Thank you everyone for the education! Maybe if I could see up close without my reading glasses I would have noticed the white plug covering the adjustment screw 😂 You guys are awesome. The only downside to me doing something dumb on camera, with a community as sharp as you guys, is I get to hear about it a thousand times 😋 But I'll take it any day of the week. I learn from you guys too!! More than you know.
Yeah man, sorry bout that, I wrote my first comment thinking I would be helping you, then I read all the other comments saying basically the same thing. But it took me so long to type it out I left it lol! I was thinking cool I could possibly help Danner which has been helping all of us for so long!
From my experience those o-rings will leak again eventually if they are not OIL resistance type, in HVAC we use the Green o-rings (oil-resistance), very nice work with refrigerants for a mechanic!
I was concerned that the black o-rings are strong but for AC, I wasn't sure. I choose green rings when I bought them in a kit, too bad they are not universal but even smaller ones will still seal even when stretched a little.
Yeah my brotha! This is hands down my money jobs...I love a/c repairs...and you nailed the leak. When you live in Florida... the heat is almost year round scorching weather, people will pay whatever. But my method with finding a leak is using an a/c recovery machine. I vacuum 5 min, and recharge 8oz, and quickly spray soapy water. I usually find it within 5 minutes. As soon as I find it...recover the freon quickly and really you don't lose much freon...beats getting nitro. I nail it everytime with this method and better than that obsolete sniffing detector crap...and I still slip in the freon lost as part of a diagnostic fee and get that money back😉😉 man and you got me sold on getting a thermo cam...it's also a great tool on finding parasitic draws.
That was a great refresher on charging air conditioning systems, especially the HOT water method that was 'cool' Paul. You mentioned that method before but now seeing it done was spectacular!!
Thank you for showing how to properly store your gauges. That was one thing I wasn’t sure about, but it makes sense and hopefully will prevent any damage from long-term pressure exposure
Paul, remove the little white plug on your manifold set. The clear front plastic piece. Turn the screw. It will realign your needle on zero. Can be done on both high and low pressure guages.
Thanks for this video. I enjoyed it and it refreshed some things that I have forgotten. I've been DIYing AC repairs since 2006. I hated charging using the small cans so I ended up buying a refrigerant scale for the 30 pound tanks and bought some tanks. It makes recharging so much easier. Set the scale for the charge amount and then wait for the alarm to go off to say it's done. As others have stated, most gauge sets have a small screw in the face of the gauges that let you zero out the needles. I have Robinair gauges and occasionally I have to zero them out.
Super high quality content! I enjoyed every thing you explained. Increased my understanding how to do a/c systems. Unfortunately i have cheap ass gage set lol. I know most people cheap out on gages when do their ac lol! I'm trying to increase my knowledge on electronical and ac field! I'm trying to absorb your teachings as much i can!
Paul and crew go on one camping trip in Florida and sleep in the heat and priority numero uno when he gets home is to get the RV AC squared away….hahahaha….I kid I kid. Great break down as usual. Finding the leak Could have been a nightmare with the length of runs those lines have. Your boy giving you crap when you dropped the o ring was hilarious.
Nice easy fix for you this time.....If that were my coach I think i would have tried the charging the system using the sub-cooling method like they do in HVAC. That's assuming it has a TXV and not an orifice tube. Eliminates the need to guess on the amount of refrigerant.
Paul that thermo cam . You can use that to check the liquid level in the compressor . There's a UA-camr that does ac units ( can't remember name ) he shows you how to do that .
@@ScannerDanner It's not theoretically as good as nitrogen for leak detection because it's a slightly larger molecule. No concerns other than that. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use an argon blend, or CO2, MIG shielding gas either. IIRC Bernie Thompson sells a CO2 leak detector for AC systems. One common shop gas you definitely shouldn't use for pressure testing is oxygen. Putting pure O2 into a system containing hydrocarbons is dangerous especially at high pressure.
Good call on the nitrogen I wanted to make a 2cent comment on your previous vid but you got enough comments about checking with air Paul 2 things to remember hot goes to cold and hi pressure goes to low pressure NEXT level in your diagnosis will be checking sub cooling and superheat I’m a retired refrigeration tech checking temperature on systems is easy no more thermistor wrapping on clean copper CHEERS still get thru ur book AMAZING
19:00 The gage probably got damaged while you were putting so much pressure on it. The linear scale stops at 120psi, you went to 250! That may overbend the measuring tubespring inside.
Might want to consider changing coolants next time you have an issue. R134 is going away. The new ones actually work better than the old ones. Also, might want to have a look at your vent door. On most moho's they open when the ac system is running and create a higher dash vent temp. mine started at 55 degrees, with a coolant change and perm closing the vent door now runs at 36 degrees. 103 ambient.
I'm certainly not going to do any type of retrofit with a different refrigerant when R134a costs about $7 for a 12oz can. Not to mention the retrofits that we did when R12 died, were sort of like putting a bandaid on a wound. It worked but there were some serious drawbacks.
