ac recharge

It was 1994 that Chevy changed from R12 to R134. I second the Freeze 12 like another poster. Worked well on my 93 Chevy and simple to use. There is a lot out there for the DIY to use.

Joe, if you are a do it yourself guy like me take a look a the refrigerant called Freeze 12. It is supposed to be compatible with R12. I use it all the time on the old leaky R12 systems like in the neighbor's tractors and combines. I has worked fine for us.

Of course i do not nave a striped shirt with Dave's refrigeration on the front of it.

Seriously, that stuff will work, bu you will also have to get the right fitting to screw on to the top of the Freeze 12 can.

It is not illegal to buy or sell R-12, they merely stopped producing it. You must be licensed to recover, charge, or otherwise handle it. Prices have fallen steeply in recent years.
Edit:
My intention was to point out that R-12 can still be purchased and sold, by licensed individuals or by company representatives that provide proof of a licensed employee. There is also provisions for wholesalers who merely retail but not use the product.

R-134A requires no licensing to purchase or use as is evident by the rows of product for sale in retail locations. Try it, Walmart is not going to ask for your 608 or 609 license.

I also have a 1993 Chev 30 MH. Mine however is the 350 engine and it does have the newer R-134A. You can try to recharge it yourself, much cheaper. Watch some you-tube videos on re-charging, that will let you know if you are up to trying. Good luck with it.
Brian

Bob Landry wrote:

joe0508 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
You likely will not be able to buy the freon, so just take it to a qualified service station and have them perform a leak test and then recharge the system. This is really not a DIY job, and needs to be done using the proper equipment by a trained and qualified service person.

Can you tell me why you dont think i will be able to buy the fron?

1993 was the magic year that everyone stopped producing R-12 equipment. With yours being a '93, it could be either R12 or R-134a. If it's R-12, it has been illegal to buy or sell R12 since 2000, so no one is going to have it. If it's R-134a, the auto parts stores are going to have it, but I'm not sure if they will sell it to you unless you have an EPA card. Also, the leak would have to be found and repaired or you will be back to recharging, and since you don't know how long it actually took it to leak down, you don't know how large the leak is or if it's repairable.

Not exactly, 93 was not the magic year.. I had a '97 F250 which was loaded with R12 and I bought that truck new.

'93 was the BEGINNING of the phase out and not all manufacturers quit using R12 over night.

As far as buying R12, you can not buy it legally unless you have a refrigeration cert/license and you must account and keep logs of where and how much is used.

There are places which you can get your system refilled with R12 but now days you might get "recovered" R12 which is filtered and recycled from old systems. Some shop owners do still have new stocks of R12 but it will often cost more than R134a.

One of the downfalls of the conversion of a system from R12 to R134a is capacity. R134a is not as efficient so it requires a bigger system in order to get the same cooling. This means a converted system will not have quit as good of cooling capacity.

How to tell if a system has been converted is R134a requires a different port connection. Retrofitted systems will have an adapter attached to the port and if I remember correctly that adapter will not come off easily.

The other thing is do not mix 134a with a system that has R12, the oils used are not compatible and all the old oil from R12 must be removed and new oil must be added to the system.

This isn't really a job for a DIY person even though you can often find change over kits.

Take it a refrigeration tech and have them go over your entire system. My suggestion is to have them replace all the o ring seals, inspect and or replace any of the rubber lines which have cracks..

Do it once the right way and you should be good to go for a long time.

I just had a leaking condenser replaced and ac refilled and it cost me $480

could be $700. $1000
google auto AC troubleshooting
select you tube by Scotty Kilmer has great videos free

Ok,Thank you everyone for your answers.I was gonna try to save some money and do it myself but i think this is a job for the pros.Can someone give me an idea what a job like this will run me?I will like to get a leak test and recharge.Maybe change the dryer/receiver.

There should be a tag on the evaporator giving the typr and charge weight. That's going to be up under the dash. There may also be an ID plate around the radiator where you normally see stickers and such. I'm speaking generally because I'm a marine AC guy, not automotive.
Also, at some point, the car makers started using different size service ports, 1/4" and 3/8" instead of having them both 1/4" ports. That was done because of the many reports of unknowing shade tree mechanic trying to recharge their systems, hooking the low press hose to the high side and having the 1 lb cans blow p in their faces.
As stated above, if you are not familiar with auto ACs and it sounds like you are not, then letting a pro do it is definitely the way to go.

Bob Landry wrote:

joe0508 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
You likely will not be able to buy the freon, so just take it to a qualified service station and have them perform a leak test and then recharge the system. This is really not a DIY job, and needs to be done using the proper equipment by a trained and qualified service person.

Can you tell me why you dont think i will be able to buy the fron?

1993 was the magic year that everyone stopped producing R-12 equipment. With yours being a '93, it could be either R12 or R-134a. If it's R-12, it has been illegal to buy or sell R12 since 2000, so no one is going to have it. If it's R-134a, the auto parts stores are going to have it, but I'm not sure if they will sell it to you unless you have an EPA card. Also, the leak would have to be found and repaired or you will be back to recharging, and since you don't know how long it actually took it to leak down, you don't know how large the leak is or if it's repairable.

Are their anyway just by looking at the ac system and tell if it has been converted or not?What would be my indications?