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Well the results are in. The new recovery tank came in today and I recovered 11 oz of the original 36 oz of Freon I put in. So that meant that at some time or possibly still I had or have a leak. The only thing I can think of is that there is a good possibility I left the gauges hooked up for the week that I was waiting for my fan controller. At that time I did not have a leak detector. I have one now and cant find a leak but I think we will now for sure in about 2 weeks.
So the task still remained as to finding the correct charge I should be using for this system. So while I was down I did a little calculation of the volumes of the original and replacement condensers. It turns out that the new condenser is ~ 5% less volume than the old serpentine condenser. As a system that account for about 2% less for the entire system. Therefor using the 85% charge typically used for going from R12 to R134 I cam out with 29.4 oz.
So with 88 to 89°F ambient temps I slowly approached 30oz. At 24 oz Most of the bubbles in the sight glass disappeared. The ambient temp duct temp, and pressures were all recorded with stabilized readings at 2000RPM.
At 24 oz - Ambient = 87° Pressures 245/16 PSI, Duct Temp 55°
At 28 oz - Ambient = 89° Pressures 250/16 PSI, Duct Temp 54°
At 30 oz - Ambient = 89° Pressures 255/16 PSI, Duct Temp 54°
I stopped at 30 oz since nothing appeared to be changing and it was in line with the estimated correct amount.
Attached is the MB performance chart for the 560SL running R12. While the performance of this system is nothing to write home about, I am clearly beating the stock 560SL using R134. And that would be consistent with the 42° duct temperature I measured when it was only 70° ambient.
So what remains is do I have a leak or not. I will report back in a week or so.
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