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R12 is really not THAT much more $$. 20-30 per 12-14OZ can, on CL Ebay. R134A, about 10-14 a can. Except Walmart who recently dropped the price to $6.88!
I heard here in cali, you have to give a $10 per can "deposit" when you buy R134A.
You must return the empty can WITHIN 90 DAYS, to get the deposit back
R12 is really not THAT much more $$. 20-30 per 12-14OZ can, on CL Ebay. R134A, about 10-14 a can. Except Walmart who recently dropped the price to $6.88!
I heard here in cali, you have to give a $10 per can "deposit" when you buy R134A.
You must return the empty can WITHIN 90 DAYS, to get the deposit back
They had a crackdown on ebay a couple of years ago, has that faded away? They required you to verify the person buying the r12 had a refrigeration license before you could sell it to them. I had a couple of cans I was going to put on there till that happened, then I decided not to mess with it.
I have the factory manual for my 86 ranger. They have A/C performance data in the A/C section, worst case for the system with r12 in it is about 47 degrees temp at the outlets. Clutch cycle times and system pressures vary a lot according to the ambient temps, but the outlet temps hang in there from about 36 to 47 degrees. Of course with the 134a it won't be that cold.
Some civilian contractor was over in Saudi and noticed all these insanely rich Arab shieks driving around in these (relatively) POS 90s Buicks or Chryslers or somesuch. So he asked them, why not a Mercedes or BMW? Turns out, they have killer AC, practically blowing ice cubes at full blast. The luxury cars, not so much.
They had a crackdown on ebay a couple of years ago, has that faded away? They required you to verify the person buying the r12 had a refrigeration license before you could sell it to them. I had a couple of cans I was going to put on there till that happened, then I decided not to mess with it.
I don't know. I get mine on CL, preferably winter time.
A little bump to an older thread. Be aware new R134a cans now have a different neck with a self-sealing valve. This requires a new type of can tap.
The old style pierced the solid metal end of the can. Once pierced, if you didn't finish off a can, the remaining contents would escape when you removed the tap.
The new style of can has a spring-loaded self-sealing valve. It's now possible to save a partially-used can. However, the old style can tap doesn't work on the new cans. I recommend a MasterCool 85512, available from many online sources:
Other companies sell similar can taps, but reviews are all over the place. The Mastercool version lets you fully thread the tap onto the can before extending the plunger to open the valve. Some other brands have a fixed plunger that opens the can before you finish threading the tap in place, leading to potential leakage.
I believe the cans I have been getting from Walmart have the new valve. True, they seem to work a little differently, but my old piercing valve setup seems to work fine on them. You just can't turn the old style valve open all the way, it will shut the gas off. And if you turn it all the way in to shut the gas off, then you won't get any gas either. You have to put the piercing valve somewhere in the middle of it's travel to fill from the can.
I often recommend keeping a small thermometer in the center dash vent to keep an eye on the AC performance. I'll get back up on my soapbox to re-recommend (that's a word) doing so:
I have a Taylor 6091N. The nice feature: At 40F, the needle is pointing straight up. That makes it easy to verify AC output at a quick glance without squinting to read numbers.
So where is this heartwarming story going? Yesterday, one of the first warm days of the season, I noticed the vent reading about 43F. Typically I see 38F. Still felt nice and cold, but the numbers showed me something wasn't quite right. Gambled half a can of R134a, topped off the system, and I'm ready to smuggle penguins again.
On a related note, that was my last can without the new style self-sealing valve. The piercing can tap is now going to the back of the tool chest, probably never to be used again.