👏👍 getting better Finding the leaks on those large RVs can be a bit of a pain with a mile of hose. That’s where a combination of using the ultrasonic leak detector when you have it pumped up high with nitrogen comes in the play. And with refrigerant a very sensitive refrigerant leak detector like the D-Tek. Stratus All those old rVs with all that hose naturally loses a little bit of refrigerant right through every foot of hose and when you stack up many feet that adds up to a slightly bigger leak that you cannot pick up using UV dye or looking for signs of oil and sometimes unless really bad not even the leak detector picks it up because it’s diluted down so much per foot of hose. As for the thermal imager or the infrared thermometer. When you point those optical devices directly into the cold air stream it rapidly chills the lens distorting the optical refraction of the infrared and start showing a much colder false reading than is actually really there. So you will get a cold reading that keeps falling to a crazy cold point that’s almost not possible unless you really had a true mechanical thermometer that was accurate telling you to real temperature. So what it comes down to , thermal cameras or imagers thermal infrared thermometers do not allow the cold airstream to directly blow onto the face of the thermal imager. As for a high-pressure nitrogen leak Decay test. That’s where a extremely accurate digital pressure read out that has the decimal point and reads down to 1/10 of a psi is very helpful. But before hitting the leak decay test button allow the system to stabilize after adding high pressure for about 10 minutes if there’s no obvious big leak then hit the button and ststart yourocked in timer countdown. The Fieldpiece SM480V refrigerant manifold is an excellent tool for this job. You mentioned a micron gauge they are extremely useful. But it takes a learning curve and it could be very frustrating learning how to use one correctly and understanding what they mean by the numbers. AccUTools BluVac+Pro Micron gauge is one of the best steadiest most reliable and more forgiving about getting oil contamination up in the sensor. And often when searching for leaks many times you can draw a vacuum and have zero leaks because the negative pressure actually pulls in the rubber up tight and seals to itself or up against a metal surface with a thin film of oil and performs a perfect airtight seal. But when adding pressure in reverse the rubber expands and folds out and opens up and then will leak under pressure where it did not leak under vacuum. Situation with RVs where they’re usually sitting for many months of the year and are never in any hurry to go anywhere unless they’re taking off on a vacation I might swing by the customers jobsite pump it up with 150 or 175 psi of dry nitrogen and then leave and come back 24 hours later if I left my gauges there or disconnect my gauges and come back in one or two weeks if it’s a very very small leak after I have done my repairs to prove my repairs were the only leak. And then recharge the system with refrigerant. And that’s when you discover you might have one of those leaks that are sensitive to temperature as the metal and rubber expand and contract and all your leak testing found nothing and it started leaking instantly blowing out refrigerant once the metal or rubber has contracted and spilling out refrigerant rapidly. Then there’s those leaks that only leak under vibration when the vehicle is moving down the road and hoses and fittings are bouncing and vibrating then they start leaking when pulled in stopped in a garage stagnant steady but running the leak stops those can be tough the phone usually UV dye will find those ones.
I thought it was going to be the compressor case seal, because that's what's leaking on my RVs ac compressor, I do transport refrigeration, always charge into the high side when unit is not running no chance for any liquid refrigerant to collect in compressor, then slowly charge into lowside with unit running
Unscrew the front cover of the gauge, I think I saw a screw head on the face under the white dot on the face of the gauge. That should allow you to adjust it.
sorry not related but...i live on an island and im having trouble finding any test light, i have found voltage testers, circuit tester, continuity testers, multimeters and clamp testers but no test light. can i use any of these testers instead? alot of testers i find online are either out of stock or unable to ship to P.O. box addresses outside of the U.S
@@ScannerDanner yes i did check them out but i didnt find any test light, thanks for informing me about them, i havent heard of them but now i will if i need anything else from there...thanks again
Your OK but seems instead of using nitrogen to test for leaks after the repair you could well have just started and paused the vacuum to see if it had held over night. I think also that new seals/O rings were in order considering the price of refrigerant. It's not all that costly but still. Many have added the gauge pointer adjustment.
overnight? nah, who has that kind of time :-) Also, if you have a micron gauge, you wouldn't need to wait overnight to know for sure you so not have a leak, if vacuum is what you are going to use.
What is the advantage of having the shut-off valves at the ends of the hoses? My gauge set doesn't have them. I guess I don't really understand their purpose. Shutting the valve off is the same as disconnecting the hose from the service port. Are they just for convenience (disconnecting the hose without actually disconnecting it)?
If you do not have a shut off valve or check valve on the end of your hose, when you remove the yellow hose, to switch cans, you're allowing atmosphere air to enter that line.
@@ScannerDanner I'm talking about the valve/knob on the red and blue lines, right where they connect to the service ports on the car. Mine have a check valve, so when I disconnect them, nothing escapes from the hose (I assume they all do). But there's no knob there. I don't understand the purpose of the knob since there's already a check valve right there.
If you have an empty container that you can pull a vacuum on, you could use that to get some of it out. Maybe then put that container on ice, which will lower the psi and pull most of the refrigerant out.
The following info was passed on to me by a retired chemist that does his own ac work. "A leftover metal gas standard cylinder from work, looked something like the smaller one here (a little larger than a Bernzomatic torch gas cylinder) with had an NPT thread and a shut off valve. I installed a brass fitting to connect to my vacuum pump. So I pull a good vacuum on the canister, put in the freezer overnight (optional), then make up a "bath" using chopped up dry ice from corner grocery store and used engine coolant, place the cold canister in that to get even colder. Then I connect to my gauge set to the AC, and with the canister valve still closed connect the gauge lines to low and high side of the AC system. I open up the valves at the service gauge, then I then loosen the fitting at the canister a little (canister valve still closed) to bleed out the LITTLE bit of refrigerant in the lines, to get the air out of the lines, then tighten that fitting. Then I open up the canister valve and refrigerant gas starts coming over, which condenses to liquid refrigerant inside the canister, which keeps the canister at vacuum, and the cycle continues. The vehicle engine is off all this time, and refrigeration oil stays put in the AC system, as it's not volatile. You'll know when it's done, about 90% of the refrigerant will be captured, then can be re-used."
Thank you for such great educational content. I have learnt more from your videos than some of the AC repair books. Question: Have you ever found a good use for the 2nd port with the check valve on your AC gauge set? I believe it's intended purpose is to connect to a vacuum pump. After pulling the vacuum the line can be disconected when done while leaving a charge hose connected to the can. Great idea with having the additional check valve on the can side Vs. having to vent a bit with each can change. I will have to buy one of those fittings (from your Amazon channel?)!
Lol. I Did the same thing with my Snap on gauge. Then I realized there was a rubber plug on there to adjust the needle. I was like Way to go dumbass 🤦♂️
@@Goldwing1500rider An expensive gauge set used once or twice every other year is just as stupid. Besides, what kind of salary do you think HE, being an instructor, makes every year?
