Thread: A/C Refrigerant
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07-28-2006 02:08 PM #1
A/C Refrigerant
I did a site search and came up, surprisingly, with a blank. Sometime in the near future, I will have all of my car in the same place - that is, on its wheels and ready to go. The car has A/C (yeah, it's a roadster, but.....) and I will need to charge the A/C. The system is set up for 134A refrigerant, but the price of this stuff per 12 oz. can is starting to resemble the national debt. I have heard and have done some minimal research on Duracool which is supposed to be much better than 134A, and even a bit better than R12. While I generally don't mind being a guinea pig for a new product, this, if it destroys my expen$ive new Vintage A/C system, I will be thoroughly p*##@d off.
This finally brings me to why I started this thread - does anyone have any experience with this stuff? And if so, how much of a problem was it, if at all? Duracool's website says that it cure all cooling evils, but I have learned that selling bridges in Brooklyn and land in Florida can be chancy at best, and vendor protestations of how good a product is falls in that categoryDave
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07-28-2006 07:21 PM #2
What I've heard about Duracool has not been good. I believe I'd run it by Vintage Air and see what they have to say. The 12/13 oz cans are selling for 8 to 12 bucks here. I just changed my '91 Dakota over to R-134 and it cost me about $60, but I also replaced the drier and metering valve since it had been a R-12 system.Ken Thomas
NoT FaDe AwaY and the music didn't die
The simplest road is usually the last one sought
Wild Willie & AA/FA's The greatest show in drag racing
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07-28-2006 07:48 PM #3
like NTFDAY said 134A is less than 10.00 a can and you need about 3 cans for a average charge, how much cheaper can it get???????Mike
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07-28-2006 07:51 PM #4
I use Duracool in everything, trucks, tractor, combine, car. Works great, less pressure, less leaks, cheaper. Its a propane/butane mix, bigger molecules so less prone to squeeze out. I don't see a down side.
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07-28-2006 08:01 PM #5
Originally Posted by DennyWMike
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07-29-2006 07:08 AM #6
Originally Posted by lt1s10
As far as propane/butane mixture - who cares - a cup of gasoline has about the energy of a stick of dynamite and a 15 gallon gas tank will make a heluva mess compared to a couple of pounds of refrigerantDave
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07-29-2006 07:08 AM #7
Originally Posted by R PopeKen Thomas
NoT FaDe AwaY and the music didn't die
The simplest road is usually the last one sought
Wild Willie & AA/FA's The greatest show in drag racing
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07-29-2006 07:30 AM #8
[QUOTE=Irelands child] 134A is not particularly good as far as cooling at about 50 - 60% efficiancy of R12. QUOTE]
That's correct if you're retrofitting an R12 system, but if the system was designed for R134 and yours is, the major draw back is that R134 operates at higher pressures making hoses designed for R12 a little suspect.Ken Thomas
NoT FaDe AwaY and the music didn't die
The simplest road is usually the last one sought
Wild Willie & AA/FA's The greatest show in drag racing
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07-29-2006 07:46 AM #9
in real life, 134A works just fine. i don't know where you got this 50% stuff from, but if my cars cooled any better it would be a waste of cold.Mike
check my home page out!!!
http://hometown.aol.com/kanhandco2/index.html
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07-29-2006 07:48 AM #10
Propane will only blow if it's mixed with the right amount of air. Sure it will burn, but guess what? So will R134a, or R12. Three ounces of propane will hardly make a smell before it dissipates, and no environment damage like 134. BTW, I have used straight propane to purge and test AC's, before I had access to a vacuum unit, and never had any problems. Don't believe all the alarmist propaganda you see.
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07-29-2006 07:57 AM #11
I don't believe everything i read and thats the reason i'm sticking with 134A. haven't seen anything to change my mind yet.Mike
check my home page out!!!
http://hometown.aol.com/kanhandco2/index.html
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07-29-2006 08:22 AM #12
Of course theres another product out there called Freeze 12. Its a direct replacement for R12. A Refrigeration buddy of mine is running it in his cars and his house!
http://www.freeze12.com/
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07-29-2006 09:44 AM #13
I'd use nothing except "PURE" r134-a, it works excelent,it's easy to obtain and is relativiely inexpensive. The other side to this is if at some point you needed or wanted to have a shop work on your A/C you would probally be refused service as shops are required to have recovery equipment and most have an r-12 machine and a 134 machine and if you cantaminate those tanks you have a very expensive disposal problem. every vehicle that comes in for a/c work that I don't personally know gets the refrigerant identifier hooked up and if it shows other than 134 or r-12 "very rare anymore" I send the customer packing.
Now an automotive a/c is a leak waiting to happen,no matter what with a little time it's gonna leak,so why would anyone want to put an explosive gas in one.....
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07-29-2006 10:12 AM #14
I have R-134 in my 96 Continental and if got any colder in there I'd have icicles hanging from my chin, even on 100 degree + days.Duane S
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07-29-2006 11:37 AM #15
Originally Posted by DennyW
When I was working on the International Space Station radiator panels a few years ago NASA was charging the system with pure ammonia. The Space Shuttle uses it too. Most of the commercial refrigeration units like you find in grocery stores use ammonia systems, not that I'd use it in a car, just some more worthless information I've collected in 51 yrs .
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches...te_021014.htmlLast edited by Corvette64; 07-29-2006 at 11:45 AM.
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