A/C recharge kits

[SumAznGuy]

With the current hot weather, I turned on the A/C for the first time this season but no cold air blew out of the vents even with the fans on for 10 minutes.

Princess auto has the Duracool A/C recharge kits with two 6 oz R134a/R12 ozone friendly refrigerants for $50.

Has anyone tried this kit or other similar kits at Cambodian Tire?

I've read the reviews but wanted to see if anyone here has first hand experience with it.

[gdoh]

i was going to do this last year but got it done professionally for around 50$ instead, less hassle

[narfy]

the problem with duracool and other R134 type products is that they don't help you source the root cause of the problem.

if you take your car to a shop that can do AC repairs, they'll evacuate how much refrigerant comes out of your system, measure it... then put the system under vacuum for atleast half an hour, do a vacuum hold test... if that passes, then they'll add oil/dye and then recharge it to factory spec and check for leaks.

the vacuum and hold boils off and removes any moisture that may have accumulated in your system... without removing teh moisture, that moisture may accumulate in the only part that has steel components (AC compressor) and damage it....

simply recharging a system with "compatable refrigerants" may not be such a wise idea unless:
a. you know where your system is leaking from, and you KNOW everything works, and only need to top up your system.
b. you are ONLY topping up, and you still have a significant charge in your system, but not enough to cycle the compressor.
c. you are charging up the system, and don't give a crap about the logevity of the AC compressor.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by narfy

c. you are charging up the system, and don't give a crap about the logevity of the AC compressor.

Right now I am in this position.

$47 after tax, the Redteck kit came with the hose, 2 cans of R134 substitue and a can of leak fix.
I skipped the leak fix and used a can of the R134 substitue. Right away the AC started to blow cooler and after 5 minutes it was ice cold again.

Additional cans are only $10 so it may be cheaper to do this once a year than to get someone to diagnose and fix it properly in my winter beater.

[godwin]

RedTek accessories like oil / test kits are 1/2 price this week at CT

"red tek" Search results | Canadian Tire

[Holeshot]

i've used the redtek kit on my dads car. 10 mins and the AC was blowing cold again. it has been 2 years since and the Ac is just starting to not blow as cold as before.

[godwin]

As stated before.. using the UV leak compound and leak fix things to fix the system first before you recharge..

Honestly the kits are fine.. it is the application by people (not doing a test / randomly charging and hope for the best etc).. that causes the problems

Originally Posted by Holeshot

i've used the redtek kit on my dads car. 10 mins and the AC was blowing cold again. it has been 2 years since and the Ac is just starting to not blow as cold as before.

[evo08]

Originally Posted by gdoh

i was going to do this last year but got it done professionally for around 50$ instead, less hassle

where?