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Charging method besides weight?

Jetboy55 on Mon July 30, 2012 10:04 AM User is offline

Year: 1996
Make: Plymouth
Model: Neon
Engine Size: 2.0 SOHC
Refrigerant Type: R134a
Ambient Temp: 88
Pressure Low: ??
Pressure High: 250
Country of Origin: United States

Hi again. Just finished repairing my Neon A/C. Replaced the TXV, drier, new gaskets. Flushed out system as best I could to get rid of excess dye. Added in correct type and amount of PAG46 oil. Tested all lines, evap and condensor for flow, seems good. Repaired wire between high switch and PCM. Now it all works. However, its not all that cold, cool but not cold. Soon I will measure duct temps. The way I serviced it (with Snap-On dual cart) was evacuated system for 1 hour up to 29in, let sit for 1 hr, no leaks. Charged with 1lb 13 oz's refrigerant per hood sticker. My pressures on high side are about 250psi. Dont remember what low was, but I think around 35psi. My question is this, is there another way to charge refrigerant besides weight? I'm wondering if my Snap-On cart is weighing accurately. I dont think its been calibrated in many years. Is there a way to service using pressures and duct temp instead? Thanks for the help.

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Aircraft Technician and Inspector for 20 years.

Jetboy55 on Mon July 30, 2012 10:37 AM User is offline

Oh shoot....I just remembered....when charging the system after the repairs, it would only take 1 lb off the cart in static condition. So I started the engine and A/C system to suck in the rest of the refrigerant. However, I forgot to close the high side valve while running the engine/A/C. I then closed it, ran engine/A/C again and sucked in the remaining 13 oz's. I wonder if that mistake impacted my total charge amount, and maybe I am actually still low on refrigerant. Hmmmmm........

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Aircraft Technician and Inspector for 20 years.

GM Tech on Mon July 30, 2012 5:12 PM User is offline

simply hit the recover button and start over...

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The number one A/C diagnostic tool there is- is to know how much refrigerant is in the system- this can only be done by recovering and weighing the refrigerant!!
Just a thought.... 65% of A/C failures in my 3200 car diagnostic database (GM vehicles) are due to loss of refrigerant due to a leak......

mk378 on Mon July 30, 2012 7:03 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: GM Tech
simply hit the recover button and start over...

Exactly.

If you're going to reuse the refrigerant, make sure there's no air in your recovery tank. If you don't trust the scale in the machine you can always use the old school method with a tank on a separate scale.

Jetboy55 on Tue July 31, 2012 12:53 PM User is offline

I can purge the non-condensable gases from my tank with this cart, so that shouldnt be a problem. However.....I discovered my condensor is leaking, there is still some dye in the system so it was'nt that hard to find, now that I was looking for it. It held 29inches vacuum the other day, but I guess that's nothing compared to 350psi in operation. Darn!!! Im now considering replacing the condensor. Thanks for the help.

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Aircraft Technician and Inspector for 20 years.

Jetboy55 on Sun August 05, 2012 10:48 AM User is offline

Well, the problem was again another defective part, my condensor. I replaced it with one from Napa, and its working good so far. Thanks everyone.

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Aircraft Technician and Inspector for 20 years.

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