AC recharge

Has anyone ever used one of the bottle kits sold at the Autoparts stores to recharge their AC? Did it work or is this a no go? Thanks.

 

Dude I almost picked up a bottle at NAPA the other day. The guy that works there told me that it was a waste of money. He said that it might make your air blow a few degrees cooler, but nothing that you could really notice.

 

They work great. Used it on my dads bmw.

 

a car AC usually stops working because there is a refrigerant leak. adding refrigerant doesn't fix the leak. you'll have cold air for a day or a week depending on size of leak, but then nothing.

To fix leak you need to pressurize system and use some dish soap to find leak (like a gas leak in your gas stove). You might have a lose nut (insert joke here), bad o-ring (again, insert), or otherwise. If no leak is found, you have find some 'stop leak' for small car leaks that might help.

Once leak is fixed, you should replace the liquid line dryer which should also have a sight glass on it. Pull a vacuum on the system and charge.

However... while AC systems are just nuts and bolts, they are tricky and many things can bork along the way. Sometimes its just best to find someone who knows what their doing and pay the fee (if any).

 

I don't recall you saying why you needed to charge it in the first place, but I'll say this these components are not to be fucked with until you have a little knowledge about A/C servicing, no one has mentioned that there is a "low" pressure side & a "high" pressure side , (liquid line & suction line),I've seen the high side of a system with compressor-burn-out (when the oil mixes with refrigerant & ignites internally creating at worst explosion & death ,at the least, a shower of high pressure acid at about 260PSI ,theres a few things to check before you breach the system by opening it up, probably 80%-85% of AC failures are due to dirty coils & it applies to automotive a/c systems just like commercial/residential applications with a few differences, check the fusable link to the A/C compressor in addition to the regular fuses if it isn't engaging when cool is called for, check cabin filter & change if applicable, if you recharge due to leak make sure to completely pump it down , make the repair ,& thoroughly evacuate the system at the service connections provided before recharging, using the ambient temp. at time of charging match it with the chart provided (high pressure=heavier air, low pressure=lighter air, we are speaking barometric pressure I should add, watch your gauges & you'll do ok.....

 

Thanks for all the replies. I did pick up some AC Recharge that came with it's own guage and adapter. My AC works and and as far as I can tell there are no leaks. It's just the temp is not as cool as I would like.
I started the truck up and let it run for a few minutes, turned the temp to max cool and turned the AC on Low. Once the compressor engaged I attached the can and gauge to the LOW AC valve and checked the PSI. It was just at the fill/no fill line if read the gauge right while comparing to the outside air temp. I did add a little, not even close to a half, and things seem fine. The truck as never had really cold AC, it works, but it never gets cold, just cool. I think everything's fine and the little bit of re-charge I added sould not do anything bad. Overall, all lines appear in good working order and O-rings are in good shape. It may just need a cleaning.
My experience with AC systems is a limited at best, but my experiences lead me to believe this. If an AC was never really used, it does not seem to put out like one that has been. This truck was purchased in Oregon and AC is not needed often. Now I'm in Hawaii where AC is an absolute. So it could be a couple of things and preception in relation to the current climate. If there's anything I'm missing please educate me. Thanks again.

 

Well we can probably assume there aren't any leaks, is the control for outside air on your console set for outside air or cabin only? (cabin only will recirc the interior air only , no outside air allowed in) If all components are working right I would completely pump down the system, evacuate it(vacumming out any contaminants) & recharing it with what is recommended in Hawaii, the only other thing I could suggest is biting the bullet & pay for a full AC servicing.... good luck....

 

ive used them a couple times when i had a leak, they do blow colder imo, but the leak i had was bigger than it could stop. they are good for a temp fix