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Re: amateur a/c equipment Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email]  (#32) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:34:35
In Reply to: amateur a/c equipment, PaulS  [Profile/Gallery]
, Thu, 21 Jun 2012 21:49:05
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I bought some reasonably good equipment because I had intentions of doing a few cars, but I think if you're just gonna do one or two, you can surely get away with Harbor Freight. If you want to go higher end, I'd check out ntxtools.com - that's where I sourced most of my stuff.
You can get away with a vacuum pump and cans of R134 with built-in gauges, but after a fair amount of embarrassing trial and error, I gotta say you'll be better off investing in a real set of manifold gauges. You also need a reliable thermometer and I've found it helpful to have a scale as well. Having the right tools for the job will save you from wasting R134 to the atmosphere, or blowing up AC systems from overcharging.
IME, it's not cost effective to "tool up" to do this job once, but after a few times you'll start saving money. I probably have $400-$500 in tools now, but I've knocked out probably a dozen AC jobs since '07 and am well past recovering my investment.
Remember when converting from R12 (c900) to R134 (everything else) you need to replace the receiver/dryer with an R134 compatible part, you need to replace o-rings with new, and you will probably want to replace rubber hoses with R134-compatible barrier hoses. If you don't do that, you'll just be venting refrigerant into the atmosphere.
Also, there is a high probability R134 will become regulated/scarce/expensive in the next five years, so bear that in mind. I'm not looking forward to it, but at this point it's inevitable.
posted by 12.195.130...
, Thu, 21 Jun 2012 21:49:05, Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:34:35 <-- Viewing This Message
, Sun, 24 Jun 2012 05:52:45, Sat, 23 Jun 2012 10:21:14, Fri, 22 Jun 2012 04:09:51
, Sat, 23 Jun 2012 10:15:40, Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:33:38, Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:59:00, Sat, 23 Jun 2012 10:25:03, Sun, 24 Jun 2012 05:54:42
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