Air-con regas DIY canisters. Anyone tried them?

[CoolHands]

the ones you can buy in halfords etc - the large canister type whadchamcallit. A34 or whatever gas is in them

Anyway I need mine regassing but can't get to a garage at the mo so just wondered if these are any good / work or what? Never ever tried them so got no idea meself. I think from memory they are £35.

[Frik]

Before looking at degassing I'd be asking why the system has lost pressure in the first place.

[redtwin]

I have used them before, but I wouldn't pay that much for a DIY kit. If you have a Kwik-Fit nearby they do it for £30 and it will be a much better job than you could manage with shop-bought tins.

[kevin63]

Frik said:

Before looking at degassing I'd be asking why the system has lost pressure in the first place.

This is right.
I've had my third re-gas now (I only paid for the first one) and eventually the garage found a rusted canister which was the reason why the gas was leaking in the first place. A good re-gas place should check the system holds its pressure first before re-gassing.

[CoolHands]

nah my car was unused for about 2yrs which is why I think it's gradually stopped working. I've owned for over 5 years and it's never been re-done so I don't think there's a fault, I just need it regassed. At least at first, then if that doesn't work I can bother to get into fault-finding. The reviews for it seem quite good:

http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/195354/reviews.ht...

[Superhoop]

First question, how much do you know about A/C?

Second, have you seen he fines that can be handed out for incorrect handling of refridgerents - anyone working on A/C systems now has to be qualified to do so

Thirdly... Google 'A/C gas skin burns'

[Bungleaio]

I recommend going to ATS they do a vacuum check to make sure there is no leaks, if you fail this then they don't regas and there is no charge. If they do refill it's about £40.

[kevin63]

CoolHands said:

nah my car was unused for about 2yrs which is why I think it's gradually stopped working. I've owned for over 5 years and it's never been re-done so I don't think there's a fault, I just need it regassed. At least at first, then if that doesn't work I can bother to get into fault-finding. The reviews for it seem quite good:

http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/195354/reviews.ht...

I'd owned mine for 10years before it needed re-gassing, I was surprised it lasted so long.

[Speed addicted]

I used on once on the wifes old A3, it did quite a lot of fk all. Just go to one of the places mentioned above and get it looked at for not much more money than the DIY option.

[CoolHands]

alright enough overkill - I'm not using radioactive waste It's sold in halfords for gods sake. And no, I don't care if some gets released into the atmosphere. I'll just hold my breath

[redtwin]

CoolHands said:

alright enough overkill - I'm not using radioactive waste It's sold in halfords for gods sake. And no, I don't care if some gets released into the atmosphere. I'll just hold my breath

Yes it is sold in Halfords, but it is still highly pressurized gas and it is dangerous if handled carelessly. The earlier warning was not without merit, even if you have no environmental concerns, you should be just a bit bothered about your own safety.

[bennytheball]

As a refrigeration engineer I can safely say those things are the work of the devil! The sooner they are banned the better!
To put it into perspective venting refrigerant gasses into the atmosphere carrys upto a £25000 fine.

[Dogwatch]

Frik said:

Before looking at degassing I'd be asking why the system has lost pressure in the first place.

A fair point. I tried one on the daughter's Pug 306 a few years ago with some success - the system did start working again. The KwikFit manager had turned it down flat as being beyond their regassing service.

- it did need a can of the resealer stuff as well and will never replace a proper job

- if you diy do use eye protection as it is nasty stuff in the can, and also gloves (even if just rubber ones) as accidentally touching a freezing pipe....

- Don't try and force the connector onto the first 'bleed nipple' you see, it may be the high pressure side which you DON'T want and is a slightly larger diameter but appears very similar. On her car both had the same colour caps! If the connector is reluctant back off and review.

[Superhoop]

CoolHands said:

alright enough overkill - I'm not using radioactive waste It's sold in halfords for gods sake. And no, I don't care if some gets released into the atmosphere. I'll just hold my breath

Like I said in my earlier post, google 'A/C gas skin burns - trust me, they're not pleasant

Or just look at this.... (sorry mods if it's nasty)

Edited by Superhoop on Tuesday 27th December 21:09

[MrBrightSi]

bennytheball said:

As a refrigeration engineer I can safely say those things are the work of the devil! The sooner they are banned the better!
To put it into perspective venting refrigerant gasses into the atmosphere carrys upto a £25000 fine.

Hows this true when i (sadly) frequent airsofting and the gas i have to use is h134a. This is a standard gas for aircon from what ive read, it's even used for air dusting pc cases.

[Otispunkmeyer]

Frik said:

Before looking at degassing I'd be asking why the system has lost pressure in the first place.

To be honest I reckon most air con systems need a little top up, no matter what. Refridgerants like R134a are difficult to seal in a system unless you weld everything shut. It's a very thin substance, gets out everywhere.

[danyeates]

I paid £50 for a full air con service at a Skoda main dealer. Complate antibacterial clean, service, check seals and regass etc. Bargain. Not worth bothering with myself for that money!

[mfmman]

Bungleaio said:

I recommend going to ATS they do a vacuum check to make sure there is no leaks, if you fail this then they don't regas and there is no charge. If they do refill it's about £40.

Vacuum testing will not show up all leaks

Whilst R134a is a devil for leaking out, it is possible to get a properly tight system

Fridge gas burns, if I'd had a camera I could have shown you some belters from when I was an apprentice

[bennytheball]

MrBrightSi said:

bennytheball said:

As a refrigeration engineer I can safely say those things are the work of the devil! The sooner they are banned the better!
To put it into perspective venting refrigerant gasses into the atmosphere carrys upto a £25000 fine.

Hows this true when i (sadly) frequent airsofting and the gas i have to use is h134a. This is a standard gas for aircon from what ive read, it's even used for air dusting pc cases.

It is true, releasing Fluorinated gasses to atmosphere is very frowned upon. Finding a link that confirms the fine however is harder than I thought! This is the closest I could find.

http://www.boconline.co.uk/health/environmental_le...

Also as a law no system should leak, ever! A small amount of gas being released when attaching monetering equipment to a system is acceptable and unavoidable. A leaking system will generally only leak as a result of a poor installation.

[Si_steve]

MrBrightSi said:

Hows this true when i (sadly) frequent airsofting and the gas i have to use is h134a. This is a standard gas for aircon from what ive read, it's even used for air dusting pc cases.

Use Propane or Propylene...Much more kick. I switched to propane for my M1911 and even the blowback has a hell of a lot more kick.

Sorry for going O/T