Tackling DIY A/C Repair

[@Geeksmithing]

Awesome Mike! My favorite part of these videos is how you begin to peel the veil away from the mystery of how these systems and repairs work. Well done sir!

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Thanks!

[@mdmustakansari9105]

Geeksmithing nice

[@TRUMPLocalWallBuildersUnion]

nice job mike ! pretty scary stuff messin with ac ... I always opted for a shop to do it but now after watching this I may try and tackle the next problem on my own !

[@williamhustonrn6160]

Mike, good job on the repair of the A/C, i recently upgraded my window A/C from the old 12k BTU that died in my workshop to a mini split system. I bought the kit online for $550, spent $200 on parts and pump/gauge set and installed it myself... cheapest quote i got from the local 8 A/C shops i called around to was $1800 for the same size system

[@rumsarun6008]

Hello I’m live in Cambodia i want to know the price that a/c hose crimper.

[@jan-roarbernhardsen7626]

Good to see that its possible to do it on your own, even if you need some skills to do it. have a great weekend

[@flat4314]

The a/c will work better much better when the vechicle is not idling I'm surprised you didn't know this. I go to racetracks on hot days and sit In my car with it idling with the a/c on and it doesn't work well at all. keep up the great videos!

[@WildmanTech]

Thanks for commenting not to release the freon into the atmosphere. Good job!

[@bhwjrproductions]

I just bought the same crimping tool and will make my own ac lines for a custom engine swap project I have. Where did you get that big bottle of 134a? I was going to go to an AC shop for a recharge but I may do it at home like you did…

[@davidspensberger7862]

you also might be getting water circulating through heater core the hot /cool slide will not always shut completely there are one maybe two hand valves on heater hoses by engine shut them for summer

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

Great idea! I'll check that.

[@michaelsegarra2709]

hello if u had a leak with the lost of refrigerant u also lose oil. the way r134a works its needs to have the proper amount of both so it can work properly. for that reason if u had a leak we recomend to add at least 2oz of the correct oil ( PAG 46/100/150) the higher the number more viscosity. Hope this helped for next time!!

[@scottquick8827]

Thanks for the video. In California, Auto Zone has free tool rental. Actually, you pay purchase price for tool ( vacuum pump) and it is refunded when you return tool. I rented pump and manifold gauges.

[@moviezfree5352]

How copper oring fittings are made or is there any equipmet to press copper pipe to oring type

[@drdjh2003]

My 95 Chevy pick up runs 35° out the vent when 95f. I put a sandon compressor in it when the other went out.

[@ghostbuilder3187]

Hey mike how about this buddy! Let me help you out. When You charge flip the vessel upside down that way you charging liquid. The vessel was right side up, so you charged more vapor.2 Years later!!

[@chrisleggett685]

Make sure that the heater valve is not letting hot coolant mix with the cold air .

[@andrewakrause]

For anyone who wants to do vehicle AC repair - I highly recommend you get a set of gauges with a sight class. You need to draw a vacuum of 250-300 microns, but no manifold gauge set can deliver that level of precision. When the needle hits the 30 in HG of vacuum, it could still be as much as 5,000 microns left. You'd need to invest in a micron gauges, which is very expensive. Or, if you look in the sight glass, there's always a bit of oil in there, and the dissolved gasses will boil out of the oil. The boiling really starts to slow down as you approach 500 microns, and by the time you hit 300 microns, it's just a few bubbles each second. Then you'll know you're good. (Some people will just run the vacuum pump for an hour and call it good, but if your pump is old, weak or crappy, you're not guaranteed a good vacuum.) AC system repair is easily within the ability of an advanced level shadetree mechanic. If you can handle the complexity and number of steps involved in a brake job, you can easily handle AC repair. The stakes are higher because the parts are more expensive, but the payoff on a successful repair is that much sweeter.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+Andrew Krause Great advice. Thanks for the positive input :)

[@joecooldaddy]

Hey Mike where did you get that fitting. I have the same coach that you have and also the same problem. I need to locate that fitting so that I can repair the hose just as you did.

[@PidasianHippie]

The good thing about buying the tools, is you know you will be able to do the repairs for your self in the future and even use them to generate income on the road.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

That's exactly my plan :)

[@chukchee]

Where can I buy the ac fittings?

[@RaivisKarzons]

Great video!

[@reforzar]

Good stuff. Nice repair.

[@GurpreetShankar]

how much price from india

[@Vitaliy711]

what where your pressures (low and high) after you charged the system? 134a should be around 15 psi on low side and 160 on high.

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

They were much higher, around 40 and 225. But you have to take into account ambient temperature which is anywhere from 95-105 degrees here.

[@AhmedAli-pw8zy]

Good luck gast asked for this massin how much

[@connorjohnston3022]

When evacuating the system, you should really be using a torr gauge, and the system should be vacuumed to 2 torr, and if It rises more than 5 torr this would indicate the system has a leak, any less would means there is still air or vapour in the system

[@andrewakrause]

2 Torr is 2,000 micron - that's not nearly enough. 500 micron is the minimum on an automotive system using R-134a, and I always go to at least 300 micron.1 Torr = 1,000 Micron. Also, a system of the size he has in his motorhome can easily rise 5,000 micron with the condensables in that volume. If he was going to do a perfect job, he'd do triple evacuation with dry nitrogen, then make sure any pressure rise stayed under 50 micron/hour. (There will always be some small leakage under vacuum, but since the system will be holding at at least 30 psi and the refrigerant is a macromolecule, that amount of leakage is trivial.)

