biglittledog Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 This thing may be fried but I thought I'd ask for your collective wisdom before I tossed it. My AC would only run for about 10 seconds and then cycle off and not come back on for maybe a minute. The air would get pretty cold for the short time it was on. I tried to add refridgerant with a can and a hose that has a gauge on it. The compressor doesn't stay on long enough now to take refridgerant in. Only a second or two. I jumped the compressor clutch and made it engage for about 5 seconds and a cloud of refridgerant came out the back end of the compressor. Not good. Is there anything I should check before I try another compressor? Did I trip some safety pressure valve somewhere? Any thoughts on used/rebuilt ones and where to get one? Thanks in advance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 You could have overfilled it. How difficult is it to spin the AC by hand? should be easy enough to spin by hand. Also you need to refill it on a VERY hot day, as the compressor needs to be under a load. Not sure about the refrigerant shooting out the back :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 STOP! YOu are playing with one of the few things that can really hurt you. The system has a saftey valve, and i think that is what is going off. YOu need a proper set of gauges to read the AC system. The gauges on the can are junk. There are a few problems that can cause no ac, that have nothing to do with the comporessor. You need to look deeper into the problem. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 do some reading on the internet about charging hte sytem. the compressor does not need to be running for the system to take a charge, actually that was a really bad idea. jumping the terminals of the compressor is never necessary just to charge the system. all you have to do is turn the a/c on and attach the hose, that's it, period. it will reach high enough pressures for the compressor to come on by itself assuming there is enough in there...which it sounds like it is if it was working "some". a completely empty system takes roughly 2 cans, so just putting one in isn't usually enough for the compresor to come on. but by the second can it will. that's some very bad backyard a/c info....you really need to read up some before proceeding like nipper said. also, which vehicle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglittledog Posted July 1, 2007 Author Share Posted July 1, 2007 Thanks and I've stopped until I find out more. I actually shut the "Blue Demon" off yesterday as soon as it did that. I mistakenly thought the compressor had to engage to bring the pressure on the LOW side down enough to take refridgerant. It would only stay on for a second or even less. I'll do some reading as you suggested. Oh, and it's a '94 Legacy L Alpine Wagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 what made you think it needed more freon? You said it was very cold? Does it have a site glass? The system has a "trinary" switch, this switch will tun the system off if the pressure is too low or too high Which is probably the case. As sugged, get a set of gauges for the type refridgerant you are using. Note when checking, a probe style thermometer is also your friend. Leave all the doors open when doing this so the expansion valve continues cooling the evap. coils and the system must be oprerating. Be carefull we are taking realitively high pressures. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglittledog Posted July 1, 2007 Author Share Posted July 1, 2007 Well, I had never considered that it was overfilled when I got the car! I guess I'm stupid but it never entered my mind. Everything has been so jury-rigged and neglected on this car, I never thought there would be too much of anything. I started it up and set it on max AC with the doors open (its 100 degrees today on my thermometer) and I connected to the low side but with no can...I let pressure out. The compressor cycled on and off again. I let more out, and the compressor cycled again and stayed on longer. This continued for several minutes with me gently bleeding pressure off of the low side valve until now the compressor stays on all the time. Inside, plenty of cold air! I think the PO must have overcharged the crap out of it and instead of saying he had added refridgerant, he just said "ummm it works a little but might need to be looked at". I guess I'm lucky nothing popped in my face while I was hooking up to the AC the first time and thanks for all your cautionary posts and advice. It was the trinary switch that got me thinking again. Another problem solved by you guys! I'll get it hooked up to a set of gauges and see if its everything is where it should be or close to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.