R-134a conversion: a success!

[treed2@u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

> Sooooo,
>
> This 'pulling a vacuum'- It makes no provisions for recovery of existing
> R-12 in the system. I have a GTi with A/C, I wouldn't mind capturing
> what's in there, else I have to do some crazy stuff to get it out in one
> piece.

Unless you're looking to spend hundreds of dollars on certified
refrigerant equipment, the only option I'm aware of is to get an old
refrigerator compressor and an empty propane tank with some fittings in
between. The EPA is probably just about as crazy about that idea as
you are..

> On the other hand If I can't get the R-12 to a certified recovery agent
> then I could just vent it but I loath to do that to Momma my Earth. I
> have been looking for a way I could capture the stuff into a propane
> tank for the time it took to remove the system and reinstall it w new
> dryer in another car.

I'd be willing to bet that some A/C shop wants your R-12. It's
worth quite a bit now that it's out of production.. and you really have
to be an a/c shop to have the expensive equipment that can filter used
refrigerant enough to recycle it. In my case the system was already fully
discharged (or very nearly).

Realistically I think you're out of luck for saving that old R-12
yourself.. you have to deal with contaminants like moisture, mineral oil
and atmospheric gases that have probably mixed in with the refrigerant. If
I understand correctly (which I very well might not.. but anyway..), the
drier acts as somewhat of a filter and has a moisture-removing property.
However, I don't think it has the capacity to act as your "first line of
defense" when it comes to moisture and contaminants.. it is merely there
to remove the minute amounts of "bad stuff" that get in to the system no
matter what. Kind of like that stupid banjo bolt in the fuel distrbutor..
you don't want to rely on that thing to stop the rust in your tank from
getting to your injectors.

> In any case, I believe I will put myself on the (wedding) registry at
> Harbor Freight.

Haha! Tools, tools, tools...

I could swear HF sends me at least two catalogs a week!

..not that I mind - ny tool collection has been growing steadily for the
past few years.

> Thx for the update,
> TBerk

-Toby