Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 I am having my AC recharged, and hoses replaced on Tuesday. Can anyone tell me what the AC part is behind the battery? It is a large round steel cylinder stuffed up under the passenger fender. It is connected before the receiver dryer, and after the compressor. I will probably leave this out, as it will surly suck a few extra pounds of EXPENSIVE R-12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 Why not skip the R-12 and go with <BR>ENVIROSAFE or<BR>FREEZE 12...... They are sold on the internet too.<BR> They are butane based, drop in alternatives to R-12 and a heck of a lot cheaper! About 7-8 bucks a can.<BR> BTW.....I think I would keep that cylinder in there, you never know what is there for and you might loose cooling if you junk it.<BR>Tom H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 It's a muffler. GM liked to use them in A/C high pressure lines to quiet down pulsations and compressor noise. You can probably get away without using it but it doesn't hold that much more gas- a few ounces at most. Whole system doesn't hold but 4 lbs or so.<P>Do you really want a flammable gas in yer A/C system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 Think about a hot, liquified, possibly explosive gas being released in front of you during a collision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 The muffler is on the gas side of the system. The additional charge for filling it is negligible. It helps the efficiency of the compressor by smoothing out the flow through it. Be careful about switching to the Internet "Wundergasses". If you use any flammable gas in your system, no licensed AC shop will touch it afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 That "can" acts much like a tank on an air compressor. In this case, it's not so much to create volume, but to create extra volume for expansion and contraction of compressed gasses. I've been involved in Fire/EMS for many years and have many credentials in this field. I would not use butane!!! You might as well strap an explosive charge to front (usually first place to get hit) end of your car. Course you could always nickname your car "BOOMER"!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 don't use Butane???????????? thats as much nonsence as saying dont burn gasoline in an engine. HELL!!!! there is a 20 -30 gallon GASOLINE tank at the BACK OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!! SO WHAT's the big deal with butane in the AC system?????<BR>Personaly, i would not use the butane either but rather convert it to R134A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 "blue flame 125 powerglide" ????????? dont u mean "..235 Pow...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 29, 2002 Share Posted April 29, 2002 Packard? No I meant "Blue Flame" 125 hp w/powerglide!!! Dat be my 54 Coupe (not in photo. Car only came with a 235 cid at 2 different Hp ratings. 115 or 125. 115 for 3 on the tree or 125 for the powerglide.<BR> <p>[ 04-29-2002: Message edited by: 61lesabre ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 Thank Ya ALL for the response on solving the mystery about my AC Cylinder (muffler)! The Original Parts Group hoses didn’t match up, (of coarse)! They said each hose would cost around $150.00 to make up! So,, They are going to try the old hoses that actually look ok. (Will know by tomorrow if they leak or not). They didn’t know what the cylinder was either. Thanx again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted April 30, 2002 Share Posted April 30, 2002 I don't worry about the crash risk of having butane in an A/C system as much as I do pinhole leaks in the system itself. Butane seeping out of connections underhood could eventually accumulate enough to create an explosive mixture that could be ignited by underhood heat, electrical spark etc while driving down the road. Unexpected Boom! is not my idea of a good time.<P>If the leak were in the evaporator, all the airflow into the passenger area goes thru it. You could be suffocated by hydrocarbon gas and never realise what is happening to you. Leave butane to Zippos and Ronsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Mike,<P>If you're going to an A/C shop that can't recognize the muffler (and presumably doesn't know its purpose, either), you should think about finding someone else to work on your car. I would extrapolate from this bit of ignorance that they don't know much about the rest of an older A/C system, which means that you may end up with less than optimal performance - if they don't break something first.<P>If you do need new hoses, try Old Air Products (http://www.oldairproducts.com/). The prices they quoted me were much less than $150 each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reatta Man Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Oh, one other comment...the approval process for alternative 'freon' is different when going from a stationary system, like a walk-in cooler, to a mobile system on a car. <P>In the case of the car, NO replacement using butane or any inflammible gas is approved for use in a mobile system. NONE, ZIP, NADA. If anyone is using a butane-based product in a car, they are subject to a $25,000 EPA fine. In addition, if you put a butane based foreign product in your car, and you do the legal changeover to unique fittings and a new label, then take the car in to have the A/C serviced, most shops won't touch it for any amount of money. The shop doesn't want to possibly contaminate their $10,000 machine, risk an EPA fine and loss of license, have to warranty their work to you, or be liable for any problems you may have down the road from foreign or flammable gases. <P>Use R-12 or R-134a, period. <P>Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 I have a friend who has a very rusted 1979 Cad that was low on R12. He charged it with 134A with out removing the remaining R12 or changing anything else. It has been working great for the last two years, it blows very cold air and has not required any more freon added. I know all the stuff we all have been told about doing this, but he did it with great results. Now I will not recomend doing this, and I think it's aganst the law. Just thought I would post this for what it's worth. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 And now that Caddy is going to contaminate every refrigerant recycling machine it comes in contact with. Do us a favor- let us know where this rustbucket Caddy is so we can look out for our interests and not run the risk of cross-contamination.<P>I personally think the Freon-ozone hole relationship is a bunch of hooey and that it was designed so DuPont could get rid of R12 and sell a bunch of R134a- just so happens all this came up about time the R12 patents were set to expire, meaning no more royalties.<P>However- we're stuck with elimination of R12 and our refrigerant choices are limited. It is illegal to knowingly cross-contaminate systems. Stick with one or the other of R12 or R134a. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Chapman Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 I'm not convinced of the ozone depletion connection either... but, I do remember from my younger days in the Navy that liquid freon was used by the gallon as a cleaning agent for aircraft. It was particularly effective in rinsing oil and hydraulic fliud out of inaccessable areas... That oughta get the tree-huggers going.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Brian: THANK YOU for the tip. I am somewhat new to the r134a conversions having done only ONE so far. I have 2wo more to do real soon. I will try the 'Direct Method' on one of them first. MANY thanks agin for the tip!<BR>CAN ANYONE ELSE CONFIRM USING THE DIRECT METHOD as to its ABILITY to work ok????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted May 4, 2002 Share Posted May 4, 2002 Packard, if you're going to try this, at least get the remaining R12 out of the system before you put the R134a in it. Check with your local tech school, often their automotive tech department will recycle the R12 for you. Then you can start with an empty system and not run the risk of fouling up everyone else's system if they get hooked to a machine your car was hooked to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 4, 2002 Share Posted May 4, 2002 John Chapman........<BR> And remember how snowy white the freon degreaser used to turn our hands????<BR> Im just glad it didnt hurt us back then...... LOL<BR> I feel my nuerons going awray as we speak,,,,ACK!!!<BR> Im so glad we now have water to wash oil/grease off airplanes now. Its so much fun!!!!*@*()%)U@#%()_*!@#$<BR>Tom H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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