blown 87

A voice of reason right there folks.

R-12 is out there, so why not use it.

928 at last

Big +1.

Having said that, I use Duracool in the 1995 GMC portion of the fleet, Jimmy & Suburban, but that's based on a couple of factors....1). R-12 isn't available in Canada, and converting trucks this old probably isn't worth the expense, and much more importantly 2). I could give a rat's *** if they BBQ. On the other hand, I'd be quite upset if the 928 went up in smoke.

dr bob

It took me a long doy to do the full R-134a conversion on my car less than 6 months following purchase. After a couple recharges in that time, and with teh stack of dealer receipts for "Check AC. No leaks found. Evacute and recharge" services from the original owner's purchase date, the problem was not going to get better. I could have as easily used R-12, had and still have a cylinder of that, but figured that if it did still leak after I was done, at least I wouldn't have puked out a cloud of expensive and environmentally-sensitive refrigerant. Except for rebuilding the hoses, the effort for the conversion was no less than the effort needed for a thorough resealing for R-12 anyway.

Now to the meat of the lecture... If the car is leaking, FIX THE LEAKS before you put anything in there, chloroflourocarbon, hydrocarbon or a blend. Wally's point about fractions leaking at different rates is extremeely important when you have leaks, since the only recovery is a complete evacuate and recharge even if you only need a partial charge added. Putting flammable gasses like propane and isobutane into a system that is known to leak may not be the best idea. We all understand that the small leaks will likely never reach the Lower Explosive Level (LEL) threshold in a running car. But, if you ever have a larger leak around a hot engine, the combination of the entrained oil with a <400º flashpoint may be enough to light off the vapor in combination.

So fix the leaks, flush the compressor at minimum, more if possible, replace the expansion valves and the dryer with current pieces, and use polyolester oil in it. That oil is compatible with both R-12 and R-134a, allowing you to do a painless changeover later to R-134a if needed.


My system bleeds about a can of R-134a every few years through the compressor shaft seal. Known issue for cars that sit for long periods between uses. It will still freeze the fingers on the steering wheel with the freeze switch jumpered, with 19ºF center vent temps at 90º ambients and our low humidity here. Even in my black car in SoCal service, R-12 does not provide a benefit for me over R-134a.

fredfox

I have about 100+ lbs of r12.

dr bob

Potential EPA Superfund Cleanup Site?

Nicole

http://www.imcool.com/articles/airco...erant_Fire.htm