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Baby, it's cold inside!
Jim,
It may work good now, and it may continue to work well, but those
little $10 vacuum pumps do not completely evacuate the system, leaving
traces of water vapor. That combines with the 134a and turns into a
vicious acid (hydrocloric IIRC), and starts eating aluminum inside the
system. What can happen is it will work great now but in a year or two
the system will look like swiss cheese.
Been there, done that.
This is the best place I have found so far with information, I remember
you could get a proper vane type vacuum pump that can pull you below 50
micron vaccum for around $150:
http://www.ackits.com/
http://www.ackits.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AMA&Product_Code=90059
http://www.autoacforum.com/
http://www.autoacforum.com/categories.cfm?catid=20
http://www.autoacforum.com/categories.cfm?catid=2
I remember hearing that trying to measure vacuum at the levels you need
for satisfactory evacuation is like trying to measure the thickness of
a piece of paper with a ruler, i.e. think of the ruler as an in/hg
vacuum gauge and the thickness of the paper the level you need to
achieve of vacuum.
The receiver/dryer should also be replaced, it contains a one-use
dessicant that absorbs any minute amount of water left in the system.
Of course this is before it combines and turns into acid, so it's just
part of the necessary safety steps...
John Gates
--
'97 Jetta GLX
'85 Scirocco
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Jarrett <jarrett@rpa.net>
To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
Sent: Mon, 01 Aug 2005 12:31:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Baby, it's cold inside!
Well, I've finally put the 8-car garage to use. I finally completed the
replacement of a leaky A/C condensor in my Scirocco, along with a
brandy-new
radiator ("Do I want to be here again?").
A couple of trips to (cue chorus of angels) Harbor Freight for tools to
pull a
vacuum onto the system, and a care package from myself in NY, and
voila! Cold
A/C!
Things learned along the way:
-You can't buy the R-134a recharge kits in WI. So when I was back in
Rochester
for my sister's wedding, I popped into Pep Boyz, and acquired myself
one.
-FLAPS in Madison suck, compared to Rochester. No large chains like
Pep Boyz.
The staff at any of the others look at me like I've grown another head
when I
say, "Volkswagen Scirocco." Hence, my search for a simple multi-pack of
O-rings
took FOREVER. I ended up having to go to a NAPA and single-ordering
replacements; they didn't even have them in stock. Sheesh. When I did
the
retrofit on my '84, I just got a bubble-pack of O-rings, no prob.
-Never throw anything away. I had done 3 different recharges on 3
different
cars, and it took pieces from ALL of them, plus an A/C pressure
gauge/manifold
kit from (angels) Harbor Freight to find the right pieces & parts to
hook
everything together. But, those little $10 air-powered vacuum pumps?
Rock.
-I'm still slow as hell at working at things. It took
force+heat+chemicals to
break loose the bolt holding the A/C line bracket loose from the
compressor.
Force+heat+chemical = time, time, time. And then other stuff going on
conspired
to keep me from working diligently at this.
But, it's nice to have the cooling draughts of air, especially now that
the
outside temperature and humidity are shooting back up to the 90's+ this
week.
Oh! And the compressor didn't even sieze. Yet.
PS. Hey Matt - have you tried the A/C in the '84? Is it still working?
=================================================================
| Jim Jarrett,Madison, WI 94 Passat GLX |
| mailto:jarrett@rpa.net 81 Rabbit Convertible 16v |
| 86 Scirocco |
| Any problem can be solved with the proper application of |
| Force, Heat, Chemicals, or Money. |
================================================================
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