Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 11:54:24 EDT
Reply-To: KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Adventures in Air Conditioning 2
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I am not an A/C expert. I know basically how the system works and we studied
it in aircraft mech school but I don't do A/C systems 24-7 like some folks.
However I like this Freeze 12 stuff. I am not selling it right now so this
is a pretty unbiased opinion. I have done a few of the R-134a conversions
last year and this year. I did them by the book, flushing the system,
replacing all o-rings, dryer, etc. Alot of trouble and after all was said
and done the performance of the systems leaves something to be desired. When
your Vanagon A/C system is not that great to start out with you can use all
the help you can get.
Freeze-12 does work better than R-134a. Also in the two vehicles I have used
it in so far, both of them I just put it in without changing anything and it
is working excellent. These systems didn't have any major problems or
defects just got low on R-12 after many years of use. I put $18 worth of
Freeze-12 in and they are back on line. Freeze-12 is a blend and perhaps
when it leaks out this will make the performance deteriorate but the same
thing would happen if R-12 or R-134a leaked out. If you have a larger leak
than you thought and the stuff leaks out rather quickly then no matter what
you have in there you are going to have to pull it out and repair the leak.
If the system is leaking normally it should be good for at least 4 or 5
years. If I can get 4 or 5 good years out of $18 worth of Freeze-12 I won't
complain if I have to pull it out, change a couple o-rings, and put $18 worth
more back in. The performance gain to me is worth this minor risk. Also the
operating pressures of Freeze-12 is lower than R-134a lessening the risk of
blowing your high pressure line. The advantage it has over just putting R-12
back in is cheaper price, and also availability (I know R-12 production
stopped several years ago and I think sales of it might be scheduled to be
banned at the year 2000. Don't know this for sure though.)
So, though I am still exploring this option, it still looks like a good
alternative to me. Tested the Jetta yesterday and at 89 degrees ambient temp
while idling I got 52 degrees. When going down the road at 50 mph the temp
dropped to 47deg. This is with the fan on the highest speed. My parents '86
Dodge van got down to 42 degrees in the same ambient temps sitting at idle!
I would love to see what this stuff is going to do in my Carat Vanagon. I'll
let the list know.
Ken Wilford
Van-Again
John 3:16
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