Clicking and RPM jump when AC is on

[TheDurk]

No, it is not. You cannot legally buy a true tank of refrigerant without a license and for good reason. You also need compressor oil and most importantly an A/C service machine.

You need to pull a vacuum and evacuate the system, check for leaks, inject the correct amount of oil and charge the system to the correct factory spec. No more no less.
It's been a long time but I used to be certified on vehicle ac systems.

All this diy stuff on ac systems is absolute lunacy. You cannot properly recharge a system without the proper tools and machine. You will blow something up, ruin the compressor, or break other expensive shit So many things can go wrong.

Do NOT work on your AC system unless you are trained and have an AC recharge machine. The system should not leak, if it's low that is a sign of something being wrong and it needs to be properly diagnosed.

I disagree. Vehicle A/C systems were around a long time before they invented those fancy machines. I have a good set of gauges, a two-stage vacuum pump, an electronic leak detector, a precise gram scale, an oil injector, and I am fully confident that I can evacuate and charge an empty system such that the car will never know it was never near a $3000 machine if no one tells it. I've been doing DIY A/C work for over 15 years and never had an issue. I invested a lot of time studying the subject and I'm confident in what I'm doing.

The only thing the machine can do that I can't is recover. I have a buddy who does that for me.

 

[jross20]

I disagree. Vehicle A/C systems were around a long time before they invented those fancy machines. I have a good set of gauges, a two-stage vacuum pump, an electronic leak detector, a precise gram scale, an oil injector, and I am fully confident that I can evacuate and charge an empty system such that the car will never know it was never near a $3000 machine if no one tells it. I've been doing DIY A/C work for over 15 years and never had an issue. I invested a lot of time studying the subject and I'm confident in what I'm doing.

The only thing the machine can do that I can't is recover. I have a buddy who does that for me.

You're already doing far more than the average diy. You've basically set up your own ghetto system which is cool but also just further hits my point home...

My point stands that you don't just hook up a little crappy store-bought can and hope for the best.

 

[TheDurk]

You're already doing far more than the average diy. You've basically set up your own ghetto system which is cool but also just further hits my point home...

My point stands that you don't just hook up a little crappy store-bought can and hope for the best.

...which is what I said earlier on. I agree with that. I took exception to the "you need a license, machine, training, etc." to work on A/C. What you need are the right tools and the willingness to educate yourself.

 

[jross20]

...which is what I said earlier on. I agree with that. I took exception to the "you need a license, machine, training, etc." to work on A/C. What you need are the right tools and the willingness to educate yourself.

Education and training go hand-in-hand, but there's a large amount of people nowadays AC recharge is no different than an oil change.

Plus honestly by the time you go by all that stuff and do all that, you can just pay a shop to do it with the machine haha. Like $75 at the shop I use, plus their work is insured. It's not like something you have to do all the time, I just don't see the point in risking it to save 75 bucks every 2-5 years.

 

[TheDurk]

Education and training go hand-in-hand, but there's a large amount of people nowadays AC recharge is no different than an oil change.

Plus honestly by the time you go by all that stuff and do all that, you can just pay a shop to do it with the machine haha. Like $75 at the shop I use, plus their work is insured. It's not like something you have to do all the time, I just don't see the point in risking it to save 75 bucks every 2-5 years.

I take care of my two cars, girlfriend's one, two son's one each, and one regular friend. Those are mainly older cars. Even the newest car can hit a raccoon and need a condenser. Around here, evacuate and charge runs $120. Took a year to pay for all the stuff, and I've been doing it for 15 years. Plus going to a shop is a pain.

Insurance? Against what?

 

[96RedRunner]

No, it is not..

All Freon is bought at a store and in a can, cans vary in size but it's all the same formula or systems would not work.
I've been certified since 1979, your correct in that you need to know the system functions and characteristics to work on them. The OP was asking about the symptoms he was seeing. Answers given such as being over charged sound correct, he can bleed a bit off and be good to go.
With me saying bleed some off is your opportunity to speak of Ozone depletion from freon. The MSDS sheet refers you to the Kyoto Protocol, Protocol says it is not 100% proven to cause Ozone depletion.

 

[jross20]

I take care of my two cars, girlfriend's one, two son's one each, and one regular friend. Those are mainly older cars. Even the newest car can hit a raccoon and need a condenser. Around here, evacuate and charge runs $120. Took a year to pay for all the stuff, and I've been doing it for 15 years. Plus going to a shop is a pain.

Insurance? Against what?

Insurance on the off chance that something blows up. I've only seen it happen one time, but it is always a possibility.

If a shop breaks something, it's covered.

If I break something, I'm shit out of luck. Haha

But again I'll say you're doing waaaaay more than the average person who says "yeh get that ac stuff from Walmart and hook it up"

All Freon is bought at a store and in a can, cans vary in size but it's all the same formula or systems would not work.
I've been certified since 1979, your correct in that you need to know the system functions and characteristics to work on them. The OP was asking about the symptoms he was seeing. Answers given such as being over charged sound correct, he can bleed a bit off and be good to go.
With me saying bleed some off is your opportunity to speak of Ozone depletion from freon. The MSDS sheet refers you to the Kyoto Protocol, Protocol says it is not 100% proven to cause Ozone depletion.

You know what this is always been a big question to me. One of the big things that we learned in the shop classes was that refrigerant was a federally controlled substance. Basically you couldn't just go buy it unless you had a license. And in fact we were not allowed to handle it at all without our instructor present and with instruction from he/she that we could go ahead. It was a big deal. We had to keep track of how much that we had stores, new or old, and said tanks were kept in a locked cage.

So unless that's changed or something, I've always assumed, and still do, that the little cans of stuff in stores are not true refrigerant. Otherwise how would they get around all the legal nonsense? But even if it is, these cans have unfortunately misled many a person into thinking they can just magically make their ac cool for 20 bucks (or whatever it is). No telling how many systems were damaged each year.

And yes I know that r-134a was created as to not damage the ozone layer, but that still doesn't mean we need to just be dumping it wherever. It is still quite dangerous, as most chemicals are.

A lot of people don't take this stuff seriously now days, which is why I become quite peeved.

 

[96RedRunner]

[MENTION=388984]jross20[/MENTION], When the EPA first got involved in freon regulation they tried to regulate the 12oz cans people stocked up on them. By the time the regulations were ironed out through political pushback 12oz cans not regulated. Controls kicked in if you wanted to purchase 25 or 50 lb jug. Still same chemical make up.
The recording and reporting of recovered and freon used etc has gotten more stringent the last 10 yr or so. The bigger the company is the more likely EPA would audit, bigger company bigger fine. Smaller shops gotta cover their butts EPA doesn't hunt em down much.
Fully agree with you that freon should be recovered. This story from personal experience, several years ago home AC system R22 3 ton unit at my residence needed to remove A coil. Recovered some freon discharged some into grass, grass tuned brown for couple weeks and grew back nice and green.
Is freon really the planet killer as being portrayed?