I wanted to give you an update on how it is doing.

Okay. The METHODS aside.. I do believe I almost got it.

Now.. I dont know if this sentence or whatever makes you cringe or angry but. It basically occured to me.. yes there was a LOT of stuff that went in there when I did not know the compressor was unplugged, and had an electrical issue.

Cans of refrigerant. One was AC Pro. Only one.
Can of oil. I knew something was up (OVERCHARGED) when it did not want to take in that one.
One can of R134a sealer (my Corolla had a leak somewhere and that stuff fixed it. Review said to get the can hot and shake it for like 45 minutes. That when I thought I had a leak in the accumulator. Apparently, I do not.)

That isn't even the sentence. This is: "I realized that when I released some what looked like AIR out from the low side, either completely air or small amounts of stuff, it ran and cooled better AFTER EVERY TIME I DID SO. And the Low Pressure indicated on the gauge would eventually go down, so. Yes, I thought I was purging the system of AIR."

On today's trip to NYC. And in. NYC.
The AC was REAL COLD
Noticeably stronger
And kept the inside colder than it has been.
Also seems to be straining the compressor less.
I did all this by releasing air/invisible gas (stopped when I saw spray, immediately) for about a MINUTE and the Low Side was STILL at 45-47Psi during day. Was 85 degrees today.

I also shut car off and made sure Schrader valve fully sealed. After I did that, I called it done and ran it all day.

I need to get vent temps, but.

I believe I got it 80-90% where it "should be."

Surely, this is good news?

I am not trying to make you angry.

 

You’re not making me angry. I’m just trying to teach you and others who read this how to do this right and I get a little impatient/frustrated sometimes.

Too little oil oil is bad. Too much oil is bad. You almost never add oil unless system components get replaced and then it’s a specific amount. Stop leak is bad unless you have a leak and no other choice to stop it. It’s way better to fix the leak. Too little gas is bad. Too much gas is bad. The system is always filled with refrigerant in the vapor form like air. The more you remove, the more of it is no longer liquid so eventually it would all come out like “air”.

there are only three ways to get air into the system: not purging the gauge hoses before charging, the system running so low on gas that the low side goes into a vacuum ( a low side cycling switch should prevent this), or there was air in the gas canister.

in most Ac units, the system will only take a certIn amount of gas at rest, the compressor must be running to get the rest in. Some systems are charged as a gas, some must be charged as a liquid like the blended gas used in modern day home AC units. If you charge as a gas the blend fractionates and the gas in the system gets screwed up. Charging as a liquid is trickier and can kill the compressor.

George

 

You left out the most common way, opening the system to replace components and not evacuating it before recharging.

 

I think I am going to make a video for you all tomorrow morning as best I can to show you what I got going on. Or will try.

The system is working.. I want to say like 85-90% good, still have to get a steamy hot sticky really hot day to really know. Have not had one yet. Just the kind of days you could put the windows down and enjoy the day, maybe a little hot maybe a little humid (water pouring out of somewhere, the AC system gets the water out of the air. I know that) but nothing like a blistering hot day where if you dont have AC you're just truly miserable. 100, 112, 114 degrees like summer 2018.. we haven't even cracked 90 yet. Just inside car reading 85 when it actually 79 outside so..

Again. This might be part me making the case to you guys on how I'm doing it but.. since I started to obsess about the AC system and its optimal operation this week, it went from "not really working" (seconded by another driver too)
and making the truck feel like it wanted to stall or RPMs cut out when AC turned OFF
To either not doing that or doing it drastically less..
.. and feeling noticeably colder. Working better today than yesterday every day this week. And I think it's getting really close.

Just wish I could show you vent temps. That is the proof.

 

This is true.

George

 

 

I still don't know why you keep venting refrigerant into the atmosphere. That's not air, its refrigerant in the vapor state which should always be the case at the top of the accumulator. The whole purpose of the accumulator is to store an excess of liquid refrigerant from the compression phase in the bottom so that only vapor gets back to the compressor. If you get a "liquid" while venting then your system is significantly overfilled or you are seeing oil or dye tracer or stop leak. The can has a pipe loop in it with a small hole at the bottom to bring oil up to mix with the vapor refrigerant to keep circulating oil throughout the system.

I see that you don't have a gauge set. How were you connecting to the high side when you got no reading?

George

 

I have never actually seen what the High Side says as far as pressure. You are making me want to buy a gauge set! R134a..

 

You have another post with this title

"How bad is it if you can't read the High Side Port on AC..."

George

 

This is like watching a train wreck in slow motion