I use an old fridge compressor that also took 134a, as my vacuum pump. I also have a 30lb tank that I recover into. I can hook up the fridge compressor to the low side, hook up my tank to the high side of the fridge compressor, and put the 30lb tank in a 5 gallon bucket with some ice. It will vac down the system and recover the 134a into the 30lb tank. If I am sure it was a clean system then I will just reuse it from the tank, but if it's questionable then I take it down to my friends shop and let him put it in his recycler.
@35:30 you're at 30psi on the low you said to add 4 psi.....You initially stated it was reading 4 psi without pressure so you should subtract 4 not add it! At around 28 psi your evaporator would be 32° and would start freezing up so your system would need more refrigerant.
Get a couple spare service port caps. Drill a small hole in them. Use these caps, spray with leak detection liquid, check for bubbles at the hole, wipe off. Then replace these test caps with the regular ones. No leak detection liquid in the schraders.
Hey Paul, love your work man. The white plugs on the front of the gauges are the access ports for the needle adjustment screws. Also it's possible a high spike in pressure when introducing the nitrogen to the system can ping the gauge and stress the bourden tube inside and throw out it's calibration. Another cause could be leaving pressure in the gauges when storing them, or leaving the valves closed when stored in hot weather/vehicle etc may also do them same👍🇦🇺
I swear he knows that. I think his channel is were I learned how to zero the gauge. Just pop the white plug out on the face and turn the flat head screw. On my gauges the white plug got loose after I did it the first time. I might of got a little rough getting it out.
@@Flowtester1 I have seen cheapo gauges, without the hole drilled and just a white sticker or scuffed spot on lens there! lol cheap cheap cheap go the birdies
@Trevor um no, that's not me, if you'd watch more of my stuff, I get things wrong all the time and always show my mistakes. Sorry you feel this way, maybe we had an unpleasant exchange in the past or something?
@Simon llett I believe you are absolutely spot on. When I nitrogen charged this system to 250psi, it stressed the tube. Even though the low side gauge has a max number listed on it for 350, it still tweaked it. Great tip on leaving psi in the gauges too! I never do but others may. Thanks!
Great video Caleb and Paul.you two work together so well ...been following you for years now and love being a premium member.. Keep up the awesome work!
Careful(just careful) putting to much pressure into the system when trying to find a leak. Wait for it.............................................................LOL I had that bite me before! No, NO not cause I was overpressuring the system, I can hear people screaming LOL but because the seal that was actually leaking sealed under the higher pressure. Since then I test in stages and use vacuum testing more often.
I work on residential A/C systems and watching your video's made me confident to try this for the first time on my GMC Sierra. I bought a new condenser and replaced it myself. I used nitrogen to leak test, pulled a vacuum and recharged with 1234YF refrigerant. That was the most expensive part. Ouch! Thanks to you and a few others, my A/C is perfect now.
Hi Paul, Great work! Time to check AC system on my 2001 Volvo V70XC. It hasn't been touched since new. Last couple years AC started occasionally turning off if outside temperature 30C (80F) or higher.
if there's calibration screws, it will be a flathead screw behind the "white dots/plugs" on the gauge lens, visible about 17:58 many of the cheap gauges don't have holes and plugs in the lens though. also, setting to the zero may not make them right anywhere else, but they're probably not right anyway lol.
Francly . I am always running when the other talk about the ac system . It seems so difficult Today i will learn some thing about that . As you are teaching . Thanks indeed. I must first of all understand how it works . Then iwill understand leaks .
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You have a calibration screw under the rubber things on the glass. I think not sure about those gauges but I do see the rubber plug in the front
First of all Love your gear SD, looking cool😎 In the beginning of the video, I was guessing the compressor is a Denso unit by the shape of the clutch, but the A/C system sticker explained it all👍 Thanks for sharing SD, & Special Thanks to Caleb, Stay Safe Guy's❤
hi charge by weight ,sight glass , subcool for txv or super heat for ccot .While always looking at high and low pressures . Oh yea crank the engine upto 1200-1500 rpm Check cleanliness of evap core ?? change receiver drier always
so far leaky lines for me. One did not have an o-ring washer at the condenser for some odd reason. Perhaps front bumper work that required the condenser to be replaced and didn't install the washer lol
Good AC video! You can "measure" the vacuum by the sound of the vacuum pump, close the valves with the pump on it should run very quiet, than open the valves and if pump become noisy, vacuum isn't enough... I have cheap gauges too :)
Those shaft seals are garbage, work better at pressure then vacuum. Wouldn't waste time with a micron gauge on automotive unless you isolate the compressor out of the system. Also, go buy a 30lb jug, don't waste time on those little bottles.
You are using the check valve as a stop couldn't you also just use the valve at the can adapter and just remove and replace the can of refrigerant? 15:13 😅 Great Video love the information you are sharing also excellent book 📖!
Do not let low pressure gauge 'see' too much pressure, the brass tube bends to a larger curve. That throws off the "zero/vacuum" setting. Love your stuff, great help to us all.
eautorepair.adtrk.biz/?a=10817&c=24&p=r&s1= You need some good service information my friend. Here is a DIY version of what I use. I can help further once you do your homework and have a good wiring diagram in front of you.
High side pressure can reach 350+, the EVAP core is constructed with the exact same material as the condenser, as are the rest of the AC components (low and high side). Just curious as to why you think 150 max. Everyone seems to have a different opinion. Not saying we shouldn't be cautious, but I'm comfortable with the pressures I mentioned.
Hi scanner I have a question I have a 2015 evolution and when I run my AC i can hear my compressor keep clicking on and off like every 5 to 8 seconds now would that be my refrigerant low
I do some commercial refrigeration (big ass building chillers), I only ever use my thermal imager, and a set of insert probes for fluid temps. My thermal imager is a Fluke, much better than the unit used here.
