VPC York compressor Dealer AC, R134A Fill Options

[jdamiano]

My car has the dealership installed VPC AC. I purchased the car 5 months ago and the AC doesn’t blow cold. I have no history on it. Still had a little pressure in the system. I’m thinking of charging it with R134. Has anyone done this and know how if it will work and how much I should try to put in the system?

[MarkV]

If you are just trying to get the system working again without replacing the compressor you may be able to use an R-12 replacement freon. I think there are a few of them available. You may have to evacuate all of the R-12 out of the system first and I would replace the dryer as well. One of the available replacements is "Freeze 12"

[Mblizzard]

If you are just trying to get the system working again without replacing the compressor you may be able to use an R-12 replacement freon. I think there are a few of them available. You may have to evacuate all of the R-12 out of the system first and I would replace the dryer as well. One of the available replacements is "Freeze 12"

Likely smarter AC people here but as the chemist, these replacements are most often flammable hydrocarbon mixtures. They work but add additional concerns in cases of accidents and leaks. I tend to be simple and grade things on the good bad scale.

Flammable gas under high pressure = bad in my book. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blowup.gif)

[JamesM]

http://redtek.com/English/product.asp?ID=18

I would and do run RedTek in all my older cars. It is a hydrocarbon mixture however it has the same autoignition temperature as R134a so i don't know if you can call it any more flammable. As an added bonus when R134a does burn it produces a toxic gas where as RedTek doesn't.

As with most things there seems to be a campaign to tout all the horrors of using an un-patentable product but if you look at the actual reality of it there are a LOT of advantages to running a hydrocarbon blend, especially in an older car.

RedTek should be a drop in replacement on a 914 where as i wouldn't run R134a without replacing pretty much every component of the system. I speak from experience as I attempted to do this on my Vanagon which has a similar AC system (long rubber hoses running front to rear) and was treated to an exploded high pressure hose in the first 30 minutes due to inadequate condenser capacity for R134a and the fact that early Vanagons have no high pressure switch. Did some research, replaced the hose, installed RedTek and its been cooling well ever since.

Redtek has a much larger molecule size so it wont penetrate older non barrier hoses, runs at much lower head pressures so things don't blow up and you are not forced to install an upgraded condenser to keep the pressure in check. Its compatible with both mineral and PAG oils so no need to flush the oil. No more flammable than R134A and if it does burn it isnt toxic like R134a plus you only charge with about 1/3 the volume of R12 or r134a so there isnt as much in there to burn anyways. The chemical itself is much less harmful for the environment than both R12 and R134a. takes less energy to use and cools better.

I probably sound like a crazy salesman here, but after going through the headaches of getting the AC working in my 85 vanagon Westfalia (which was complicated by attempting to use R134a first) discovering RedTek and then resurrecting two other older Porsche AC systems with it with zero issues, im pretty passionate about it. My favorite experience was with a 80'924 turbo i picked up that had sat non op for 20 years before i got it. After I got the car running I did nothing but vacuum down the AC system, charge with a can of RedTek and it started blowing cold immediately. Didn't even change the drier or a single seal.

It is the easy button for older AC systems.

Very popular with the Vanagon crowd
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=292488

If you are just trying to get the system working again without replacing the compressor you may be able to use an R-12 replacement freon. I think there are a few of them available. You may have to evacuate all of the R-12 out of the system first and I would replace the dryer as well. One of the available replacements is "Freeze 12"

Likely smarter AC people here but as the chemist, these replacements are most often flammable hydrocarbon mixtures. They work but add additional concerns in cases of accidents and leaks. I tend to be simple and grade things on the good bad scale.

Flammable gas under high pressure = bad in my book. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blowup.gif)