Recycling Refrigerant, NO ! reason to have contaminated refrigerant after recycling

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 12 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 40

  • @VWtech562
    @VWtech562 Рік тому +6

    Hi Tom. It would be nice to see more videos about this. The way you recycle the refrigerant. How to prevent air and moisture getting in the tank.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  Рік тому +2

      During your refrigerant recovery process many times he may accidentally get air in your tank that’s inevitable
      Many of the cars that you recover refrigerant out of they all have a small percentage of air from other shops who contaminated the system so you will always have air mixed in with Refrigerant that your recycling machine will have to remove.
      For the old fashion manual way, but in the end, I always have a Refrigerant identifier to test my Refrigerant when I’m finished to make sure there’s no air in it .
      That is what I refrigerant identifiers for to analyze the quality of the refrigerant to make sure it’s mixed with no other refrigerant, and that it has no air inside of it .

  • @floridaroadracerguy
    @floridaroadracerguy Рік тому +1

    How can I recycle (and reuse) my old recovered Freon (r134a)? We don't use a big machine like Robinair, we have a recovery machine and put it into a 30lb can.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  Рік тому

      Then you’ll have to purchase a recycling machine when you have a recovery only machine then you transfer your 30 pound bottles over to your recycling machine.

  • @turboflush
    @turboflush 3 роки тому +1

    Curious. Whats your thought on the "free estimate"?
    I think if i rana business i would want to charge a small fee to cover some time and to help make sure customer is serious.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому +4

      I think of free estimates I like going in for a free dental exam where they do a full mouth x-ray so they could look at all your teeth 🦷 where they might be paying 30 or $40,000 a month on renting a building another hundred thousand dollars for that piece of x-ray equipment that $300,000 dental school the two receptionist at the front Dess that are costing you $300 a day to $500 a day the hygienist who does the teeth cleaning who is $500 a day and then you’re going to give away the diagnosis of a root canal or a cavity or just a simple gum infection for free. 🤔. To run own and operate a business what do you think that math formulation outcome would be.
      I have a one hour minimum fee for anything which is $173 to look for a leak that’s just a start. I don’t diagnose without completely draining and recharging the system 100% to the factory specified weight.
      Then I start.
      And if it starts to get into controls or electrical that’s another diagnostic fee separate from the mechanics and leak check and performance test.
      If you watched my videos which I know you have you know I don’t use the little can with a single hose and just guess at topping off refrigerant.
      I carry over $30,000 intestine diagnosis and tools and equipment inside my vehicle
      Does not include my $80,000 plus in snap on tools that I’ve purchased when I was a mechanic years ago as you know nowadays $80,000 goes nowhere in tools and equipment to open up and run a business.
      I have one Business office that I run my three different businesses out of with 950 ft.² of storage for supplies and equipment.
      And I have two garage office Storage warehouses both at a little over 1200 ft.² here in San Francisco. That did not come for free.
      In the last 35+ years I’ve flown myself out to countless seminars and expos and training events different training classes hotels and airfare I lost count of the amount of money that that could add up to not including the lost wages and hours in sales of equipment and billable hours.
      Free estimates it’s just a full the customer with BS that Hass to get covered up and paid for sometime by just jacking up the price of the parts and tagged on labor hours.
      The laws of physics and economic say nothing is for free.
      So I’m just up front and truthful to the customer right in the very beginning and they get charged.
      I don’t lose for my time and materials
      The customer does not lose because he knows what needs to be done. With a with a list of parts that need to be replaced in a list of procedures that need to be performed.
      Then if customer decides to do it himself and try to save money that’s his FREE ! choice
      I know in some countries and some cultures the free give me thing is a way of life.
      Ex-wife more than one come from countries and cultures who believes that way so I’m very aware of it.
      But I simply tell them this is how it is if you don’t like it there’s the door. And if you want a door gift I will buy you a one-way plane ticket back to wherever you come from were they give away stuff for free.

    • @turboflush
      @turboflush 3 роки тому +2

      @@coldfinger459sub0
      Your answer so long but worth the read.
      As a customer.. I feel that when they are free they dont put in the effort. I have had some that feel like they cant wait to get back out the door they came in.
      Yes you have more equipment than 80% of companies.
      Even for diy.. I will have the right stuff. Its frustrating not to and to guess if something is correct.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому +2

      @@turboflush EXACTLY 100% 👍👍👍

  • @thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259
    @thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259 3 роки тому +1

    Acid, too.