Is the only concern with using compressed air to pressure test moisture? Will pulling a vacuum on the system not remove that moisture? If the vehicle a/c system has a leak I figure there's probably a lot of moisture in the system anyway. I've seen compressed air left in an a/c system destroy an air compressor.
To be honest, I've been using compressed air for over 20 years and never, not once, had an issue. I'm just tired of defending it, and I can't argue with moisture free nitrogen being better.
Two things about those gauges you have a little tiny plug or the screws out you pop it out. Use the screwdriver to adjust it or you pop the whole lens off you don’t go from the back side you don’t do it every day don’t mess with the gauges let somebody that knows what they’re doing mess with them because you don’t.
I’ve only ever done A/C repairs using an automatic machine. Wish I’d had the privilege of learning using manifold gauges and good solid theory. I learned a lot from this video Paul (& Caleb), thanks for sharing this stuff.
Automatic machines suck, but they have one thing about them that makes them worth it... They can extract the oil out a system in seconds. You can't do that with manual gauges unless you are flushing.
I use strait simple green!! Awesome video Paul and Caleb!!!I just wanna take a chance to say I have become addicted to ScannerDanner premium! I listen to it when I’m walking the dog, I listen to it when I am driving in the car, I listen to it while everyone else is watching TV, end it is awesome because if I don’t quite get a lecture I can go back and play it again and again. Thank you Paul and Caleb for your hard work to bring us Quality content! God bless you!
Paul great content. I started using 95% nitrogen mix with 5% hydrogen based off of the recommendation within our leak detector and have been having great success finding leaks. Have you heard or used this method? Appreciate the help for our industry!
I purchased it from Airgas, already premixed. Couldn't afford the ATS bullseye kit at the moment, and this 95-5 mix has worked so far. I'm also stealing your carwash soap and water mixture as well lol. Really appreciate what you do and your reply Paul. @@ScannerDanner
Sir I appreciate your videos . Where I use to work at a power plant , I was in maintenance and operated equipment . When AC got to not cooling proper in a D11 we called cat out to fix the problem . I think they charged the system to a bit over 300 with nitrogen . Definitely found the leak , Thanks for the information and the time you spent doing this
![A/C Repair Lasted One Day [What Did I Do Wrong?] - Part 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nCTgcal4N94/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you everyone for the education! Maybe if I could see up close without my reading glasses I would have noticed the white plug covering the adjustment screw 😂 You guys are awesome. The only downside to me doing something dumb on camera, with a community as sharp as you guys, is I get to hear about it a thousand times 😋 But I'll take it any day of the week. I learn from you guys too!! More than you know.
Were just here to keep you right :) but seriously thanks once again for another great informative video Paul
I'll be 57 this year and I try to learn something new every day
My favourite saying is: If I'm not learning something new every day, there's something wrong...(or it's time to find a new line of work)🤣👍🇦🇺
Yeah man, sorry bout that, I wrote my first comment thinking I would be helping you, then I read all the other comments saying basically the same thing. But it took me so long to type it out I left it lol! I was thinking cool I could possibly help Danner which has been helping all of us for so long!
yells "4 eyes" while pointing at the screen, while adjusting glasses to read the screen. lol ;)
Ive learned more about charging AC from this video than any other I have watched.
From my experience those o-rings will leak again eventually if they are not OIL resistance type, in HVAC we use the Green o-rings (oil-resistance), very nice work with refrigerants for a mechanic!
I was concerned that the black o-rings are strong but for AC, I wasn't sure. I choose green rings when I bought them in a kit, too bad they are not universal but even smaller ones will still seal even when stretched a little.
this drawer in my toolbox that I pulled them from, were all AC o-rings. I believe I will be okay, but you may be right
German cars use violet colored orings..
@@Usmanthemecano I work on German cars for a living. It's the same thing. Some use yellow o-rings too. As long as they are hvac rated you are fine.
Yeah my brotha! This is hands down my money jobs...I love a/c repairs...and you nailed the leak. When you live in Florida... the heat is almost year round scorching weather, people will pay whatever. But my method with finding a leak is using an a/c recovery machine. I vacuum 5 min, and recharge 8oz, and quickly spray soapy water. I usually find it within 5 minutes. As soon as I find it...recover the freon quickly and really you don't lose much freon...beats getting nitro. I nail it everytime with this method and better than that obsolete sniffing detector crap...and I still slip in the freon lost as part of a diagnostic fee and get that money back😉😉 man and you got me sold on getting a thermo cam...it's also a great tool on finding parasitic draws.
That was a great refresher on charging air conditioning systems, especially the HOT water method that was 'cool' Paul. You mentioned that method before but now seeing it done was spectacular!!
thank you jake!
Your idea of charging it with the engine off is very smart, in your engine set up you don’t have engine fumes in your face while you’re working
The small white caps on the front of the gauges are for zeroing the gauge. Turn the small screw (probably counter-clockwise) to zero
40 footer! I still can't get over that.
Nice video, ragazzi.
Nice to have cool air when you need it. And no leaks!
Thank you for showing how to properly store your gauges. That was one thing I wasn’t sure about, but it makes sense and hopefully will prevent any damage from long-term pressure exposure
Paul, remove the little white plug on your manifold set. The clear front plastic piece. Turn the screw. It will realign your needle on zero. Can be done on both high and low pressure guages.
Thanks for this video. I enjoyed it and it refreshed some things that I have forgotten. I've been DIYing AC repairs since 2006. I hated charging using the small cans so I ended up buying a refrigerant scale for the 30 pound tanks and bought some tanks. It makes recharging so much easier. Set the scale for the charge amount and then wait for the alarm to go off to say it's done.
As others have stated, most gauge sets have a small screw in the face of the gauges that let you zero out the needles. I have Robinair gauges and occasionally I have to zero them out.
