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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 528
 
Location: Medford Oregon |
Does anyone know of someone who can service an R-12 system? I need the system evacuated so I can replace the condenser, then test and recharge with R-12 freon.
I'm not converting it. This is my MB and the A/C on these cars is marginal to start with. My options for conversion are lousy cooling or a several thousand $ conversion system. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 507
Location: Invermere B.C. Canada - Rocky Mountains | Read up on R12a (red tek) and let me know what you think?  |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 8443
   
Location: Perth Australia | If your going to open your system, you might as well convert it to 134A
I have to be careful what I say here as I repair auto a/c as a part of my business, but I would not touch blended gasses like R12a,FR12 ect ect with a barge pole.
Main reason is they are based on propane (I think thats what you call bbq gas there), basically, flammable gas which I think is stupid to put into a system that is used inside the cabin of a vehicle and I have also seen many premature compressor failures on systems using this type of gasses
R12 itself is going the way of the dinosaurs, and will soon not be available anywhere, now a lot of people got it in their heads that an a/c thats converted to 134a will never be as cold again, wrong!!!!!!
R134a is not as efficient as R12, but the difference is about 5%, that means it takes 5% longer to get down to the temperature your THERMOSTAT is set to!
To put that in context, normal compressor run time (really isnt one, depends on lots of factors, but just saying) is 10 seconds, that means on R134A it will run for 10.5 seconds to achieve the same result.
If your system was struggling on R12 to get the evaporator temp down to the point that the thermostat wont turn the compressor off, your system is faulty or not designed properly to start with
I know in the US that every man and his dog can mess with A/C, here (in Australia) you must be qualified and licensed to do anything with it
I wont keep writing a novel here, but the conversion is cheap and easy, we went through all the conversion horror stories (all bullsh*t) about 20 years ago
Now just another thing to think about is there is a new refrigerant that the auto makers are going to that has virtually no global warming potential (why R134A is also going to be/is being phased out as well), but I have had nothing to do with it yet and its super expensive (in Australia) at the moment
I have not looked into or experimented with this new stuff yet and I am not sure it can be retrospectively used in an old A/C system, I dont know much about it
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Expert
Posts: 2312
Location: Arizona | My 2 cents... Try it with 134a for the reasons ttoired listed. But, you can still get r-12 on ebay and craigslist so you could go that route. It would add perhaps $100 to the total cost. If you like doing work on your own car consider investing $150 in a pump and gauge set and doing all the work yourself. When I started working on "old cars" I wasn't going to do the AC stuff myself but when I looked at all the time trouble and expense involved, especially the expense, in taking the car to a shop for AC related stuff I bought a pump and started doing the AC stuff myself. I've since done AC installs, repairs and/or recharges on six vehicles. Sometimes there's a hiccup but eventually they all got done. You don't say what shape your system is in, do you think everything is good but it just needs a new condensor but the compressor is ok, no "black death" going on or catastrophic compressor failure? If that's the case you should have an easy time of it and it would be a good first AC project. On the other hand, if that's the case it ought to be simple and relatively inexpensive for a shop to do it if you go with 134a or R12 is that's still allowed to be used by a shop. The biggest Issue I see is what kind of oil is in the system now and whether it's compatible with 134a. If it isn't you'll need the system flushed, the compressor removed and drained, and then new oil put in. If you stick with R12 that's not an issue. But measure the oil in the old condenser and put that amount of compatible oil in the new one. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 528
Location: Medford Oregon | My system is in good shape. The problem is that my father had made some modifications unrelated to the AC and it caused the condenser to leak. I have a replacement, but there is still some Freon in the system.
I understand the problems with R-12. That's one reason I want the system properly evacuated and the remaining Freon captured before I open it to the atmosphere. I also want it tested for leaks after I replace the condenser.
There were only 6500 MB 300SEL 6.3 made. Because of the experience of other owners with 134a, I've been advised to keep R-12 if possible. I can convert it to a Sanden 508 Rotary compressor system (it has a York compressor now), but because to the limited market the only place that's put together a kit wants $2000. |
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Veteran
Posts: 291
Location: Colorful Colorado skier on the license plate | I will check and see if we could borrow the R12 recovery unit where I work. |
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Non-forward look R-12 A/C service
