Looking to get my air con recharged for the summer.

Anyone used the Measure & Charge DIY kit? Easy to use?

Anyone had Halfords do it for them?

Halfords Advice Centre - Air Con recharge service

Cheers
Richard.

 

I used the measure and charge kit on mine, easy to use solved my poor working air con system. Did a friends Laguna as well and still got gas left.

 

Thanks Ian

Is the area to connect the pipe on the Scoob easy to find?

 

On my bugeye the connector was on the air con pipe near the bulkhead. It should be a blue cap with L on it. Do not do what I did first off and try in on the one nearer the alternator whch has H on it, as it will not work lol.

 

Superb - thanks mate

 

L = low pressure btw, as does H = high pressure.
FFS do not use the H line

 

The kit will not fit to the H pressure plug as it has a different fitting. That is what was confusing me until I saw the L pressure plug which it fits perfectly.

 

used it no probs


Mart

 

if you can use a aerosal you can use this stuff its that easy

 

any problems let me know and i can sort it for you.

the correct way using nitrogen if it dosent work, vac it down and recharge with R134a accordingly.

cheers mark

 

The problem with these DIY kits is it a rough guess method of putting in refrigerant; As you don't know the weight of refrigerant is already in there, so don't know how much needs to be added. Too much; perfromance is impaired; too little and perfromance is impaired as well (although in some cases, it can perfrom better with a slight under-charge).

Also it doesn't remove any moisture or air contamination from the system - which is what you would benefit from if the system was reclaimed, vacuumed down and the correct weight of refridgerant put in, via a set of scales. You can get it done properly for £50. (or £60 if you want some cleaner/fungacide stuff sprayed on the evaporator)

With DIY kits you may see a benefit; As teh system will likely to be undercharged, as almost all systems lose charge over a number of years. Just be aware its like using a car without a fuel guage, you don't know whats already in there - A single gauge on the LP side doesn't tell that much, a thermometer in the centre vent will tell you more information on charge level and perfromance. So yes, it'll work. But for £40?

I say this because the 134a used in that bottle costs an a/c tech roughly £6 a kilo...and the average system holds about 850g (700g + 150g for the pipes). So, your paying £40 for a bottle of about 0.5kg of R134a (less than £5 worth of gas), and then you have to put it in yourself without the ideal equipment to do so? (I suspect Halford's own top up "service" doesn't use the proper equipment either).

Just my 2 pence

 

Is the refrigerant the same stuff used in domestic/industrial installations?

 

Does aircon need recharging every year or just when it doesnt feel cold anymore?

 

Yes an no; There are different types of gases used. Some fridges, drink chillers and icemakers do use R134a. But others may use others such as R600a, and air-conditioners may use R407c (as well as good 'ol R22). Have a look: Complete Range | BOC Industrial UK

Not yearly, but ideally before it stops working. Personally I would consider yearly as excessive, but ideally, it does need to be recharged on a routine basis. Three years I would consider as a nice medium.

Due to the nature of its construction, car a/c does naturally lose gas over time. Flexible hoses, O-ring connections/seals, non-encased shaft driven compressors are all normal leakage points. However the rate at which it loses refrigerant depends on the overall condition of the system.

So it should be checked on a scheduled basis of around three years, or sooner if performance has notably dropped; Its down to how leaky the system is. A good system should keep adequate charge for 6years or more, a poor one 1year or less - If its the latter it should have leak detection dye added to assertain where the refrigerant is leaking from.

There are issue with running a system without enough refrigerant for extended periods. As oil flow through the system is affected, in the most severe of cases the compressor can seize, which is a something you want to avoid - understandably. As one can't just simply replace it; all the debirs needs to be removed from the system otherwise the new compressor will fail within a few thousand miles.

 

Sharkman, thanks for the info

 

How could I tell a good garage from a bad one who offer this service?

 

bought a large can of this stuff for mine, i had the car 5 years last year and i had never had it checked, connected it up, gauge read zero LOL

emptied the full bloody can in, and only just started moving up the gauge (still not in the middle)

think i got my can for around 20quid from a supplier of mine

 

just checked my supplier, none of the stuff i used to get but....


Maccess Online

 

Thats where I got mine from, Maccess. They do a smaller can without the gauge, as you can just take the gauge of the top.

 

yeah just seen them

castrol ones are down to one unit i think, various other kits in stock