Super high quality content! I enjoyed every thing you explained. Increased my understanding how to do a/c systems. Unfortunately i have cheap ass gage set lol. I know most people cheap out on gages when do their ac lol! I'm trying to increase my knowledge on electronical and ac field! I'm trying to absorb your teachings as much i can!
I'd say Mike might be spot on. The commercial trucks I work on that are sleeper units use that amount.
Hey man. I dig the early to mid 90's GM underhood retractable light you have there. I installed one in my 04 Frontier.👍👍
funny, I always forget that light is there lol
Paul and crew go on one camping trip in Florida and sleep in the heat and priority numero uno when he gets home is to get the RV AC squared away….hahahaha….I kid I kid. Great break down as usual. Finding the leak Could have been a nightmare with the length of runs those lines have. Your boy giving you crap when you dropped the o ring was hilarious.
lol, Caleb and I have grown so close together though all of this. I'm blessed some of you get to see it.
Nice easy fix for you this time.....If that were my coach I think i would have tried the charging the system using the sub-cooling method like they do in HVAC. That's assuming it has a TXV and not an orifice tube. Eliminates the need to guess on the amount of refrigerant.
Everyone witnessed Scanner Danner pull a rookie move. That O ring only respects your bare hands
Paul that thermo cam . You can use that to check the liquid level in the compressor . There's a UA-camr that does ac units ( can't remember name ) he shows you how to do that .
At 18:10, there is an adjustment screw on your gauges.....pop the plastic seal above the screw....
when you dropped the o-ring, I thought "chances of finding that are slim to none", then you said it. lol
I use the argon bottle for my TIG welder for pressure testing. More expensive to fill than nitrogen but I'm not out the cost of another bottle.
Are there any concerns using that gas?
@@ScannerDanner It's not theoretically as good as nitrogen for leak detection because it's a slightly larger molecule. No concerns other than that. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use an argon blend, or CO2, MIG shielding gas either. IIRC Bernie Thompson sells a CO2 leak detector for AC systems.
One common shop gas you definitely shouldn't use for pressure testing is oxygen. Putting pure O2 into a system containing hydrocarbons is dangerous especially at high pressure.
@@ScannerDanner actually argon would be better than nitrogen because it is a completly inert, noble gas.
Always check for leaks under pressure (not in a vacuum) ....because that's the way the system operates and you can seal leaks up in a vacuum.
Do both. If you have the time
To calibrate those cheap gauges, you pull the little white plug on the sight glass, then use a small screw driver on the screw in the gauge face.
Just so your not disappointed. What sort of crap guage are they. 😳Love the hot water trick. Never tough of this.
I did not know about those self sealing cans either. I had to purchase a new tap, because the puncture style does not work on those properly.
You can adjust the gauge
Please let Kaleb handle the O-rings next time. His hands are steady as a rock!
Good call on the nitrogen I wanted to make a 2cent comment on your previous vid but you got enough comments about checking with air Paul 2 things to remember hot goes to cold and hi pressure goes to low pressure NEXT level in your diagnosis will be checking sub cooling and superheat I’m a retired refrigeration tech checking temperature on systems is easy no more thermistor wrapping on clean copper CHEERS still get thru ur book AMAZING
19:00 The gage probably got damaged while you were putting so much pressure on it. The linear scale stops at 120psi, you went to 250! That may overbend the measuring tubespring inside.
I think his mind is too cluttered to think of that. He is right on his limit of ability at times.
Might want to consider changing coolants next time you have an issue. R134 is going away. The new ones actually work better than the old ones. Also, might want to have a look at your vent door. On most moho's they open when the ac system is running and create a higher dash vent temp. mine started at 55 degrees, with a coolant change and perm closing the vent door now runs at 36 degrees. 103 ambient.
I'm certainly not going to do any type of retrofit with a different refrigerant when R134a costs about $7 for a 12oz can. Not to mention the retrofits that we did when R12 died, were sort of like putting a bandaid on a wound. It worked but there were some serious drawbacks.
In north america cars caution labels are in french your friendly neighbour and in english.
I have a microwave oven in my shop, so i use it to heat the water up to put the cans of refrigerate in.
35 year's of working on a/c system's I can tell you you are write on the money with with that a/c pressure .
I live in a trailer. That damn rv is more advanced the my house!! Crazy and cost 3 times more my house was 32k brand new!!
Remove the white cap on the face of your gauge and adjust (calibration screw) to zero.
Most Denso compressors use PAG46
👏👍 getting better
Finding the leaks on those large RVs can be a bit of a pain with a mile of hose.
That’s where a combination of using the ultrasonic leak detector when you have it pumped up high with nitrogen comes in the play.
And with refrigerant a very sensitive refrigerant leak detector like the D-Tek. Stratus
All those old rVs with all that hose naturally loses a little bit of refrigerant right through every foot of hose and when you stack up many feet that adds up to a slightly bigger leak that you cannot pick up using UV dye or looking for signs of oil and sometimes unless really bad not even the leak detector picks it up because it’s diluted down so much per foot of hose.
As for the thermal imager or the infrared thermometer.
When you point those optical devices directly into the cold air stream it rapidly chills the lens distorting the optical refraction of the infrared and start showing a much colder false reading than is actually really there.
So you will get a cold reading that keeps falling to a crazy cold point that’s almost not possible unless you really had a true mechanical thermometer that was accurate telling you to real temperature.
So what it comes down to , thermal cameras or imagers thermal infrared thermometers do not allow the cold airstream to directly blow onto the face of the thermal imager.
As for a high-pressure nitrogen leak Decay test.
That’s where a extremely accurate digital pressure read out that has the decimal point and reads down to 1/10 of a psi is very helpful.
But before hitting the leak decay test button allow the system to stabilize after adding high pressure for about 10 minutes if there’s no obvious big leak then hit the button and ststart yourocked in timer countdown.
The Fieldpiece SM480V refrigerant manifold is an excellent tool for this job.
