Air Con Recharge - Best Price DIY ?

[trufflehunt]

I've been looking at the prices of air-con recharge canisters.

There's the stuff at Halfords, and there is the cheapest on eBay at about £20.

Seems a lot of money for what is just a can of refridgerant.

Has anyone else done this themself, and is there a rather less pricy source of these cans?

[Welly]

You will be wasting your money trying a DIY re-gas the whole lot will piss out again within a few hours.

The reason it needs gassing is because there's a leak, it must be pressure tested first and BEFORE anyone even thinks about filling it with new gas (there's laws covering this). Refrigerant gas is expensive, it represents about 70% of the cost of a typical re-gas.

The condenser at the front is the typical place to fail first, you might be able to see an oily staining at the bottom of it.

[GingerMagic]

Hi, I had mine done by my cousin at his garage, charged me £20.

He first undid the valves by the battery, plugged his machine in which checks volume of gas, then pressure tests the whole system before finally re-gassing to the correct pressure.

A 15 - 20 minute job but worth doing properly for peace of mind.

If you can find a reputable place to do it for less than £40 I would say do it.

[trufflehunt]

My understanding is that most car air-cons lose anything up to about 10% of their pressure per year,
through natural seepage.

Round my area, there are plenty of this and that garages who offer air-con service/re-charge. Their
prices start from £50 + VAT, and go steadily upwards.

I reckon that the cost of a dispenser adapter/gauge + a recharge can is worth a try.

[rwb]

£50 seems to be about the going rate for a proper re-gas.

All of the old refrigerant will be removed. If there's a leak then there's nothing to remove, the system can't be re-filled, and you shouldn't be charged; obviously, you need to get the leak fixed. The system will then be filled up with the correct amount of refrigerant and oil.

Don't waste your time and money with a DIY bottle.

[Tubthumper]

I went to a "reputable" Peugeot/Citroen specialist near Aylesbury last year to get mine regassed, as the aircon hadn't worked since I'd bought the car. While the guy was doing it, I thought I heard him mention something about a leak, but when he'd finished and showed me that it was working, which it was, and I payed the £55 and left. Less than 48 hours later, it had stopped working again, so I took it back and spoke to the boss, who told me that they had pressure tested it, and the leak must have occured inbetween me leaving their garage and the 5 mile drive home ! I did point out that I was sure I'd heard his mechanic mention something about a leak, but he just laughed this off. Needless to say, they have lost any future custom from me, and anyone I know in the local area

My dilema is that it's a shame to have an aircon system that I know does work, but due to a leak somewhere, which could potentially cost as much as the car is worth to fix , is it worth trying to find out

[Welly]

Needless to say, they have lost any future custom from me, and anyone I know in the local area

And committed a serious offence in the process the twats

My bet would be the condenser up front, you can just about fit one yourself for about £130.00? and then go for a test and gas-up, you'll need a supply of the correct new O-rings and ideally some refrigerant oil as you assemble the joints, or you can get a garage to do it all for about £300.00.

Trouble is there are other places it can leak; like at the bracket positions on the aluminium pipework or any of the numerous joints in the system through a perished O-ring.

Best to start with a pressure test to find the leak, they'll either spot it using a UV lamp and special eye goggles (shows up as bright coloured spots) or they can apply soapy liquid to the various joints and suspect areas and literally watch for bubbles blowing.

Refrigerant gas can 'seep' from these systems but not at 10% a year, that's more of a leak. To me it's simple; if the a/c doesn't work, unless there's an electrical fault, it's out of gas because it's got a leak somewhere. Even if you had a car that's 'low' on gas, still working, but needs 'topping up' you will still find a leak - almost 100% guaranteed.

[grasmere59]

What people also forget is to run the a/c at least once a month even in the winter to keep it all circulating and to lubricate all of the seals and keep them supple.

[Welly]

keep them subtle.

That's 'supple' mate

Some people think I'm an arse when it comes to car a/c but I've had deep experience with 3 different cars in 'resurrecting' non-working a/c. I worked closely with a few different specialists [read: hands on helping] through the various stages and like to think I know enough about a/c to give straight forward advise.

It is a commonly misunderstood topic but one thing I hate is gas-in-a-can fixes I believe it is grossly irresponsible to firstly sell the damn things and secondly for members of the public to use them, knowing, as I said before, that the system is most likely to be leaking. I've heard of these cans being used 'for a weekend trip' but what about the refrigerant oil? what about over-gassing? all can cause serious damage. It is possible for an a/c compressor to seize and take the cambelt with it

[trufflehunt]

Needless to say, they have lost any future custom from me, and anyone I know in the local area

And committed a serious offence in the process the twats

My bet would be the condenser up front, you can just about fit one yourself for about £130.00? and then go for a test and gas-up, you'll need a supply of the correct new O-rings and ideally some refrigerant oil as you assemble the joints, or you can get a garage to do it all for about £300.00.

