The most wonderful time of the year..........

[J.R.]

Have you weighed the can?

 

If it truly contains 500g of refrigerant then even after your 3 squirts it should still weigh a lot more than 500g.

 

I bet you that it doesn't, none of the Chinese ones that I bought did, I got screwed exactly the same way with a box of 400ml aerosol spray paints that contained half of the paint that a normal 150ml one would and which did not even have enough propellant to spray what was in there. I recently bought a box of 1litre tins of grey underbody Schutz in France, I have been using this stuff for 45 years and its the first time that they have contained 60cl instead of 1 litre

 

I had to laugh at your "3 squirts" description, even with my pro 13kg cylinder it can take several minutes (much much longer when less than 20°c) to refill a system, it only really starts flowing when the pump cuts in and the low side pressure reduces allowing flow, the cylinder gas off pressure (not the correct term) is the same as the standby pressure in a charged system which when you think about it is obvious, no way would "3 squirts" when the system is not even pumping put anything at all into a partially charged system.

 

When I charge a system (not a top up) it is first vacuumed down.

Edited 6 July, 2021 by J.R.

[xman]

Why not get the system filled properly and professionally? They will use an automated machine to vacuum it down and hold test for leaks. They weigh the recovered gas and oil. They will fill it with the correct amount of new gas and pag oil.

 

Tyresonthedrive.com (halfords) charge £50 on your drive, my experience is they are professional and knowledgeable, they check and report differential pressure is as it should be. A reduced charge applies if theres a leak detected and so no refill.

 

Kwikfit charge £60, if they find a leak or your system still doesn't work after refilling they won't charge you anything. I think they also put a shot of uv dye in at the same time that can be used to spot leaks 

 

F1 autocentres similar (but check)

 

All use automated machines which connect to hi and lo ports.

Edited 6 July, 2021 by xman

[Cheapas]

Thanks both,  I'm learning as I go along here from you.

Xman - yes that's what I did last year at one of the auto center places, forget which one. Still had to go back and get the port caps they forgot.....

There's a bit of history behind this In relation to the slow speed fan packing in. Had a lot of advice of Wino ( thanks) who suggested slow speed fan failure put a strain on air con system seals . Anyway, it's all at the start if your interested. I'd hoped the system had only lost a small amount of gas, and the top up bottle would work. 

So will probably look for who has best deal on for professional regas.

I'll weigh the top up bottle tomorrow.

Edited 6 July, 2021 by Cheapas
Mistake

[J.R.]

The top up bottle will work but not with 3 squirts, it had already started working when you saw the low side pressure drop and mistakenly stopped the refilling.

 

Warm the canister before use like you would (should) with an aérosol paint can.

[Cheapas]

7 hours ago, J.R. said:

The top up bottle will work but not with 3 squirts, it had already started working when you saw the low side pressure drop and mistakenly stopped the refilling.

 

Warm the canister before use like you would (should) with an aérosol paint can.

Thanks JR. On it later this morning. 

There's a You Tube video of a chap keeping his cannister in a bucket of hot water while filling, is that a bit extreme at this time of year?

Also reading your earlier advice is it best to ignore guage and just fill till fan kicks in ?

[J.R.]

16 hours ago, Cheapas said:

Thanks JR . Annoyingly I'd planned to weigh the can before starting , but totally forgot. 

Back of the can does state it's R134 gas, it's not one of the cheaper eBay cans. 

Your stated pressure of 70 - 80 psi is according to the guage I've got is in the danger zone. 

But then as you say , how accurate is the guage? 

If the climatronic fault code is still showing low pressure fault code maybe I should ignore guage and carry on filling.

Current temp here is around 18 degrees. 

 

Somehow I missed this posting.

 

You have misunderstood how the guage should be used, the green range which is wide to cover all temperatures corresponds with the 20-30/25-35 psi I stated for the low side pressure when the system is pumping and cooling, until you got to the minimum pressure for the system to command the pump modulating valve (I am guessing at 40 psi) you should have ignored the reading, when it dropped, the point at which you chickened out you should have carried on filling until it got to the middle of the green zone whilst feeling for cold air from the vents.

 

A couple of hours after switching off when everything is back at ambient temperature you check the pressure again and it should be around the 70psi that I quoted, check the temperature against a chart for R134a and top up again as required.

 

You should also purge the line before connecting or each time you charge you will be introducing air into the system.

 

Check the labelling carefully, in small print I guarantee that you will find that its not R134a as its illegal to sell to individuals in Europe and is now rigidly enforced, most use deceptive advertising with R134a in large lettering and eco alternative in tiny letters, I expect you have propane gas.

[Cheapas]

Thanks JR , now elevated you to genius status.

Warmed bottle up, tried again and sure enough fan kicked in, cold air in cab and climatronic fault codes gone.

Guage reading low side of green.

Bottle weighed 1250 g at start, down to 800g, so presume used nearly all gas.

We'll see how long it lasts, and if Winos theory about fan was correct or there's a leak elsewhere.

Thanks again for your advice and all other contributors, particularly Wino who seems to have the schematics for Skodas imprinted in his head !

[J.R.]

I would connect it again and let all the remaining contents that can go into the system, it doesnt sound like you will overcharge it by doing so, perhaps check the standby pressure (after it all cools down) first.

 

It can take a very very long time to get the final contents out of a cylinder.

[Cheapas]

Is there a knack/ trick to getting final contents out ?

[J.R.]

Time, heat and the system working at its maximum, you will never get all the contents out, once the pressure is equalised between the low side (when pumping) and the cylinder no more regrigerant will flow, its why when using little cans each successive one gives less of its contents than the previous.

Edited 7 July, 2021 by J.R.

[Cheapas]

Ok thanks, car dumped down road now for 3 am start for work , I'll have a go Sunday at getting more in.