V50 Air Con Refill - should it do this???

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

....Given the Halfords EZ Chill sells for £50 (I think) I cannot understand why people don't go to Kwik Fit or one of the many other garages that do fixed price drain & re-fill using a automated machine for around £50.

Ok so I'm going to do a U-turn on this - maybe.

I've got a project Ford Ranger at the minute and I've had to replace the AC compressor (the bearing had siezed on the clutch and subsequently spun on the spigot and worn it away meaning a new bearing cannot be fitted).

After trying three times to unsuccessfully to get it in at Kwik Fit (mainly due to their staff having little or no emotional intelligence, inclination or customer service focus but that's a long story I wont bore you with) and the chap who drained the system for me going to Corfu for three weeks I've read up and decided to try the STP kit. I've gone into this knowing that the system was healthy and gas tight before, it hasn't been left open to the elements and hasn't been drained for more than a few days.

I'll post later and let you know how I get on - FYI the cheapest price I could find was Wilcodirect.co.uk which was £60 for a bottle and connector including the £10 deposit.

From the reading that I've done though - it's really only suitable for refill/top-up of known healthy systems. To diagnose AC faults you need a full charging set with high and low gauges.

[Bendolfc]

If it helps anyone ATS are currently on groupon doing it for £35. Until the heat wave it was 25.

[iainmd]

Not sure I'd want to take anything to ATS. The company that drilled and plugged a runflat on my BMW when Pirelli state they cannot be repaired. If they can't get tyres right I suspect aircon is well beyond their ability.

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by iainmd

Not sure I'd want to take anything to ATS. The company that drilled and plugged a runflat on my BMW when Pirelli state they cannot be repaired. If they can't get tyres right I suspect aircon is well beyond their ability.

hehe i feel the same re "kwicfit",,, though i generally call them something Far more fitting and appropriate

[Tannaton]

My confidence with Kwik Fit is hovering around zero, I've got a collection of quotes I've overheard their staff tell customers including that it is illegal to have winter tyres on a car in the summer and I once overheard them speaking to a customer on the phone who's oil light had come on after they have serviced his van to drive it back in so they can check it...

However with the AC service they simply plug a machine in to the high and low ports on the system and then press a button. It's no more complicated than a washing machine in that respect. Where their limitations come in is if anything goes slightly wrong, but in this case they won't attempt an AC repair they will just stop the process and not charge you.

I would never entrust them for any other servicing or repairs though. Never.

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

My confidence with Kwik Fit is hovering around zero, I've got a collection of quotes I've overheard their staff tell customers including that it is illegal to have winter tyres on a car in the summer and I once overheard them speaking to a customer on the phone who's oil light had come on after they have serviced his van to drive it back in so they can check it...

However with the AC service they simply plug a machine in to the high and low ports on the system and then press a button. It's no more complicated than a washing machine in that respect. Where their limitations come in is if anything goes slightly wrong, but in this case they won't attempt an AC repair they will just stop the process and not charge you.

I would never entrust them for any other servicing or repairs though. Never.

IF ,, you were able to Stand there and watch the numpty run the machine,, and make sure they put the high/low pressure connections on the wrong way,,,(with/without a 2x4 timber in hand) yeah fair enough,,

but for anything more technical,, oh like filling the washer bottle,, No


snap on the "oh what" from them

a Fitter about to gas axe off the upper suspension nut from a mondeo estate, the top of the suspension strut is next to the fuel tank,, gas axe waving blindly up into the bodywork,, the nut he was about to cut off is part of the body,, its welded To the body @ the factory,,,

"you will be fine with 195/50 on the front and 195/65 on the rear, ",, abs/traction/brake warning lights on @ 48mph,,
and keep going

saw one monkey hanging off the exhaust to free it up,, full body weight by a fat bastid fitter,, then jumping up/down to let even more bodyweight hit the exhaust to free it,, they buggered the center section of the exhaust and expected the customer to pay for it,,,

[Tannaton]

OK so here we go by way of an update....

I have a project Ford Ranger where the A/C was working but the compressor clutch bearing was fugged. Had the system drained, replaced the compressor with a £45 e-bay second hand job, refitted, needed to re-gas.

Knowing the system was previously sound, and Kwik Fit were irritating me - I bought this:

https://www.wilcodirect.co.uk/produc...rcon/CC-AIRCON

First issue - the instructions on the website say that if when you connect the filling hose the gauge reads zero - the system is empty so add half the can and try again.

BUT

The instructions on the can say that you should not attempt to fill an empty system.... possibly for the UK regs?

However I tried it anyway. The instructions also say that you should charge the system with the compressor running. All A/C systems have a pressure switch that locks out the compressor if the gas is low - this is to prevent damage as the gas is also the lubricant.

So I tried to fill (without the compressor running as the system was empty) and the gauge quickly went over to almost max (Warning to be precise) - say in about 5 seconds. I suspected that this was because the compressor was not running the the pressure switch was in another part of the system (separated by the expansion valve and compressor). So I ran a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the A/C compressor clutch and hey presto.... pressure dropped right off when the compressor kicked in.

I then continued to fill the system - when the pressure on the fill nozzle guage got to about half way up the "OK" zone on the gauge the can was about empty. Took no more than 4 mins to get to this.

A/C now working as it should, you can feel cold air thought the vents within 5 seconds of pressing the button....

So I think if you are topping up a known sound system - it's okay. If you are refilling a known sound system it's also okay but you may need to fiddle to get the compressor running - that might just be a feature of an old Ford Ranger.

I've you've had a leak and you don't know where or why - you will probably just waste £50 and add to global warming....

[T5R92011]

That same kit would be £70 in a Halfords store as the bottle and gauge are sold seperately.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by T5R92011

That same kit would be £70 in a Halfords store as the bottle and gauge are sold seperately.

More than that - £20 for the filling hose, £60 for the bottle and a £10 deposit on the bottle I think....

[Lion Heart]

The £10 deposit for the bottle is included in the price of the item. It's not charged extra.

But you get that £10 back when you return the empty bottle. So effectively you can reduce the price you pay up front by £10 as you'll get that back.

SOmetimes Halfords do the deal where the gauge is included free with the bottle. I got a similar deal.