ester can be mixed with mineral oil. mine too was empty of oil.... other than what the rebuilder of the compressor put in there to keep it lubed.... i used an almost empty can of duster to push 7.25oz of ester with dye into the system via the low side port. the oil injector only holds 2oz so i filled it up a few times and kept pushing it into the compressor while i left the high side valve cracked to atmosphere so it would flow in easy. then i slowly purged the little bit of pressure that was in there from the duster and then i vacuumed it down for an hour or so.
then i charged it. 2 10z cans of duster and a smidge from another can that was almost empty. i was rushed (wife and kids requesting stuff) so i didnt even use my thermometer trick.... i just slammed 2 cans in (by the molecular weight calcs its .55 x the weight of R12 which came out to 20.9oz) and a spritz from the last one (i was clumsy purging the hose to the manifold so i wasted a little anyway)
its blowing cold. i hopped in the car today to move it so i could mow the grass and it blew cold air almost immediately.
the parallel flow condenser is working pretty well from my stationary tests. i still have to put a little bit of weather stripping here and there to improve efficiency of the system.
the radiator and the condenser are the half size honda radiator area. if for some reason it cant cool once i get out on the road tuning and driving then ill swap in my scirocco sized dual core/pass radiator and the larger condenser to match. i now have the fittings so it would be a bleed off, drain the oil from the old condenser into the new one and add a touch, vacuum down and then recharge.
since i can make hoses, i may swap to a universal receiver drier that has the screw on oring connections rather than those silly one bolt connections that the stock one has if they start to leak.
Brian
Originally Posted by turbovanman
Is the duster refrigerant compatible with PAG oil?
I think that is what I have in my current r134a charge.
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Wayne H.
'91 Dodge Spirit ES 2.5L turbo 5spd
'05 PT GT 2.4T HO autostick (RIP)
'89 Plymouth Acclaim 2.5L turbo auto, "Slugmobile" yes, THE Slugmobile!
'89 Dodge Caravan SE 2.5L turbo auto, "Mean Mini" yes, Gus' Mean Mini! (Current best 11.699 @ 114.43 mph! - Oct 15th, 2022 Cecil County Dragway, MD)
MeanMini dragracing videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...URZLB1RxGYF6vw
and other cars, trucks and motorcycles
https://www.youtube.com/user/SlugmobileMeanMini
yup pag and ester. i have ester in my reliant cause its pretty much compatible with everything.
Brian
Originally Posted by turbovanman
This is the idea I have kicking around. I want to keep functional a/c and uncover the intercooler core so it gets better airflow and it doesn't have all the heat from the condenser dumping into it
Replacing the old style tube and whisker style with a parallel flow should be enough of a gain in heat transfer that it should work ok with the reduced size. Also these are half the thickness of the original style, definitely benough room to stack 2 of them in there if the one isn't enough.
This is just a cheap generic universal from eBay, paid $59 with free shipping. There are some much nicer ones out there from the retro fit ac manufacturers but I wasn't willing to plunk down $140 on an experiment just yet.
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That looks like it will certainly give some efficiency gains. Nice work.
thats the style that i put in my reliant
Brian
Originally Posted by turbovanman
I had a bad experience with a cheap aftermarket condenser, it would not properly cool. I had a complete R134 factory system from a 1992 Sundance, but the condenser had a leak in the end crimps. I bought an eBay condenser, could not get the high side pressure down under where the second stage of my pusher fans came in and even then I had mostly froth in the sight glass and not much cooling. I went back with a new Chrysler one. I will report on it's behavior once I get the wiring finished.
On my Omni I used an early Caravan condenser as it uncovered the intercooler.
It's a tight fit but lot narrower than any others I've seen.
From memory I think it was from a 1986-87 Caravan.
Thanks
Randy
There is no logical reason to call an Engine a motor.
Randy Hicks
86 GLHS60
86 GLHS 373 : SOLD, but never forgotten
89 Turbo Minivan
83 Turbo Rampage : SOLD
Edmonton,Alberta,Canada
As an HVAC engineer I must caution against Duracool and other R-12a products.
"HC-12a is a mixture of hydrocarbons, specifically propane (R-290) and isobutane (R-600a)"
Yikes. And people want to complain about how flammable R-1234yf is. Christ!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HC-12a
Jeff
A few comments on this. First, I was at Purdue when George Goble first came up with the idea of using a flammable mixture to replace R12. He tried unsuccessfully to light a charge with a Bic lighter. He was using a "reasonable" sized leak. The charge in an AC system is pretty small and short of catastrophic failure (EXTRAORDINARILY RARE) a leak that will drain a system in a day is still pretty small.
Second, the big issue with R-1234yf is that when it burns, it creates a toxic gas... That is not a problem with propane.
I was curious if anybody else was using sealing washers instead of the stock seals?
I had a system that I was struggling to get to seal with the stock type seals. I started swapping in sealing washers (used in newer AC systems) and was able to get it to seal up. Maybe I could have gotten it to seal with standard seals, but it seems much easier to just use the sealing washers. The trickiest was the drier, used two washers on each side so that the nut does not rock/angle the connection.
I tried that. They do work great. The tough part was keeping them centered on the compressor port. I tried to come up with a plate to hold them in place, but I couldn't get past the thickness tolerance requirements, galvanic corrosion issues, etc. I never really took it further because I just lapped every joint I could. Rubberized metal seals work great when you use them between 2 mirror finished surfaces. I digress... lapping is not practical for most.
For clarity since your response implies that we are not talking about the same thing here is a link to what I am talking about.
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-.../dp/B000DCNE2Q
Rubberized metal washers seem to seal irregularities in surfaces easier/better than stock metal seals...
On the 3l V6 engine the tubing for the AC compressor extends through the flange. The washer sits "snuggly" on the tube and makes bolting it on "easy".
Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about.
For each compressor port you need 2 of these. These are designed to fit over a pilot pipe that gets squished between the facing surfaces. There's no pilot pipes on the A/C compressor pipes (suction or discharge), just that plastic gasket retainer thingy. As such, something needs to hold it in place, centering it over the holes.
We are talking about the typical 2.2/2.5L A/C compressor, correct?
Edit: now that I look at this picture I recall having to grind a flat spot on the seal washers to get them close enough together to be able to center on the hole. Yet another reason why I dropped the project.
I used to have the same concerns, but then I saw a test where basically they TRIED to get it to do bad stuff...the end result was a big "poof" of flame for a split second and that was it. Like I said, it was RIGGED to do it. Once I took into consideration that the charge itself is very small, and there isn't a continuous supply, my fear of it going up in flames pretty much went away. Doesn't mean I don't think anything could happen. I just think it would have to be some extraordinary circumstances for that to be a contributing factor to some sort of accident.
my father in law charged all his tractors with propane. occasionally they would develop a big leak, catch fire for a second and then it would stop.
the worst part about it was that the cab would now get warm as the AC wasnt getting cold anymore.
its not as flammable as the high pressure gasoline thats being force fed to the engine bay in mass quantity.
big picture folks..... big picture.
Brian
- - - Updated - - -
was the condenser the factory style but just cheap?
these are not. they are parallel flow condensers like a modern AC system and they work quite well.
Brian
Originally Posted by turbovanman
Regards,
Miles
DD '87 Sundance T1, SLH with rear disks
'87 CSX #432 2.5 CB TII, SLH