[@connorjohnston3022]

+Andrew Krause if you read the eu f-gas regulations 2015 you'll see that 2000 microns is the minimum requirement for when evacuating

[@andrewakrause]

Minimum - go look that word up. Also, you go by the manufacturers specifications, not some Bureaucrat in Brussells - I have yet to see a single automotive manual which says 2,000 micron is acceptable. The highest allowable vacuum recommendation I've seen is on some very tiny cars which allow 500 microns of vacuum - cars so small that the AC compressor is electrically driven. I live in the American south, and if you don't do an AC repair properly here, it will be very evident on any given summer day.

[@shorn77777]

hi there, you could check how to adjust the refrgnt. according to ambient temperature. the subcooling and superheating differences between the condenser temp. drop and increase from the evaporator coil should be same. this way, you have a perfectly working system. youtube for such videos if you want to take a step further, well done on this. one more, though the system works on saturation of gas and since ambient temperature increases the pressure of the system, there by inhibiting the saturation of gas, you could overcharge a bit to take advantage of the work done by the gas in the system. the more the gas the more the work. this will compensate the ambient temp. increase and its associated resistance to the saturation property of the gas. i hope this may help you get more cooling

[@JESUSGARCIA-og8ys]

where'd you get the scale looks like a luggage scale?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

+Jesus Garica Yup just a luggage scale from Walmart. Although for a car you'd only need to know how many ounces are in each can of freon. I needed that because an RV uses so much.

[@jackiemoyer3511]

+Mike and Lauren well shoot I had that exact luggage scale sitting here doing nothing

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

lol

[@JESUSGARCIA-og8ys]

ya I know I own a fleet of truck and am blessed to have a tech on my payroll but I'd like to make it easier on him then just guessing off the guages it's gone well since I've had him working for me but there nothing like being accurate I do appreciate the reply

[@chrisleggett685]

You need a charging station

[@aDIYCarGuy]

I wondered what those crimp tools look like....I could use one for fuel lines.

[@jazzhands4274]

It's better to work with pressure than weight. Look up how much pressure there is supposed to be on the high side and low side while the a/c is running.

[@jazzhands4274]

... while the a/c is running the low side should be from 40-50 psi

[@Patricksworkshop]

Nice

[@Drtbiker88]

Should’ve flushed the lines with nitrogen before you pulled a vacuum, not a bad repair though!

[@chuckbarnett_tx]

doing this right now

[@NathanDavis2]

He might have talked about this in another video but what happened to Mikes nose?

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

He had an accident in the shop :/ kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZOce4qBoKloY6s

[@fromanabe8639]

$140? When I look at those crimpers on Ebay the cheapest one is $165 + $75 shipping

[@fouroakfarm]

My guess is that there is still something wrong. I think tech support meant that cabin temperature will only get to be 20 below ambient but vent temperature should be 40F or something like that. I would go have your system evacuated and have it refilled by a shop. You should have bled off the air in the hose before filling by letting refrigerant through with the end open. Even ECTG had trouble filling his kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGK5eGSFfaqZd68

[@MikeAndLaurenTV]

I'd love for something to be wrong, but I verified they meant dash temp. I did purge my hose lines before filling. I'm going to check out the Monaco forums and see what other people say.

[@MrDeakle93]

+Mike and Lauren I'm an HVAC tech for homes. We usually want the actual temperature inside the house to be 20 degrees less than the ambient temperature. The air that comes out of the vents should be around 55-60...in a house. In a car with 134a refrigerant, the temp should be 40-55 degrees. I would say that the system needs more refrigerant.

[@BorisSpark]

this gas Freon is very very bad for ozone

[@aDIYCarGuy]

not as much with r134a, no CFCs in it. that's why people can buy it.

[@andrewakrause]

Mike kept calling it Freon - that's a common misnomer. Freon is a brand name name for a bunch of refrigerants, including R-12 (commonly in old home systems) and R-22 (commonly in old vehicle systems). It became so popular and widespread, that all R-12/R-22 was simply called Freon, no matter who made it, and all refrigerants were assumed to be R-12 or R-22. When R-12 and R-22 was phased out for refrigerants which had low or no potential to deplete the ozone layer, people just kept calling it Freon. The new refrigerants aren't necessarily better for the environment, mind you. R-134a and R-410a stay in the atmosphere longer, so they only offer a fractional savings over R-12 and R-22 from Ozone Depletion Potential. They also have a much higher Global Warming Potential. A new generation of refrigerants are coming with low ODP and GWP. They'll cost a shit ton of money, be hard to get, and will probably cause cancer in baby seals.

[@aDIYCarGuy]

yep freon is a dupont product

[@BorisSpark]

yeah i worked at mechanics and they had machine which does vacuuming and all that stuff and if you use it with out license 10000 pound found because of gas

[@fritzstorp8357]

First

[@RickLaLande]

good job