You mentioned a micron gauge they are extremely useful. But it takes a learning curve and it could be very frustrating learning how to use one correctly and understanding what they mean by the numbers.
AccUTools BluVac+Pro Micron gauge is one of the best steadiest most reliable and more forgiving about getting oil contamination up in the sensor.
And often when searching for leaks many times you can draw a vacuum and have zero leaks because the negative pressure actually pulls in the rubber up tight and seals to itself or up against a metal surface with a thin film of oil and performs a perfect airtight seal.
But when adding pressure in reverse the rubber expands and folds out and opens up and then will leak under pressure where it did not leak under vacuum.
Situation with RVs where they’re usually sitting for many months of the year and are never in any hurry to go anywhere unless they’re taking off on a vacation
I might swing by the customers jobsite pump it up with 150 or 175 psi of dry nitrogen and then leave and come back 24 hours later if I left my gauges there or disconnect my gauges and come back in one or two weeks if it’s a very very small leak after I have done my repairs to prove my repairs were the only leak.
And then recharge the system with refrigerant.
And that’s when you discover you might have one of those leaks that are sensitive to temperature as the metal and rubber expand and contract and all your leak testing found nothing and it started leaking instantly blowing out refrigerant once the metal or rubber has contracted and spilling out refrigerant rapidly.
Then there’s those leaks that only leak under vibration when the vehicle is moving down the road and hoses and fittings are bouncing and vibrating then they start leaking when pulled in stopped in a garage stagnant steady but running the leak stops those can be tough the phone usually UV dye will find those ones.
Great ac video...
Do kalibracji zegara jest śrubka pod plastikowym korkiem na tarczy zegara
I thought it was going to be the compressor case seal, because that's what's leaking on my RVs ac compressor, I do transport refrigeration, always charge into the high side when unit is not running no chance for any liquid refrigerant to collect in compressor, then slowly charge into lowside with unit running
Remove the white plug on the face and use the screw to calibrate
Sorry! I commented before I a: realized how old this video was and b: 1500 other people commented the same.
Keep up the good work
You kool man !!!
How about a new drier?
One day this year you’ll actually go camping!
right? lol
Hey S-D calibration screw is in front of the manifold gauge clock remove that little Rebel White
Could i use argon? Since i have argon for welding already on hand.
I wouldn't but only because I'm unsure of any dangers
Does nitrogen alert with the sniffer???
I believe the answer is no
Unscrew the front cover of the gauge, I think I saw a screw head on the face under the white dot on the face of the gauge. That should allow you to adjust it.
sorry not related but...i live on an island and im having trouble finding any test light, i have found voltage testers, circuit tester, continuity testers, multimeters and clamp testers but no test light. can i use any of these testers instead? alot of testers i find online are either out of stock or unable to ship to P.O. box addresses outside of the U.S
Have you tried from my friends at www.aeswave.com?
@@ScannerDanner yes i did check them out but i didnt find any test light, thanks for informing me about them, i havent heard of them but now i will if i need anything else from there...thanks again
@@Susans_day try here too www.amazon.com/shop/scannerdanner
"Nice!"
Your OK but seems instead of using nitrogen to test for leaks after the repair you could well have just started and paused the vacuum to see if it had held over night. I think also that new seals/O rings were in order considering the price of refrigerant. It's not all that costly but still. Many have added the gauge pointer adjustment.
overnight? nah, who has that kind of time :-) Also, if you have a micron gauge, you wouldn't need to wait overnight to know for sure you so not have a leak, if vacuum is what you are going to use.
@@ScannerDanner Yeah agreed.
What is the advantage of having the shut-off valves at the ends of the hoses? My gauge set doesn't have them. I guess I don't really understand their purpose. Shutting the valve off is the same as disconnecting the hose from the service port. Are they just for convenience (disconnecting the hose without actually disconnecting it)?
If you do not have a shut off valve or check valve on the end of your hose, when you remove the yellow hose, to switch cans, you're allowing atmosphere air to enter that line.
@@ScannerDanner I'm talking about the valve/knob on the red and blue lines, right where they connect to the service ports on the car. Mine have a check valve, so when I disconnect them, nothing escapes from the hose (I assume they all do). But there's no knob there. I don't understand the purpose of the knob since there's already a check valve right there.
@@jonclark1288 it just eliminates that tiny bit of loss when disconnecting.
@@jonclark1288 it also gives me the ability to isolate the system from the gauges (like when I pulled the trapped high psi back into the low side)
If the system wasn’t fully empty is there any way to recover it with out a recovery machine?
If you have an empty container that you can pull a vacuum on, you could use that to get some of it out. Maybe then put that container on ice, which will lower the psi and pull most of the refrigerant out.
The following info was passed on to me by a retired chemist that does his own ac work.
"A leftover metal gas standard cylinder from work, looked something like the smaller one here (a little larger than a Bernzomatic torch gas cylinder) with had an NPT thread and a shut off valve. I installed a brass fitting to connect to my vacuum pump.
So I pull a good vacuum on the canister, put in the freezer overnight (optional), then make up a "bath" using chopped up dry ice from corner grocery store and used engine coolant, place the cold canister in that to get even colder. Then I connect to my gauge set to the AC, and with the canister valve still closed connect the gauge lines to low and high side of the AC system. I open up the valves at the service gauge, then I then loosen the fitting at the canister a little (canister valve still closed) to bleed out the LITTLE bit of refrigerant in the lines, to get the air out of the lines, then tighten that fitting. Then I open up the canister valve and refrigerant gas starts coming over, which condenses to liquid refrigerant inside the canister, which keeps the canister at vacuum, and the cycle continues.
The vehicle engine is off all this time, and refrigeration oil stays put in the AC system, as it's not volatile. You'll know when it's done, about 90% of the refrigerant will be captured, then can be re-used."
Thank you for such great educational content. I have learnt more from your videos than some of the AC repair books.
