Duracool

[hsahai]

I have 560sel with R-12 A/C. Site glass showing lot of bubbles and very low cooling. I decided to put Duracool. Should I just drop it in or empty the system pull vacume and then charge with Duracool? How about putting Propane since both are almost same? Folks! I will not put R- 12 period.

Another Question- Is it possible to drain oil from the compressor without removing it from the car?

Sahai

[pesuazo]

There is no way to remove the oil from the compressor without removing the compressor itself (as far as I know).
Years ago, my '86 300E was having sort of the same issues. The main difference was I had no R12 left (empty). I pulled a vacuum and dropped the hydrocarbon on it, and got cold AC for years after that (I guessed there was enough oil in the system).
The hydrocarbon molecules are bigger than R12 and R134a, hence it leaked very slowly, I only needed to add a can every summer (5 bucks). I still have like 8 cans left.
I am currently working on an E420, AC compressor is seized. I just got another one from a junkyard (Denso 10pa15c, the original on the car is a 10pa17c). I will be installing it this weekend.
I will add some ester oil to the compressor (it will do OK with the original pag already in the system), pull a vacuum and drop 16 ounces of "Enviro Safe".

[hsahai]

Originally Posted by pesuazo

There is no way to remove the oil from the compressor without removing the compressor itself (as far as I know).
Years ago, my '86 300E was having sort of the same issues. The main difference was I had no R12 left (empty). I pulled a vacuum and dropped the hydrocarbon on it, and got cold AC for years after that (I guessed there was enough oil in the system).
The hydrocarbon molecules are bigger than R12 and R134a, hence it leaked very slowly, I only needed to add a can every summer (5 bucks). I still have like 8 cans left.
I am currently working on an E420, AC compressor is seized. I just got another one from a junkyard (Denso 10pa15c, the original on the car is a 10pa17c). I will be installing it this weekend.
I will add some ester oil to the compressor (it will do OK with the original pag already in the system), pull a vacuum and drop 16 ounces of "Enviro Safe".

So nice of you, Peseuzo!

Can you sell me 2-3 can of hc? How much will be the cost with shipping. I can pay you via paypal or credit or check. Let me know soon.

Sahai

[Kestas]

I believe the hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants such as Duracool are a mix of propane and butane. The butane is needed to carry the lubricant. You can leave the old lubricant in there, or top off if any has leaked out.

I also believe you need to remove the old refrigerant before adding HC refrigerant. This means you'll have to pull a vacuum before charging HC refrigerant.

You can get Duracool refrigerant from duracool.com.

[Matt L]

Duracool is overpriced by about a factor of ten. How much does R12 really cost these days?

[loubapache]

The current price is a about $30 per can if you buy in cases of 12 cans.

http://www.r-12.com/?_kk=r-12&_kt=c2b99675-319f-4c77-98ad-fe53930c3a3e

I think I have an unopened can of virgin R-12. The can might have some surface corrosion but the content should be fine. If interested, please let me know so I can dig through the stuffs to find it.

OP must have reasons not to use R-12. IMHO, if you have a R-12 system and it is a little low, the best option is to add some R-12.

[tjts1]

I've used duracool on several R12 cars thus far. As long as your system still holds some pressure, you can just dump the duracool on top of the R12. The duracool comes in R134 style cans so you'll need an R134 style low side adapter and R134 hose, preferably with pressure gauge. Be careful with the low side adapter. There are 2 styles. One is designed to work with the existing R12 shrader valve in place, the other you have to remove the shrader valve. Most auto parts places won't know what you're talking about but if you look at the bottom of the valve, make sure it doesn't have a needle that would stick into the existing valve. You don't want to have to remove the existing valve. Its messy.