Anyone use those R-134 refil kits for air conditioning?

I am on the road and noticed my AC isn't performing well. Local shops want close to a $100 for an R-134 refil (97 Honda Accord). I saw an R-134 refil kit at Walmart for $20. Has anyone had success with these inexpensive refil kits? Thanks

Reply to
techman41973
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Is it R-134 in the can, or just propane?

Reply to
Noozer

Look at it this way. The shop will hook up gauges to the vehicle, check the actual pressures and then vacuum the system down and check for leakage. Then add in the correct amount of refrigerant and usually give you credit for the amount they removed (IF it isn't contaminated). Then will check the operating pressures to make sure the system doesn't blow apart from excessive pressure.

The Wal~Mart kit on the other hand will connect to the low side port and you can add in an unmeasured amount of R-134A, which may help OR could cause the system to be way over safe pressures depending on the actual problem. If you overcharge the system (VERY easy to do without proper gauges) your first sign will likely be the loud bang as the compressor fails, or the condenser or evaporator cores blow.

Reply to
Steve W.

It isn't the right way to do it, but chances of finding a shop that would do it any different are pretty low.

Get the can with the pressure gauge built in. Make sure you have a high idle when you charge it and watch the pressure on that gauge. I would stop at no more than half a can the first time and see if the cooling is back to normal. Overcharging is worse than being undercharged on the system.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

You can get good results. Or cause sufficient problems to cause you to seek professional help.

Verify that the contents are R-134 without "sealer," "leak detection dye," "oil," or other crap. You just want the pure stuff, and that's fairly hard to find. (Guess what's cheaper than R-134?)

The cheapo cans with gauges attached are for the low side of the system only. That gauge only tells you only part of the picture, and I'd rather see high side if limited to just one gauge, but is probably good enough to get you through. The low side gauge is just cheap to manufacture.

Watch the gauge as you install the new R-134. Put a thermometer on the a/c vent and check the temp before you start anything; let the a/c go on max hi (external air) and watch the termp go down as you add. If it goes down a while and then starts rising again, you've added too much and the system is choking on it. (Or else the compressor may be cycling on/off, especially when the charge is very low, in which case you'll probably want to continue adding.)

The newer systems have a relatively small window of "correct" level, unlike the R-12 systems where a half-can one way or the other might hardly make a difference. Now it is just a few ounces tolerance, and these new systems are therefore very intolerant of even a small leak.

If there's no real change in temp as you add, you probably have an internal problem.

Reply to
jmattis

Yes, I have and do use them when needed for a little boost. The kit with the gauge on it will help you top up the system without overcharging.

It IS R134a that you get in these cans, by the way, and is clearly labeled as such.

Reply to
<HLS

That wheat flour / melamine mix from China was clearly labeled as wheat gluten... It's up to you to check the brand and origin of what you purchase to determine the risk of it being counterfeit.

Reply to
Pete C.

If you overcharge the system (VERY easy to do without proper

Probably just the safety port will blow out (usually on the drier, sometimes on the compressor discharge port. But yeah, either way you're looking at a totally dead (and open- subject to moisture and further damage) system if that happens..

Reply to
Steve

That melamine contamination was a total bollocks, and I have not yet heard a satisfactory explanation of it.

I think that with any product, it will do you no good to check the brand and origin. Manufacturers buy and relabel R134a under their own name. Contamination shouldnt happen but you and I both know it CAN happen, no matter who supplies it.

Reply to
<HLS

It was a counterfeit product. What was sold as wheat gluten, a processed derivative of wheat, was in fact plain old wheat flour with scrap melamine added to trick QC tests the buyer might do.

Two separate issues, product contamination and counterfeit product.

Reply to
Pete C.

It's not that bad. Here's how the story seems to go:

  1. Total protein assay on food products is often just done by measuring nitrogen levels, because it's a quick and easy measurement.
  2. Melamine (of very low quality) is frequently used as a fertilizer in China and is commonly available as a result.
  3. Someone along the chain added large amounts of melamine to a food product in an attempt to make it look like it had a higher protein content than it really did.
  4. Although melamine is not toxic, the poor quality melamine they used had a lot of other nitrogen compounds coming along for the ride, some of which were.

This is true, but within the US we have recourse for when something goes wrong somewhere in the supply chain. This is not the case for some other countries.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Thanks, Scott. I hadn't really delved into this, and appreciate your update. It seems that the whole affair lost public scrutiny fairly quickly. I am sure it is an embarassment to China, and to American importers and manufacturers..... probably something these interest groups would like to see fade away.

Interesting how we import food type products from China now...the same China which we used perceived as starving millions of poor people.

Had one simply checked the brand and apparent origin of the pet foods, as Pete C. suggested in the case of refrigerant, he would have found nothing (until the pets started dying.) That was my original point. We have nothing much to go on re product quality except the integrity of the wholesaler/retailer, and in the case of WalMart, Autozone, Napa, and others we do have some trail for liability and responsibility if we are damaged.

Reply to
<HLS

No reason that might have changed. selling food type products for profit overseas beats feeding the local people without as high of a profit for many.

Reply to
Brent P

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