Question: Have you ever found a good use for the 2nd port with the check valve on your AC gauge set? I believe it's intended purpose is to connect to a vacuum pump. After pulling the vacuum the line can be disconected when done while leaving a charge hose connected to the can. Great idea with having the additional check valve on the can side Vs. having to vent a bit with each can change. I will have to buy one of those fittings (from your Amazon channel?)!
I found similar fittings, not exactly what I was using. But they are listed their for you guys www.amazon.com/shop/scannerdanner
Thanks!
Did you ever find that cheesy O-ring you dropped?
Lol nope
@@ScannerDanner Leave it in there and maybe it will find its way to an oil leak....LOL? Great video Paul and Ca;eb, you guys are awesome!!!!
You didn't hear me, I said " Righty - Tighty " !
Lol. I Did the same thing with my Snap on gauge. Then I realized there was a rubber plug on there to adjust the needle. I was like Way to go dumbass 🤦♂️
Why aren't you using a real A/C machine at your brother's shop?
no reason to drive it there when I can do it at home. It isn't easy to just get in this thing and go 😉
Scanner Danner, getting old, starting to gravitate to those recreational vehicles and that comfortable A/C.
🤣😆😅
I’m not going to give you crap about the gauges, I just find it hilarious to hear you complain about cheap-ass tools!
HIM being instructor buying cheap ass gauges?? 🤣😂😅😂🤣
@@Goldwing1500rider An expensive gauge set used once or twice every other year is just as stupid. Besides, what kind of salary do you think HE, being an instructor, makes every year?
I use an old fridge compressor that also took 134a, as my vacuum pump. I also have a 30lb tank that I recover into. I can hook up the fridge compressor to the low side, hook up my tank to the high side of the fridge compressor, and put the 30lb tank in a 5 gallon bucket with some ice. It will vac down the system and recover the 134a into the 30lb tank. If I am sure it was a clean system then I will just reuse it from the tank, but if it's questionable then I take it down to my friends shop and let him put it in his recycler.
This is an awesome idea! Was just thinking of something similar
@35:30 you're at 30psi on the low you said to add 4 psi.....You initially stated it was reading 4 psi without pressure so you should subtract 4 not add it! At around 28 psi your evaporator would be 32° and would start freezing up so your system would need more refrigerant.
Get a couple spare service port caps. Drill a small hole in them. Use these caps, spray with leak detection liquid, check for bubbles at the hole, wipe off. Then replace these test caps with the regular ones. No leak detection liquid in the schraders.
Hey Paul, love your work man. The white plugs on the front of the gauges are the access ports for the needle adjustment screws. Also it's possible a high spike in pressure when introducing the nitrogen to the system can ping the gauge and stress the bourden tube inside and throw out it's calibration. Another cause could be leaving pressure in the gauges when storing them, or leaving the valves closed when stored in hot weather/vehicle etc may also do them same👍🇦🇺
Just seen your post..
I swear he knows that. I think his channel is were I learned how to zero the gauge. Just pop the white plug out on the face and turn the flat head screw. On my gauges the white plug got loose after I did it the first time. I might of got a little rough getting it out.
@@Flowtester1 I have seen cheapo gauges, without the hole drilled and just a white sticker or scuffed spot on lens there! lol cheap cheap cheap go the birdies
@Trevor um no, that's not me, if you'd watch more of my stuff, I get things wrong all the time and always show my mistakes. Sorry you feel this way, maybe we had an unpleasant exchange in the past or something?
@Simon llett I believe you are absolutely spot on. When I nitrogen charged this system to 250psi, it stressed the tube. Even though the low side gauge has a max number listed on it for 350, it still tweaked it. Great tip on leaving psi in the gauges too! I never do but others may. Thanks!
Great video Caleb and Paul.you two work together so well ...been following you for years now and love being a premium member..
Keep up the awesome work!
Thank you so much!
The front of the gauge screws off and you can calibrate it with your Handy Dandy Scanner Danner screw driver 😊
Careful(just careful) putting to much pressure into the system when trying to find a leak. Wait for it.............................................................LOL I had that bite me before! No, NO not cause I was overpressuring the system, I can hear people screaming LOL but because the seal that was actually leaking sealed under the higher pressure. Since then I test in stages and use vacuum testing more often.
I work on residential A/C systems and watching your video's made me confident to try this for the first time on my GMC Sierra. I bought a new condenser and replaced it myself. I used nitrogen to leak test, pulled a vacuum and recharged with 1234YF refrigerant. That was the most expensive part. Ouch! Thanks to you and a few others, my A/C is perfect now.
awesome! Thank you Greg
Hi Paul, Great work! Time to check AC system on my 2001 Volvo V70XC. It hasn't been touched since new. Last couple years AC started occasionally turning off if outside temperature 30C (80F) or higher.
Paul that plug on the face of your gauge is access to a calibration screw
some of the cheap gauges don't actually have a plug and just a white dot on the lens where it should be!
if there's calibration screws, it will be a flathead screw behind the "white dots/plugs" on the gauge lens, visible about 17:58
many of the cheap gauges don't have holes and plugs in the lens though. also, setting to the zero may not make them right anywhere else, but they're probably not right anyway lol.
Francly . I am always running when the other talk about the ac system .
It seems so difficult
Today i will learn some thing about that . As you are teaching . Thanks indeed. I must first of all understand how it works . Then iwill understand leaks .
You have a calibration screw under the rubber things on the glass. I think not sure about those gauges but I do see the rubber plug in the front
First of all Love your gear SD, looking cool😎
In the beginning of the video, I was guessing the compressor is a Denso unit by the shape of the clutch, but the A/C system sticker explained it all👍
Thanks for sharing SD, & Special Thanks to Caleb, Stay Safe Guy's❤
Great content you explained everything about the procedure perfectly! I will be watching your channel from now on 💯
Thanks Mark!
hi
charge by weight ,sight glass , subcool for txv or super heat for ccot .While always looking at high and low pressures .
