Red Tek R12 recharge kit

rathr-b-cruisin · Aug 2, 2015

Anyone use the RED TEK R12a Refrigerant Recharge Kithttp://www.amazon.com/RED-TEK-R12a-Refrigerant-Recharge/dp/B00DJDYORU

I have a '93 that i may try this on. i figure it's now working now and i'm not gonna spend a lot of money to get this working. so if this works, great, if not, well it didnt work before. Just wondering about anyone else's experience with this kit.

black_demon69 · Aug 2, 2015

read this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HC-12a

i would not use it because of this "HC-12a is a mixture of hydrocarbons, specifically propane (R-290) and isobutane" so it is flammable.....

alwaysFlOoReD · Aug 2, 2015

So is gasoline.

snoranger · Aug 3, 2015

I don't know about you, but I don't want anything flammable in my engine compartment. :annoyed:

alwaysFlOoReD · Aug 3, 2015

Stop filling you tank with gasoline then.

My point being that not all flammables are excessively dangerous. I believe that all refrigerants in use are flammable, but could be very mistaken on that.

snoranger · Aug 3, 2015

alwaysFlOoReD said:
Stop filling you tank with gasoline then.

My point being that not all flammables are excessively dangerous. I believe that all refrigerants in use are flammable, but could be very mistaken on that.

I guess I should have been a little more sarcastic in my response.

black_demon69 · Aug 3, 2015

134a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane
r12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichlorodifluoromethane

heres the data so read up

97RangerXLT · Aug 3, 2015

Propane makes an excellent refrigerant

the issue with highly flammable refrigerant is that it is under pressure... sometimes 200 to 300+PSI in running condition. if you leak, and you have a sparkplug wire wire that is grounding out/ shorting that could make your life more interesting.

The reason that *I* would not use that stuff is because no shop will touch your a/c system once you convert over to any kind of blend, or if they do it will cost you...those blends will contaminate their recovery and R12/ R134a supply.

Granted, you might be just going for getting it nice and cold on a budget and this truck will probably never see a shop (at least for a/c) again in its life, but it still limits you in what you can do if this stuff doesnt work out, and if you do want to convert to R134a you will have the R12 and R12a blend that you have to purge from the system..

for a truck as old as yours, i would go ahead and replace the hoses with new barrier type hoses that will work with 134a, replace the condenser (or flush the living hell out of it... time consuming and a pain, I have been there when I rebuilt my a/c) and replace *all* of your o-rings. take the compressor out and get as much of the oil out of it as you can and put some r134 AND r12 compatible oil in it. be sure to flush the evaporator coil as well.

then replace the accumulator/ dryer and orifice tube and put it all back together again and put the R134a retrofit valves on.

pull a vacuum on it for an hour or so and refill with R134a. if you do it right, you will probably have cold a/c for the rest of your trucks life

check this write up on resurrecting your a/c:
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144542

This is for a straight R134a system, no retrofitting, but the principles hold for your truck as well. just remember you will need to change the oil out to a type of oil that is compatible with both R12 and R134a. PAG oil will sludge your system up.. Do some research and you should be good to go.

AJ

sblake01 · Aug 3, 2015

I didn't know that hydrocarbon based refrigerants like Redtek and ES12 etc. were still being sold in the US. I remember reading about them a few years ago.

PAG oil will only sludge a system up there are still traces of R12 in it since the two aren't compatible. To be on the safe side I wouldn't use is on a retrofitted system unless you are certain that all traces of R12 have been flushed/cleaned out.

black_demon69 · Aug 3, 2015

in a retro fit A/C system you should use ester oil NOT Pag because of comparability with r134 and r12 also ester oil mixes with any residual mineral oil in system...

you still need to flush system however.

black_demon69 · Aug 3, 2015

97RangerXLT said:
Propane makes an excellent refrigerant

the issue with highly flammable refrigerant is that it is under pressure... sometimes 200 to 300+PSI in running condition. if you leak, and you have a sparkplug wire wire that is grounding out/ shorting that could make your life more interesting.

The reason that *I* would not use that stuff is because no shop will touch your a/c system once you convert over to any kind of blend, or if they do it will cost you...those blends will contaminate their recovery and R12/ R134a supply.

Granted, you might be just going for getting it nice and cold on a budget and this truck will probably never see a shop (at least for a/c) again in its life, but it still limits you in what you can do if this stuff doesnt work out, and if you do want to convert to R134a you will have the R12 and R12a blend that you have to purge from the system..

for a truck as old as yours, i would go ahead and replace the hoses with new barrier type hoses that will work with 134a, replace the condenser (or flush the living hell out of it... time consuming and a pain, I have been there when I rebuilt my a/c) and replace *all* of your o-rings. take the compressor out and get as much of the oil out of it as you can and put some r134 AND r12 compatible oil in it. be sure to flush the evaporator coil as well.

then replace the accumulator/ dryer and orifice tube and put it all back together again and put the R134a retrofit valves on.

pull a vacuum on it for an hour or so and refill with R134a. if you do it right, you will probably have cold a/c for the rest of your trucks life

check this write up on resurrecting your a/c:
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144542

This is for a straight R134a system, no retrofitting, but the principles hold for your truck as well. just remember you will need to change the oil out to a type of oil that is compatible with both R12 and R134a. PAG oil will sludge your system up.. Do some research and you should be good to go.

AJ

yes what he said just didnt have lots of time to go into long post... :icon_thumby:

alwaysFlOoReD · Aug 3, 2015

black_demon69 said:
134a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane
r12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichlorodifluoromethane

heres the data so read up

Thanks.

rathr-b-cruisin · Aug 9, 2015

just so i would know how much a shop could do this for i took it in. 409.56, I paid 500.00 for the truck so that's not happening, anyway i started looking at this more seriously. They said my compressor was good so i'll replace the accumulator, which i didnt know was so cheap, take the compressor out and dump the oil, change the o-rings and any other part i'll need and get a vacuum pump and manifold gauges.

rathr-b-cruisin · Aug 21, 2015

ordered my parts today. both hoses, accumulator, orifice tube, o-rings, nylog, also got gauges and a vacuum pump. I ended up spending 300.00 including refrigerant, oil, adapters, and everything i needed. in the end, i wont save a lot, but i dont think the shop was going to replace the hoses, also the gauges and pump cost 95.00 alone.

Dang! i just thought. i should have ordered parts for a 95 ranger, that way the connectors would be 134 already right? oh well, i'll just use the retrofit adapters.

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