Alright, so I wanted to get my ac retrofitted for the new stuff, and was mentally prepared for the cost.

Low and behold, the "retrofit guy" the shop had just got moved away no ac for me I guess.

Anyways I found this on eBay, is something like this worth it? What would I need to do to recharge it?

(For some reason can't post link, go to eBay and look up "r12" and it's the first result, "envir-o-safe")

System still has some pressure, but just air, no cold stuff. Compressor works if I jump it.

I also read some people recharge r12 with propane, if this is an option, that's dirt cheap.

 

That stuff is crap as are other 'drop in replacements'. Furthermore, no shop will touch a system with R12 anymore sadly, let alone a conversion of that stuff...Envirosafe, Freeze12, etc. R152A, air duster, works fine as the pressures are near identical to R12 if the system is tight and you have the correct expansion device.

Best step from here is to fully understand MVAC, it is simple. Buy a quality set of gauges, Yellow Jacket or Mastercool, and a decent vac pump. Harbor Freight vac pumps work well for cheap. Figure out what is going on actually, the pressure you see could just be the P/T differential and yours could be fully empty...or you could have a bad pressure switch. One has no idea with out a set of gauges on the thing.



What year and engine combo is your truck?

 

1991 5.0 M5OD

I just know there's pressure because I push the Schrader in, and it hisses. That's about as scientific as it gets.

I'll look into a vac pump and some gauges.

Do you know about the propane thing though? It seems some people do that, and say it's amazing.

Regardless, it would be nice for it to work pretty good, as of now, it does nothing.

 

Ixnay on the propane.....

When I was in college, we watched a video on old 70s and 80s diy ac recharging. The can you could buy in the store had butane propellant to push the freon out of the can.... Dude. The explosions in the ac system blew one dummy out of the rear window of a late 70s LTD.

While fantastically awesome, it forever etched into my brain not to do that.

 

Go get an EPA 609, your questions are so elementary it is not funny, https://www.epa.gov/mvac/section-609...ation-programs Not trying to be a *****, but you need to not listen to random jagoffs from Youtube and the like. The test is online and open book. I think I spent about $20 for mine.

At least yours has a later compressor. The condenser is crap and the system will never operate well on 134A with it.

 

Interesting, I'll look into this, I have a basic understanding on how AC systems work, but obviously not enough to work on one myself.

[QUOTE=At least yours has a later compressor. The condenser is crap and the system will never operate well on 134A with it.[/QUOTE]

What are you suggesting I do then lol

Also how do you split a quote dangit

 

Replace all the components.

Use at least a small tube condenser or retro in a 94+ parallel flow. The HO fan fits the 302/351 from a Fox and moves more air idle...better A/C performance. Evaps are always full of junk after 30+ years.

A halfassed retro from a shop will never work well. I bet it would run an easy $1500 paying a shop to do it properly. Just swapping the FOT, some oil added, and sending it is not correct

One doing it themselves properly could probably slink in around $600-700.

 

Neither
Use R12 which is still available or retrofit it to R134a

 

Speaking as a Commercial HVAC Service Tech....

Some old refrigerators used propane as a refrigerant because they were designed for it.

Some of the newer R-410a replacement systems (residential and light commercial) are going to be using using a propane-based gas as a component, but not as the actual refrigerant, per se. (And alarmingly, some, but not all, Manufacturers are planning on installing sensors in their systems!)

But just because some idiots on the interwebs or Youtube have done it doesn't mean that you can simply put propane in your truck and magically get cool air, as not only was your truck not designed for propane, in a thermodynamic and/or psychrometric sense, but there are ZERO safety devices in your truck designed for this gas.

Maybe think of it this way: Your system has a leak now, otherwise you wouldn't be messing with it, right? And so you want to install a flammable and explosive gas under your hood...in a semi-confined space that may have spark(s) (How old are your plug wires, hmmm???)....and in a vehicle that has NO safety devices configured for this gas?

As a kid did your parents ever say to you, "Just because they're doing (xxx) doesn't mean that it's right." Or, "Just because Little Johnny jumped off a bridge doesn't mean that you should, too!"

Please understand I'm trying to do you a favor, and possibly save your ***, when I say: Please don't be another idiot.

 

Had a guy from Idaho try to sell me a truck
Said it had propane in it, he had put in there because the R12 had a leak
I grunted some and passed
Learned in school (Ford) that stuff can / will blow up in your face
Saw pictures of evaporators exploded
I get a kick out of the new flammable R1234yf and am now fixed up to service those systems (expensive)
Hold on to your wallets when you go to get one of those fixed
I get another kick out of the service literature they put out on the new R1234yf
BMW hates the stuff and are or were fighting its implementation
They have videos of wrecks happening and flames shooting out

 

Exactly!

Getting off-topic here, but my wife and I bought a house roughly 2 years ago that had (at that time) a "new-ish" (3 year old) furnace and condensing unit. I'm pushing 60, and setting myself up for retirement, so doing the math on that heating/cooling system tells me I would need to replace it when I'm about 75-80.

Well, since R-410a is being phased-out, and being replaced by the "propane systems" (Google Carrier Puron Advance), I decided to buy a new R410a-based heatpump system this past winter, as I really don't want any propane-based refrigerants circulating inside my house!

I haven't installed the heatpump system yet, as there are other things I need to address in the new house (a new roof being one of them), but at least I have the R-410a equipment on-hand, and ready to go, as it's only a matter of time...

With regards to R-1234yf, I saw the pricing on that a couple years ago and da** near fainted! Makes me glad I still have about 8# of R-12, and maybe 15# of R-134a, in my "30's" in the shop.

 

Funny how fuel is flammable and under high pressure and when things catch fire, it's ok, but when refrigerant catches fire, that is bad.

Working on cars are dangerous and if you have no clue what you are doing, then learn so you do have a clue.

In my state, they outlawed refrigerant to the general public. This is because there are too many idiots ruining it for everyone and too many people asking the Government to fix their problems.

 

Burning refrigerant creates phosgene gas. Remember "mustard gas" from WW1? Same thing.

 

40 years in the business, well known fact about Freon getting hot. The topic is newer flammable refrigerants. Not certain they will make deadly gasses like those used in WW1.

 

I'll be outta here before I have to deal with the new refrigerants, and I've already told my boss that I'm drawing the line, and don't want to work with the new stuff. Been there, done that too many times already.

Let the new kids deal with it. I'm Going Fishing!