have been working on auto a/c systems on the side since 1967 and learned about them in my Dad's shop beginning in 1956.

Good luck,

 

I did a search on the Internet for R12 and the cheapest I found was $627.00 for 30 lbs. I don’t consider that inexpensive comparing the prices of R134 and R22 at around $125.00 for 30 lbs. That leaves a lot of room for the diy’er to convert to R134a, or to put a blend in.

A far as the flammability is concerned I think it a mute point. R134 is self-igniting at 400 degrees with as little as 5 psi of pressure with oxygen present. If you get into a head-on collision any refrigerant will turn into a fireball if the system is breached. I hear of some people using straight butane or propane as a refrigerant. I sure wouldn’t want to be in one of those vehicles. Could you imagine if there was a small leak in the evaporator and you had a friend climb into the vehicle and light up a cigarette, WHAM!

As far as using a blend, the person that uses it needs to act responsibly. He needs to research and make sure the blend is compatible with his system. He needs to label the system so that anyone working on it will be fully aware of what is in it. I went ahead and put Autofrost in my system as a temporary measure after blowing a line and losing all of my R12 into the atmosphere. The stuff has worked so great that I still haven’t converted it after two years.

 

Common theory, but totally untrue.
http://www.imcool.com/articles/airco...nt_history.php
DuPont only owned the trademark to the name "Freon". Any Patents on R-12 ran out 50+ years ago.