AC recharge questions Options

[lagos]

is there any way to bleed the air out of your AC system without having to take it to a shop? i understand that i shop puts it on an electric Vac pump that sucks all the air out of the system. is there any way to do this at home?

couldnt you keep refilling the low side, while venting the high to bleed it?

[MaskedMan]

Well when they recharge the A/C they usually do a complete removal of the old refriderant. And this also moves all the moister in the system. Moister like water in the system is not good couase it could freeze. They put a vacuum on the system by evacuating it for 30 minutes, and they use the vacuum to pull new refridgerant into the system. What kind of refridgerant does your car have in now? Well if you have r12 in your system, it is illegal to release that into the atmosphere. But im not a cop so.... anyways. They have kits were you can refill it using a can, but those tend to get a lot of air into the system and not work really well. I think it would be better to get it done some place where that have the machines to do it. I'll write more later, but right now i have a plane to catch haha. Ill be back posting tomorrow.

[cheeco]

if the a/c system was open, leaking etc. and air got in, you really cant just bleed air out. only way to be sure that max air is removed is to put the system under vacum.

[MaskedMan]

OH also if air gets in the system for awhile, then you have to replace your reciever dryer as well, but it's easy, and they are only like $25

[WannabeGT4]

MaskedMan is right for the most part. However, having moisture in the system isn't bad because it will freeze, it's bad because when it mixes with the refrigerant it creates a corrosive acid that will eat away at your seals.

One thing I'd like to emphasise is that replacing the receiver/dryer, like MaskedMan suggested, should not be considered optional. I would not suggest skipping it if the system was open for any extended amount of time. It's been doing it's job the whole time the system has been open which is collecting water from the gases that pass by it. Not replacing it would be an unwise and potentialy costly decision.

If I were you I'd buy the receiver/dryer connect all of the hoses with new seals/O-rings and take it to the shop and have them pull a vacuum on it and do a leak test if you want. Then find out how much it will cost to have them go ahead an fill it and compare that price to the cost of a set of gauges and refrigerant... It will almost always be cheaper to have them go ahead and fill it unless you plan on filling other cars in the future then a set of gauges might be a good investment.

[MaskedMan]

well moister in the system can freeze and cause the A/C to work intermittently becuase it will turn to ice and cuase a block, but then it will turn back into liquid eventually, and it will work again, but when it works, it will get cold and freeze and repeat. Thats what i was trying to get at. Or atleast that was the best of my understanding, i need to read toyota book 207 again....