Trouble is there are other places it can leak; like at the bracket positions on the aluminium pipework or any of the numerous joints in the system through a perished O-ring.

Best to start with a pressure test to find the leak, they'll either spot it using a UV lamp and special eye goggles (shows up as bright coloured spots) or they can apply soapy liquid to the various joints and suspect areas and literally watch for bubbles blowing.

Refrigerant gas can 'seep' from these systems but not at 10% a year, that's more of a leak. To me it's simple; if the a/c doesn't work, unless there's an electrical fault, it's out of gas because it's got a leak somewhere. Even if you had a car that's 'low' on gas, still working, but needs 'topping up' you will still find a leak - almost 100% guaranteed.

A leak or a seep..., 10% loss a year is totally acceptable to me.

The reason why these DIY kits sell is that they offer an alternative to what you describe..., which is perfection.

As It happens, some while back I lived and worked for several years in the tropics.., Borneo. I drove lots of different cars, owned or rented. Virtually all had aircons.., and my general impression was that gas recharges every 2 or 3 years was about par for the course. That does kind of point towards weak technology.
Which rather implies that spending a lot of money is not a good idea.

[steve_earwig]

That's 'supple' mate

Indeed. I was going to say something but I didn't want to be a forum

The gas in my D8 eventually leaked out, I took it to Pug in Zagreb (because I was nearby and I hadn't figured out who to ask locally at the time ), they wittered about leaks and filled it up with the ultra violet dye stuff. It didn't leak and lasted the next 3 years until I sold it. So it doesn't necessarily mean there's a leak as such, air con systems (& fridges, freezers etc.) gradually leak anyway*. Once it's all gone it will damage stuff but, if you catch it in time...

*So there's no point in getting all upset about the damage the stuff does to the ecosphere, it's already too late and future generations are screwed thanks to our selfishness and stupidity. Have a planet, sorry we broke it

[Welly]

Borneo? nice one (unless it wasn't that nice?).

You are right, a/c systems in cars will seep a bit of gas over time, I had my Volvo re-gassed about 2 years ago and we found it had 'lost' about 50 grammes of it's original 500 grammes over its first 4 years since manufacture (about 10%).

The system is still performing well now, I tested the air temps last weekend and am still getting 5 deg C which is a good indicator but I may consider another gas-up soon purely for the maintenance.

I may have been misunderstood above but what I was trying to convey was that we shouldn't take a 406 with non-working a/c and assume it would benefit from a squirt of new gas from a can, in all probability it will leak out within hours, it is extremely common for the condenser to fail (I got through two on mine in 3 years).

If you want to try a can then go for it, I just think you'll be lucky if that's all it needs.

Welly

[mjb]

My aircon's shot... compressor's engaging but the evaporator's not getting cold.

Apparently the previous owner had it re-gassed "a couple of months ago", which pretty much means a leak in my book, or a duff compressor. Strangely, I hope it's the compressor - they're cheaper on ebay than a new condenser (usually the problem...)

[hammerman]

Well after 9 and a half years my a/c packed up last month,when the weather started getting warmer.I use it through the winter at least once a week as you are sposed to do.I didn't have much money at the time so I took it to our workshop(plant hire)as they have all the kit.The machine reckoned it should have about 620 grms of gas,& pulled out 120 grms so it was very low.After letting the machine pressure test etc,the gas was added along with the oil & leak dye.Been working a treat ever since & cost £50,which they take out my wages over a few weeks,so no up front charge.I`m going to get them to do my cam belt,water pump & pully in the next few weeks as I can drop it off on the way home from work,pick up a company van free of charge and collect the next day.They charge £35 an hour labour which again the cost will be taken out of my wages £20 a week.We have a full time car/van mechanic at the workshop so he knows what hes doing,and there is no chance of being ripped off!!!!

[trufflehunt]

Update on this...

I bought one of those EZ Chill Canisters on eBay, and also bought
an adapter tube with gauge. Also on eBay, one of those yellow ones.

watched several of the Youtube videos on how to do it, then set about the job.

Plugged in, set it running, shake the bottle/canister ... as instructions.

System consumed all the contents of the (large) canister, yet not much sign of retained
pressure in the system...