R134 AC system - Filled and "high side has too much pre

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ciper
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R134 AC system - Filled and "high side has too much pre

Post by ciper »

This is on the RSTI I built. The impatient bugger took it to some random place instead of using my guy so I don't know what to trust. Anyways supposedly the high side has too much pressure and the compressor is cycling on and off.

Any ideas? Did they do something wrong or is something broken?
ericem
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Post by ericem »

Did they vacuum the system? Is it incredibly difficult to turn the compressor? You can probably just tap the valve and let a bit out R134 is not harmful for the ozone. If they filled it in liquid form instead of gas they were suppost to fill it slowly.
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Legacy777
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Post by Legacy777 »

Yeah...can you provide a little more info. Was the system just "topped" off, or was it open, and they recharged it.

R134a does harm the ozone.....just not as much as R12.
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ciper
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Post by ciper »

The system was empty. They supposedly put 1.5 pounds of r134 in it.

I couldn't find the correct procedure for testing a 98 so I used the 02 WRX. It basically said to run the car at 1500 rpm and the low pressure would be 18-28 while the high is 214-242.

I borrowed some good gauges and checked it out. The low side pressure was ok but the high side was around 350. I had him hold the throttle at 3k rpms and the pressure went up to almost 500 psi!!! I let a significant amount of refrigerant out of the system and eventually got it to 28 low 280 high. I noticed a small bubble on the high pressure hose...

I'm kinda sick right now so I'm lazy to type more.
Legacy777
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Post by Legacy777 »

If they didn't pull a vacuum on the system, whatever you do is pretty much fruitless as it won't work the way it's designed.

The entire system needs to be evacuated with a vacuum pump and held at a strong vacuum ~ 29.96 inHG for about 30-45 minutes to make sure all moisture is boiled off. Once that is done, then fill the system on the low & high side with refrigerent until the pressure in the system and can equalize. Then start up the car and continue adding the required amount.
Josh

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ciper
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Post by ciper »

I have no idea if they did that or not. It is blowing cold at the moment and I am sure the bulging hose will require replacement in the future so I will use this to teach a lesson to the dickhead who wouldn't listen to me and took it to some random guy grrrrrrrr

I know it shouldn't piss me off but it does. The swap would have been perfect and this was the very last detail and he fucked it up. Now I will forrever keep in the back of my mind that the job wasn't done properly.
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