Oh yea crank the engine upto 1200-1500 rpm
Check cleanliness of evap core ??
change receiver drier always
Summer is here🔥I've changed about seven a/c condensors in the last week🥶
so far leaky lines for me. One did not have an o-ring washer at the condenser for some odd reason. Perhaps front bumper work that required the condenser to be replaced and didn't install the washer lol
Good AC video! You can "measure" the vacuum by the sound of the vacuum pump, close the valves with the pump on it should run very quiet, than open the valves and if pump become noisy, vacuum isn't enough... I have cheap gauges too :)
yes white plugs in front of gages ,and you need to run the engine at 1500 rpm to see the real pressure so more can Paul!
Uh oh, never heard the pressure wasn’t real at other engine speeds? ;)
Those shaft seals are garbage, work better at pressure then vacuum. Wouldn't waste time with a micron gauge on automotive unless you isolate the compressor out of the system.
Also, go buy a 30lb jug, don't waste time on those little bottles.
You are using the check valve as a stop couldn't you also just use the valve at the can adapter and just remove and replace the can of refrigerant? 15:13 😅 Great Video love the information you are sharing also excellent book 📖!
Back in the 90’s when they banned r12 people were using propane to charge ac systems.
Like #310
Thanks for the video!
Life is a learning curve!
Hindsight is 20-15!
Just chill!
lol, someone knows me too well
@@ScannerDanner goes for me too!
Do not let low pressure gauge 'see' too much pressure, the brass tube bends to a larger curve. That throws off the "zero/vacuum" setting. Love your stuff, great help to us all.
Exactly what happened
I have problems with Buick Enclave 2012 code p0697 you have any ideas about. Thank you 🙏🏽
eautorepair.adtrk.biz/?a=10817&c=24&p=r&s1=
You need some good service information my friend. Here is a DIY version of what I use. I can help further once you do your homework and have a good wiring diagram in front of you.
Scaner daner too much Pressure. Men. 150. At low side. Max.
High side pressure can reach 350+, the EVAP core is constructed with the exact same material as the condenser, as are the rest of the AC components (low and high side). Just curious as to why you think 150 max.
Everyone seems to have a different opinion.
Not saying we shouldn't be cautious, but I'm comfortable with the pressures I mentioned.
Hi scanner I have a question I have a 2015 evolution and when I run my AC i can hear my compressor keep clicking on and off like every 5 to 8 seconds now would that be my refrigerant low
get some pressure readings, we don't want to assume anything here
I do some commercial refrigeration (big ass building chillers), I only ever use my thermal imager, and a set of insert probes for fluid temps. My thermal imager is a Fluke, much better than the unit used here.
fluke are expensive
Is the only concern with using compressed air to pressure test moisture? Will pulling a vacuum on the system not remove that moisture? If the vehicle a/c system has a leak I figure there's probably a lot of moisture in the system anyway.
I've seen compressed air left in an a/c system destroy an air compressor.
To be honest, I've been using compressed air for over 20 years and never, not once, had an issue. I'm just tired of defending it, and I can't argue with moisture free nitrogen being better.
Two things about those gauges you have a little tiny plug or the screws out you pop it out. Use the screwdriver to adjust it or you pop the whole lens off you don’t go from the back side you don’t do it every day don’t mess with the gauges let somebody that knows what they’re doing mess with them because you don’t.
Feel better about yourself now? With your endless rambling you should just start your own channel. Smh
Pop the little caps on the gauge lens and adjust the set screws to zero the needle.
Why don't you use the screw to adjust the gauge? Under the plastic Plug. Am I missing something?
lol, read my pinned comment my friend
@@ScannerDanner LOL go figure!!!
I’ve only ever done A/C repairs using an automatic machine. Wish I’d had the privilege of learning using manifold gauges and good solid theory. I learned a lot from this video Paul (& Caleb), thanks for sharing this stuff.
Automatic machines suck, but they have one thing about them that makes them worth it...
They can extract the oil out a system in seconds. You can't do that with manual gauges unless you are flushing.
I just saw the Jeep series, and now coming to this getting a good chuckle at the gauge comments. 😂
nice!
I always look for the wet spot.
unfortunately with R134a systems, you won't have one in many, many circumstances but a good visual is certainly key
the small white plug on the face of the gauges, remove them and you should be able use small screw driver to zero the gauge. nice job
I've since learned this. Thanks!
I use strait simple green!! Awesome video Paul and Caleb!!!I just wanna take a chance to say I have become addicted to ScannerDanner premium! I listen to it when I’m walking the dog, I listen to it when I am driving in the car, I listen to it while everyone else is watching TV, end it is awesome because if I don’t quite get a lecture I can go back and play it again and again. Thank you Paul and Caleb for your hard work to bring us Quality content! God bless you!
Thank you Robert!
I always use simple green as it foams like crazy with the slightest pressure. Great Video as always.
Paul great content. I started using 95% nitrogen mix with 5% hydrogen based off of the recommendation within our leak detector and have been having great success finding leaks. Have you heard or used this method? Appreciate the help for our industry!
That's awesome. How do you get a 5% HC mix into your nitrogen?
I purchased it from Airgas, already premixed. Couldn't afford the ATS bullseye kit at the moment, and this 95-5 mix has worked so far. I'm also stealing your carwash soap and water mixture as well lol. Really appreciate what you do and your reply Paul. @@ScannerDanner
Sir I appreciate your videos . Where I use to work at a power plant , I was in maintenance and operated equipment . When AC got to not cooling proper in a D11 we called cat out to fix the problem . I think they charged the system to a bit over 300 with nitrogen . Definitely found the leak , Thanks for the information and the time you spent doing this
I bet they created some more leaks aswell
@@deonpotgieter4473 nah, 300 psi is fine. The high side of an AC system will hit those pressures on it's own
Thank you Caleb.