Would using an old can of this refigerant kill my A/C system? I found one out in the garage and know it's not what's used in today's vehicles but............

 

I know adding 134a to an R-12 system is bad, I don’t know about the other way around though. Are you low?

 

You'll kill it. You have a metering valve on the truck that the R-12 will plug. Different pressures too. If you're low, and since it's an enclosed system, you have a leak. Period.

Too much freon will make it not cool well, and not enough will freeze your lines and condesor/coil. You want a saturation temperature of 35-40 fahrenheit, and a suction line temp of around 50 for optimal performance. The guys who have a temp of 35 coming out of their vents are low on Freon and they freeze up even though they don't realize it because the block temperature thaws it out via a cycling switch on the compressor. Over time, their systems will break, and it will cost more to fix than maintaining it with a system check every spring.

I've been in the HVAC/R and mechanic fields for 24 years. It's actually quite simple stuff; it just costs a lot for the certifications and tools.

 

Thanks very much to you both! I'll list the can on eBay instead to make a few bucks rather than damaging my system which will cost far more than a few bucks to repair.

 

It might sell as a collectors item to be honest. The Smithsonian might be a better route...lol Is it one of the old ones from an auto parts store back in the 80's? If it is, you might be able to give it to a local HVAC/R shop so they can safely recover it. Not enough ozone in the world right now to deal with an accidental discharge

 

Freon Tech here also

^^^ good info above. also, the R-112 systems uses different seals in the compressor than the R-134a, and the system connections are different fittings. So you cannot pysically do it, unless you jury-rig some setup to do it.

 

Leave the R12 on the shelf.
Treat like a can of Billy Beer.
Use R134a in your truck.

Just aquiring adapters, would be far harder than coughing up the $4 or so for a can of R134a.

 

Unless I'm mistaken, (which I may be as I buy in bulk) without an EPA certification, you can't buy a can of refrigerant in any quantity, and you have to keep stringent records showing where it was used, recovered, and recycled. You can't (Read: I haven't tried) buy a can at Auto Zone anymore(?)

 

R12 and 134 use different oils, if you mix you will surely loose the compressor of which will requires the sytem to be flushed, drier changed out, and the expasion valve changed out. It will hit you above $1500.

As an FYI R134 operates at different pressures than R12

 

You can pick up 134a at any auto parts store in my area... Here's a link to the auto zone site and it shows there selection of r-134a. You can't order it on-line, but you can purchase it (without needing a certification) at your local store..

AutoZone.com | Shopping | Results for r-134a

As for the record keeping, our A/C tech regularly picks up the standard green cans of R-22. And he does have the certs to buy it. All he does is use a recovery unit, does not log where or when he uses it. Then again, we are a government agency...

 

Even when I was in the Army we had to keep logs of refrigerenat use. We too were a government agency. If you ever got popped by an EPA/OSHA inspection (which they love to do to government plaes) you will be heavily fined. We got it once, and then followed the rules.

Regards

 

EPA sucks when you have a refrigerant loss. I was a service tech for a 800+ lb refrigerant unit (Navy) and a o-ring blewout. The entire charge escaped...and since it was on a Submarine, had nowhere to go. We spent about 24 hours in breathing protection until we could get Freon levels to a safe level.

The paperwork for that was bad...and that was an accidental discharge. I can't imagine what it would be like if on purpose

 

That musta' sucked...lol The stormtroopers invaded our shop one time, out of the blue, and it was right when they started the log requirements...Fined our battalion 50k and subjected us to random inspections for a year after that. I guess they need some money for operations... They popped in at my last place about a week after a random fire marshall inspection, and wanted to see my refrigeration recovery/usage logs. I showed them, and all was well. They also wanted 6 months of invoices to show what we bought vs what we had on hand to verify the accuracy of the logs.

That said; to the guy who claims you don't have to keep logs of your freon, you go right ahead and believe that....for now. You will get caught, and you will be heavily fined if they don't exist, or are falsified.