Refueling the air conditioner: instructions, equipment

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Of course, air conditioning is a useful invention that provides us with comfortable living conditions in the house and provides cold air in the car in the heat. Regardless of where it is installed, the unit has the same principle of operation, which is based on the conversion of freon from a liquid state to a gas and vice versa. But refueling car air conditioners and home air conditioners is somewhat different. In today's article, we will look at how this procedure is performed and what you need to know for this.

About Leaks

It is worth noting that not always a low level of refrigerant in the system is a sign of a malfunction. Experts say that about five percent of freon annually spontaneously evaporates from the refrigeration circuit of the air conditioner. This usually happens through the interconnection piping.

However, you should not allow the use of a split system with a low level of refrigerant. Ultimately, this will lead to sad consequences. The system will overheat and the compressor will fail. Next, we will look at how to refuel the air conditioner. There are two in total.

Pressure filling

According to experts, refilling the air conditioner in this way is inefficient. After all, the freon pressure in the system will be the same if it is 100 percent full or 5 percent full. This is a property of the refrigerant. Therefore, there is no point in measuring the residual by pressure. It is impossible to find out the exact amount of evaporated freon in this way.

By weight

This is already a professional air conditioner refill. It is applied both to stationary, and to automobile systems. What is the essence of this method? During the operation, freon is pumped out of the system, and then this volume is filled with new refrigerant. Special scales are used in the work. Having learned the amount of freon in the cylinder, fill the required volume. You can also find out the remaining refrigerant by looking through the viewing window. This is available both on stationary air conditioners and on some machines. Refueling of automobile air conditioners occurs until bubbles are completely squeezed out of the pipeline.

Instructions for refueling split systems

To perform this operation, we need the following equipment and tools:

• Digital scales.
• Digital thermometer.
• Set of hex keys.
• Manometric manifold.

When filling the air conditioner with your own hands, you can use a four- or two-position manifold. The latter is used for refueling and evacuation of climate control equipment. But often during use an air lock is formed, which appears when the hose is reconnected to charge the air conditioner. To remove it, you need to open the liquid valve on the manifold. If you use four-position equipment, the airlock will be eliminated. This unit is completely sealed, and there is no contact with air at all.

Before you charge the air conditioner, you need to open the locks. The latter are located in the service fittings of the split system. So we will release the remnants of the old freon from it. When it is completely removed, the locks are overlapped.

With the help of an electronic thermometer, the superheated steam temperature is taken. The level of gas boiling will be shown by a low pressure gauge. This device is located on the collector. The ideal temperature difference is 5-8 degrees Celsius. If the difference exceeds 8 degrees, you need to refuel the system with freon, restoring its amount to normal. To do this, a cylinder with a refrigerant is installed on the scales. Next, the scales are set to “zero”, the valve on the cylinder is opened and the liquid valve on the manifold is slightly opened for a second (to release excess air from the hoses). Next, the gas valve on the equipment opens. During refueling, the pressure in the system increases. In this case, the temperature on the thermometer drops. This indicator will not exceed 5-8degrees.

At the last stage, the gas supply valve on the manifold is closed. Next, the valve on the refrigerant cylinder is closed. The amount of refilled freon can be found on the scales, having found out the current mass of the cylinder after the operation. Experts recommend checking the operation of the system by connecting the device to the trunk. If the amount of freon is insufficient, the taps will freeze over. If this does not happen, then the refueling was successful.

Refill car air conditioners

This operation is performed according to a slightly different algorithm. And it is better to carry it out on specialized equipment in service stations, where an installation is used for refueling car air conditioners.

At the first stage, freon residues are pumped out. Modern stations already automatically perform this operation in order to weigh the mass of refrigerant residues. Next, the system is evacuated. This is an important step for a car air conditioner. Vacuuming removes the remaining moisture and air from the system, which got into the system before in any way. Usually, this stage takes from 10 to 30 minutes of time. It all depends on the class and power of the equipment used.

What's next?

Next, the system is leak tested. This is a required step. After all, if there are leaks in the system, the new freon will simply evaporate, and refueling will be pointless. Thereafteroil is being filled. On average, it is needed in the amount of 15 grams. The oil is used to lubricate the car's air conditioning compressor.

Usually dressing is done with a dye (it is called a tracer). This luminous paint also allows you to identify leaks in the system. Next, freon is charged. This is the final step in the whole operation. On average, a car's air conditioning system needs 500 grams of freon. But since filling takes place through a hose, and the pressure gauge is installed closer to the equipment, another 50 grams are added to this volume.

Check

But that's not all. After downloading, be sure to start the car engine and turn on the system at full power. At the same time, it is desirable to bring the engine speed to 2500 per minute. Further, specialists monitor the operation of the system:

• The pressure in the ports of the high and low circuit returns to normal immediately after the compressor is turned on. The low pressure gauge shows about 2 bar. And on high - from 15 to 18.
• The low pressure circuit tube is checked by touch. It is wide and, unlike thin, should be cold. It is unacceptable that the temperature of these two pipes (thin and thick) be the same, since the pressure in the system is different when the air conditioner is running.
• In the cabin, cold air should go out of the deflectors, since when the freon evaporates, it cools down to -2 degrees Celsius. And the compressor itself should be switched off periodically.

If all these requirements are met, then the air conditioner charging was successful. Will it last long enough? As practice shows, this operation must be performed periodically, once every two or three years. It is not recommended to use a system with a low level or no freon at all, as this can damage the compressor, and the system will no longer be restored with one refueling.

Price

How much does it cost to charge an air conditioner? The price of the work is about 1000-1500 rubles, excluding the price of freon. The refrigerant itself costs 150 rubles per 100 grams. Thus, the whole work will take from 1.8 to 2.3 thousand rubles.