Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)

MitchR on Wed August 24, 2011 7:51 PM

Country of Origin: United States

For us amatuers who don't have a recovery machine, I thought I read an earlier post about using a 30 lb. tank put it in an ice chest pull a vacuum and recover some refridge that way. If so what would you guess you could recover? 50%? 75%. And also opening the gauge valve to a minimum keeping oil mix low. Has anybody ever done this?


Another question if you suspect your used vehicle may have had sealant put in, can you flush it out or need to replace?

GM Tech on Wed August 24, 2011 9:29 PM

This was standard procedure before recovery machines - but if you use just ice-- it's only 32 degf-- we always used dry ice-- much colder

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The number one A/C diagnostic tool there is- is to know how much refrigerant is in the system- this can only be done by recovering and weighing the refrigerant!!
Just a thought.... 65% of A/C failures in my 3200 car diagnostic database (GM vehicles) are due to loss of refrigerant due to a leak......

mk378 on Wed August 24, 2011 9:34 PM

You'll need a recovery cylinder, not just an empty tank. Recent 30 lb tanks that refrigerant is sold in have a check valve so they don't refill.

Edited: Wed August 24, 2011 at 9:35 PM by mk378