Just filled up R134a in my car.

[JTsyo]

Was going to take it into the shop but a buddy at work said he had the gauge to do it. Hooked up tubes to hi and low side put in about 9oz of refrigerant and AC was good again. Probably saved over $100. Don't know why I always imagined it was a big deal.
The low side was at 30psi (service manual says 32-40psi) but I'm guessing for a hot day like today, that's low. We got it up to 39psi and AC was working fine.

 

[Zenmervolt]

If it was low, it's leaking. You saved a couple bucks in the short term, but it's still going to be leaking so it's not "fixed" in any real sense.

ZV

 

[DivideBYZero]

^This.

 

[T2urtle]

the leak could be due to simple o-ring leaking. which run about $2-5 but you have to evac and recharge to get the job done right. Its a win/lose type of thing in my eyes. Assuming a AC recharge cost $100 and a small can cost about $15. If the car has a slow leak like my mother's camry, enough to need a small can every 2 years. I think i save more money topping it off, assuming we dont have plans to keep the car forever (which we dont.) There are repairs to get by for a short while and repairs to FIX the problem.

In most cases a car never needs a AC recharge, its not an open system now does R134a get bad.

 

[brblx]

probably 95% of what i see are either bad hoses, busted condensers, and leaking evaporators. o-rings are cheap but unfortunately not a common cause of a major leak. they're more likely to very slowly leak over years and years

you're not 'charging up' the low side. you actually want to see a low number. 25-35 or so is typical. if charging without a scale, i just meter the refrigerant slowly and wait for the vents to get good and cold. as you continue, you should see the pressure start to rise, meaning the low side can't cope with anymore. you may have gone a tad past that. did you have a high side gauge?

it's much, much better to evac completely and charge a precisely weighed amount, though. just looking at pressures, it can sometimes be hard to even tell the difference between a full system and a half-empty one.

 

[Ronstang]

If it was low, it's leaking. You saved a couple bucks in the short term, but it's still going to be leaking so it's not "fixed" in any real sense.

ZV

That depends. I have a car that needs a can or so of refrigerant at the beginning of the summer and then near the end of summer. It never stops working it just doesn't cool as much as it should. I know I have a leak but this is the THIRD year I have done this and nothing has changed. It takes me a few minutes twice a year with a total expenditure of under $20. Why should I actually fix it?

 

[ballmode]

if its a cheap fix i say keep doing it

 

[Ronstang]

if its a cheap fix i say keep doing it

Yep, if it starts to need a can every week or stops working altogether THEN it is time to actually fix it. My time is too precious to waste fixing something that doesn't actually need fixing yet.

 

[JTsyo]

If it was low, it's leaking. You saved a couple bucks in the short term, but it's still going to be leaking so it's not "fixed" in any real sense.

ZV

I'll see how it holds up. It was only down to 30psi, so either it's a very slow leak or recent. I plan to dump the car next year anyway.

 

[JTsyo]

probably 95% of what i see are either bad hoses, busted condensers, and leaking evaporators. o-rings are cheap but unfortunately not a common cause of a major leak. they're more likely to very slowly leak over years and years

you're not 'charging up' the low side. you actually want to see a low number. 25-35 or so is typical. if charging without a scale, i just meter the refrigerant slowly and wait for the vents to get good and cold. as you continue, you should see the pressure start to rise, meaning the low side can't cope with anymore. you may have gone a tad past that. did you have a high side gauge?

it's much, much better to evac completely and charge a precisely weighed amount, though. just looking at pressures, it can sometimes be hard to even tell the difference between a full system and a half-empty one.

Yea, we checked the high side too and it was within the range given in the service manual. The AC was blowing cold air and in the end that's what matters.

 

[Zenmervolt]

That depends. I have a car that needs a can or so of refrigerant at the beginning of the summer and then near the end of summer. It never stops working it just doesn't cool as much as it should. I know I have a leak but this is the THIRD year I have done this and nothing has changed. It takes me a few minutes twice a year with a total expenditure of under $20. Why should I actually fix it?

Yeah, I did that for a while too with a car, but when the refrigerant's low the oil doesn't seem to circulate as well and the compressor seized after a couple years of that. Of course, that's only one data point and it's more than possible that I just got unlucky, but now I'm paranoid. If I were losing 24oz (2 cans) of refrigerant a year, I'd hunt down the leak. If it was 1 can every several years, I'd probably leave it be.

ZV

 

[disappoint]

Yeah, I did that for a while too with a car, but when the refrigerant's low the oil doesn't seem to circulate as well and the compressor seized after a couple years of that. Of course, that's only one data point and it's more than possible that I just got unlucky, but now I'm paranoid. If I were losing 24oz (2 cans) of refrigerant a year, I'd hunt down the leak. If it was 1 can every several years, I'd probably leave it be.

ZV

You can buy the oil too and put it in separately or buy the refrigerant with oil mixed in the right proportions.

 

[Zenmervolt]

You can buy the oil too and put it in separately or buy the refrigerant with oil mixed in the right proportions.

That's not the issue. The issue is that the system will inevitably run for a while with low refrigerant (no-one checks it every day) and during that time it's not getting optimal lubrication because there's not enough refrigerant to carry the oil. It's not about losing the oil, it's about the fact that the oil doesn't circulate through the system without refrigerant to carry it.

ZV