Air Conditioning Tech Thread.

[Z2TT]

It is most likely the evaporator, but to rule out the condenser, check with a UV light around the condenser as it can be hard to peak around on those falcons, there could be a leak hiding there.

If the refrigerant has an odour, and you can smell a "trace" of it in the morning when you just start the blower fan on, it's 100% a leak in the evaporator, tubing going to evaporator or expansion device.

Once you remove the evaporator, it will be pretty obvious as it will be pooled with oil, from then you have to find out whether it's the evaporator core or O-rings leaking, or both.
Get the core pressure tested with about 130 PSI and dumped in water, if the guy who is doing it is experienced, he will be able to tell the leak apart from trapped air bubbles escaping from around the fins.

New evaporator about $100 for your Falcon is a no-brainer.

[dnegative]

I keep hearing good things about minus30, does anyone know a place in Sydney who does it?

[Z2TT]

Go on the Hychill website and see who the regional manager is in Sydney, call up and ask for a list of places.

[Jerry2]

I've read up on Hychill a while ago, it is a direct replacement for R12, which is/was in my RA65, where as R134a isn't. With R134a you have recover any refrigerant in your system plus change the the oil and change your receiver/dryer.

Hychill or Minus30 are both a mixture of iso Butane and Butane gases in a proportion to get the most efficient mixture proved by testing.

Some if not all new household Refrigerators now use LPG base refrigerants due to the greater efficiency i.e. more cooling at lower pressures and therefore the cheap ass manufactures don't need as high quality in the pressure side due to the lower pressures.

The paper I read also stated that testing had been conducted where the whole refrigerant charge in a household frig was released into the frig compartment and the door opened with a lit flame without any explosion. They also said that if the refrigerant charge was to be lossed under the bonnet of a car and a disconnected spark plug, all happened at the same time that the size of the charge in a car and the amount of air under the bonnet would never be explosive, obviously this is theory and not tested. The author also theorised that driving a car with all the windows up and the gas to be dumped into the passenger compartment the size of the charge and the air that in the cabin wouldn't be explosive either.

The cooling power of LPG is shown everytime you refill the BBQ gas bottle, the escaping gas freezes the valve stem.

Now that I've finished my rant, if anyone knows some dodgey frigey in Sydney who will fill my car with Hychill please PM me, because LPG based refrigerants are highly illegal for use in the automotive industry due to the perceived danger of explosion in a collision.

PS I'll edit this post and add the reference of my information when I find it.

Cheers Jerry

[Z2TT]

Hi,

Hychills Minus30 is a mixture of Butane and Propane, around 50/50% but the exact ratio is not known, The name given to this would be R290/R600a just like we have the names R134a and R12, it also has a UV Dye added for ease of finding leaks should they ever develop over time.

Whether the mixture would ignite all depends on many factors, one of them is the concentration of it, for example if you had a fridge in an Auditorium, and released all the gas and tried to ignite it, no it would not ignite, so it depends on the size of the room, plus the amount of gas released. It is flammable, but we can all draw our own conclusions as to the likelihood of ignition in car accidents.

No they are not illegal for use in Auto A/C, otherwise Bursons/Veale would not distribute it, and manufacturers such as OKA would not use it as the factory fill in their vehicles.

Jerry call Hychill up and they should be able to give you a name of a place that can regas your car.

[Jerry2]

Thanks for setting me straight, the best thing about being wrong is finding the correct answer.

Anyway here is a link to the document I referred to in my previous post above

http://www.hychill.com.au/pdf/pasolpgr.pdf

In conclusion RC270 and R600a are drop in replacements for R12, RC270 being the most efficient of the two without re-designing the system i.e. due to the reduced pressures required with R600a it is cheaper to build an AC unit designed specifically for the use of
R600a.

Cheers Jerry

[Z2TT]

Hi,

R600a alone has a much lower pressure/temp relationship at given temperatures than R12, I'm not sure how that will affect the operation of the system.

R600a/R290 with roughly a 50/50 mix will have close pressure/temp relationships to R12.... so it is more suitable and which is what Hychill (And other manufacturers) use for their R12 drop-in.

[dnegative]

Now that I've finished my rant, if anyone knows some dodgey frigey in Sydney who will fill my car with Hychill please PM me, because LPG based refrigerants are highly illegal for use in the automotive industry due to the perceived danger of explosion in a collision.

Its not dodgy or illegal to use

Advance Auto Electrical
Blaxland road, Campbelltown

[caam]

hi,
I'm in the process of removing a 3TGTE from my ta23 and replacing with a 2TG (P-plate problems) And the 3TGTE is air conditioned and i was hoping someone could explain what i would needed to hook the air conditioning up to the 2TG? I'm only 16 so still learning
thanks in advance

[CrUZida]

If the aircon on the 3T is working, find out if you can bolt the 3T compressor to the 2T.
If you can, just leave the compressor in there when you swap the motor over, and all will be well.

[Z2TT]

Like Cruzida said, pretty sure since it's the same Series of engine the a/c compressors should bolt onto the bracket. So to keep the gas charge in, unbolt the compressor from the bracket, hold it to the side onto the chassis somehow with a wire or rope, then once new engine is in bolt it up to the new engine...... so long as you confirmed it will bolt up.

[caam]

Bolted it up all sweet last night, thanks for the help fellas

[caam]

Now need some help with the air conditioning, (finally got it re gassed yesterday)
And whenever the air conditioning is on it loses revs and continually dies when idling, which means i have to turn the AC off at every traffic light.
I got the carbies tuned today but the guy didn't know how i could fix the problem of the engine dying, Can anyone help?
They're twin 40 solex's btw
Cheers!

[Rhyno]

Hi Caam,

So I take it that the engine runs fine when the AC is off?

How is the AC? Does it work well?

Have you tried playing with your idle screw and increasing your idle to compensate?

What car/engine? Im guessing you have an 18rg in something...

Kind Regards,

Ryan

[caam]

Yes the engine runs fine whilst the AC is off,
and the AC works well and isn't dying.

While playing with the idle screw's enough to keep the engine alive it needs to be up around 1 grand revs With the AC on. Then when the air-con is turned off the revs are far too high.

So i took it too a carby place in town, got them to tune the carbies and balance them, But they had no answer to fixing it dying. I was told you can get a device that when the aircon is switched on your revs increase to compensate this? is this true?

Sorry, it's a TA23 with a 2TG

Cheers