Bizarre ac behavior

[Ranger550]

Depends on whether the low-pressure switch is intended for R12 or R134a. R12 would be higher pressure than 134, 40-ish psi vs. 22 psi, I think.

Make sense to me. I sure miss the old R-12. You could buy it in some places as low as .59 cents a can, when I was young. 22 PSI sounds about right to me for R-134A.

 

[Schurkey]

Make sense to me. I sure miss the old R-12. You could buy it in some places as low as .59 cents a can, when I was young. 22 PSI sounds about right to me for R-134A.

I remember being shocked in 1980 when my own mentor, The Master, showed me how to chill automatic choke coils for diagnosing and servicing by blowing a can of R12 on them. About a buck a can at retail, depending on where you're buying it and whether it was "on sale".

I had to work-out for myself that R12 was one of multiple Chloro-Fluoro-Carbons that the Big Shots in Montreal had recently outlawed in aerosol cans due to Ozone Hole problems. I immediately bought a compressed-air Vortex chiller for testing chokes. I never used R12 for that again.

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Vortex tube - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

To be completely honest, the Vortex unit didn't work that great for chilling chokes. It worked, but took lots longer than R12.

What did I REALLY use the Vortex tube for? Putting the cold end inside my shirt, and cooling ME.

 

[Ranger550]

I remember being shocked in 1980 when my own mentor, The Master, showed me how to chill automatic choke coils for diagnosing and servicing by blowing a can of R12 on them. About a buck a can at retail, depending on where you're buying it and whether it was "on sale".

I had to work-out for myself that R12 was one of multiple Chloro-Fluoro-Carbons that the Big Shots in Montreal had recently outlawed in aerosol cans due to Ozone Hole problems. I immediately bought a compressed-air Vortex chiller for testing chokes. I never used R12 for that again.

You must be registered for see images attach

Vortex tube - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

To be completely honest, the Vortex unit didn't work that great for chilling chokes. It worked, but took lots longer than R12.

What did I REALLY use the Vortex tube for? Putting the cold end inside my shirt, and cooling ME.

What burns my hide is that R-134A was supposed to be so much better than R-12 freon was for the ozone. Now they are switching to the new R-1234YF refrigerant. Why in the blue blazes this is occurring is beyond me. It's also flammable and costs a lot more than R-134A.

 

[Schurkey]

Because they can.

Because everything we do is evil, and has to be CHANGED to something more expensive, less convenient, and less effective, because We the People are not bleeding enough already.

 

[man-a-fre]

What burns my hide is that R-134A was supposed to be so much better than R-12 freon was for the ozone. Now they are switching to the new R-1234YF refrigerant. Why in the blue blazes this is occurring is beyond me. It's also flammable and costs a lot more than R-134A.

We are all getting played

 

[drdoom1337]

I'm going to be unplugging the low side sensor with the truck off and firing it up to see if the clutch still activates right now. If it does still activate, I'll try pulling the AC fuse. I will have access to my good ac gauge set tomorrow (I live in an apartment and have them at my parents house).

I've contacted my local parts store and I can rent a vacuum pump for free. After checking everything that Richard has mentioned, I will try to pull vacuum on the system and see if the leak is identifiable.

I'll report in a few minutes if the compressor keeps running even with the sensor disconnected and fuse pulled.

 

[Ranger550]

We are all getting played

Yeap! That's for sure!

 

[Schurkey]

If there's any refrigerant pressure in the system, use an electronic leak detector.

Leaks can be refrigerant pressure "out" of the system, but under vacuum, may not have air leaking "into" the system.

 

[drdoom1337]

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Here are some photos of the clutch. I've unplugged the low side sensor and even the relay and the clutch continues to spin with the pulley. I do have a video recorded. I'll try uploading that externally and sharing.

 

[drdoom1337]

Uploaded a video to YouTube