EZ chill/diy a/c fill.

[hammerman]

After 2 years of a/c trouble,i have fixxed it myself.Just to recap.My car is a sept 2003 HDi 110 SE estate.My Dads company car,i got it at 3 years old and 56k miles in sept 2006,so i know the history.The a/c worked well untill mayish 2013,when it stopped.I took it into my company workshop where it only had 120 odd gramms of gas in it.So the machine,pressure tested,drained and refilled 620 odd gramms of gas into it.It worked fine till the end of the summer,when it stopped again.Last year,i took it to a a/c specalist accross the road from me.Told them the problem,told them it was re gassed and if there was no gas in it,it needed testing to find the leak.Picked the car up with ice cold a/c,told no gas in it,and no leaks..Many words exchanged because of no gas,etc.3 weeks later it packed up.Me now very angry,the car went back in,to be told the condensor was leaking.£360 to fix.More arguing,as they chasrged me more money to test for leaks.Anyways,not much you can do when you refuse to pay,but they have the keys.
So i fitted a new condensor yesterday.easy enough.Remove r/h/side head light,remove cross section that the bonnet closes on.Undo fittings that hold the cooling rad etc to big black plastic cowling,undo the top intercooler pipe and remove,then the whole cooling rad can be pushed back,revealing the condensor.A bit of a bugger getting pipes out of old condensor,and unplugging the wires,but easy enough.You have to refit the condensor pressure switch off you old condensor,and use new o rings for it all.£7 for new o rings lol.Then fit everything back together.
Now here comes the downsides of using EZ chill/diy filling.
I used one whole bottle of gas/oil to fill.A/C compressor was then working,and the ez chill gauge showing good pressure,but the cooling fan was not working,so no cold air.Pumped some more gas from a new bottle in it.A/C now working correctly and blowing ice cold.
The downsides.The ez chill/diy route works on pressure,not gramms of gas.And pressure from the bottle to put the gas in.Not like a pro machine that pumps the gas in the system.
Its not 3 for 2 on the gas in halfords,but it is online if you click n collect.It would seem you need at least 2 bottles to fill the system from empty.But you get £10 back on the bottles when you return them.TBH,it would have been cheaper to get it regassed somewhere,but after my experinces,i wanted a go myself.Now i have enough gas to check my wifes car.
So after spending alot of time reading feedback(mostly good)and watching you tube,its worked for me.Each to there own.But if you know you have a leak,but you still top up the system,thats an offence.
And i did not wear safety gloves or eye protection,and i`m still alive

[lozz]

The Ez stuff works out expensive first time round.as you have to buy the Gauge.,
They shouid come with the can as a kit..imho.

ilooked online..before buying from halford's but there was no savings to be seen,

Iguess its expensive as not many will have the 'confidence to use it and see it as an expensive gamble.,

I didn't trust garages filling mine so itook the gamble..its been money well spent so far..no leaks touch wood.

[Welly]

Reading your post you have not subjected the new condenser and old pipework to a Vacuum therefore you are likely to have moisture in the system which will cause ice spots to form inside the system, this is very bad for the compressor. You will have a desiccant drier in the condenser but this can quickly saturate and become ineffective.

Also you have no idea how much refrigerant you have put in (well not accurately anyway) nor do you know if you have the correct amount of oil.

If the a/c works well for the time being then fair enough but what you have done is not recommended and there is a risk of expensive component failure in the future. I've seen a compressor jam up on a VW Passat and cause the engine's cam belt to slip.

Over-gassing in another problem as refrigerant on the Low Pressure side will be at too high pressure and also may contain refrigerant liquid which will damage the compressor. Over-gassing also significantly reduces cooling capacity despite many thinking that 'more' is better.

Sorry to sound negative but messing about with refrigeration systems is not good for lots of reasons.