  • @mannys9130
    @mannys9130 3 роки тому +3

    Tom, I have a very silly basic question for you. Don't laugh! :( Let's say the under-hood tag says that the proper charge of R134a is 900 grams. For simplicity, let's say we have the vacuum pump on the low side, and on the high side we have the micron gauge and the charging refrigerant line connected to the R134a cylinder. No manifold gauges to consider. We vacuum down the system with the high side charge line open to vacuum and the refrigerant supply turned off at the cylinder valve so the vacuum goes all the way up to the cylinder. We get the system to a nice low vacuum, close the low side port valve, turn off the vacuum pump, close the low-loss valve on the high side charging hose, open the refrigerant cylinder and turn it upside down on the scale and zero it, and then open the high side low-loss valve to charge liquid refrigerant directly into the high side like you've shown before. The scale gets close to 900 grams and we turn off the valve perfectly on the money, 900 grams showing on the scale. My question is, part of that 900 grams is still in that high side charging hose. If the low-loss valve is close to the high side port, almost the whole charging hose will be full of liquid that was measured out but not put into the system. If the valve is close to the cylinder, most of the hose will be vapor, but it still won't make it into the system. Is this taken into account by the 900 gram spec, that a good amount of that weighed out charge won't make it into the system because it gets stuck in the manifold gauges and charge hoses? Or is it necessary to put the low-loss valve close to the service port, pull the vacuum up to the cylinder's valve, then close the low loss valve at the port, open the cylinder valve to fill the line with liquid refrigerant, THEN zero the scale and open the low loss valve again to weigh in the charge so that all of the liquid refrigerant stuck in the charge hose doesn't matter when you reach the point of 900 grams weighed in because it was zeroed out before charging the system? It just seems like of someone hooks up a 4 port manifold gauge, pulls a vacuum on everything, zeroes the scale, and then charges in 900 grams, there's alllllllll that refrigerant in the charge hose, manifold, and high pressure hose that will be recovered instead of pushed into the system leaving the system undercharged. I'm just one of those auto techs who has become very interested in auto and home HVAC recently. I've done a lot of incorrect stuff in the past on cars. :'( I've learned a lot from you in a few short hours. I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from making the mistakes that you've shown us. Thanks for all the knowledge Tom, you're a skilled artist in your trade. You've brought me firmly into the next phase of my learning which is the "Shit, now I realize how much I don't know about HVAC."

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому +1

      Congratulations to the first part of the nine steps of your AAA program.
      Step one #1: Seen in admitting to your weakness. 🤣 👍
      Onto the question
      I don’t show and tell everything and everyone of my videos
      But yes I have done videos dry and vacuum in the low side and filling refrigerant in the high side just with hose and no gauges.
      And yes there is a way to get what is probably a whole entire ounce of liquid refrigerant that is stuck in that high side hose out.
      It’s so simple your palm slap yourself in the head.
      There’s two methods that you can use but I will not give you the answer you will figure the answer out for yourself along your road in Journey learning and putting the puzzle pieces together.
      Learn and study the gas laws and he will come up with the answer. If you actually understand the simple basic physics behind how refrigerant works and basically all gases work you can figure out a lot of answers yourself.
      I often show the four port manifold because it’s the easiest to use yes it’s a little bit expensive for a DYI person but for a professional it pays itself back many times over in savings and time in savings and accuracy.
      There are analog gauges that have four ports but basically they’re half the price of the full-scale high-end digital gauges so why not just take that extra step and go all the way.
      I can completely vacuum and charge a car with one single hose one vacuum pump and one cylinder and not contaminate the system and get 100% of the whole charge into the system.

    • @mannys9130
      @mannys9130 3 роки тому +2

      @@coldfinger459sub0 I can't say I'm 100% on the physics of the gas laws at this point, but I have a basic understanding for sure. The only way I can think of off the top of my head to "not waste" a full charge hose of liquid refrigerant in that described scenario would be to remove the closed low side port valve, close and remove the high side port valve which would trap the liquid column inside the hose, and then connect the high side charge hose to the low side port and slowly allow that liquid column to flash into the low side. That would bring the charge hose down to like, 30psi or so but I'm still not sure if that's an amount of refrigerant weight worth considering as lost or not. If one was using a 4 port manifold, they could close the refrigerant cylinder valve, close the high side port valve, and then open the low side manifold valve to flash the charge hose into the low side, and then open the high side manifold valve to flash the high side hose into the low side too. That would equalize it all down to the low side's 30psi or so. Close all the valves everywhere, remove the 2 port valves from the system, connect the charge hose to the recovery machine and recover the manifold and hose internals to a vacuum and then equalize with nitrogen to make them ready for next use. Am I hot, cold, or lukewarm? 😸 I'm a perfectionist. I want to do the very best work that I can. I was never an AC Pro trigger can shaker, but I thought my Harbor Freight vacuum pump and manifold gauges were totally good to go and that the typical 45 minute vacuum and recharge was doing it the right way. Now I realize my gauges and hoses probably leaked in vacuum so I never hit 500 microns, 45 minutes wasn't nearly long enough, my final charge weight was probably wrong with the stubby hose making my kitchen scale reading inaccurate, and my boss totally lied to me when I asked if we needed to replace the waste oil amount back into the system that collected in the little bottle in the back of the AC recovery and recharge machine. :( I'm 609 licensed, but the test doesn't really teach you these very specific procedural points, and I did it many years ago. Now I want a 608 type 2 and relearn all the 609 stuff I was taught incorrectly.

    • @turboflush
      @turboflush 3 роки тому +1

      @@mannys9130
      The 900 is system amount. Oem cannot know how much your equipment will hold. So i would say put equipment in vac. Then get your refridge up to the low loss fittings and zero the scale.make sure your micro. Gauge is closed from the system before you pressurize.
      I bought a set of hf gauges.. Thinking i wasnt going to do more than simple diag. I got very frustrated chasing leaks and the lowloss fitting not working. They use nylon seals.
      Stick to name brand. Spend $100+.
      If your gonna buy the cheap 30$.. Then you shouldnt be playing with refrigerant.
      Out of frustration with shops i have been building up my hvac equipment. Renting got frustrating also.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому +1

      @@mannys9130 👍👍👍💰 you win the $69,000 question you are correct in about every aspect you just described.
      It’s not rocket science you can figure that out off the top of your head how to transfer that high side hose over to the low side.
      That 30 psi a vapor refrigerant left inside the hose is negligible. Most of the bigger refrigerant systems usually have a plus or -50 g tolerance.
      But not on the smaller systems that are around 454 g or less trying to keep it in five or 10 g tolerance would be preferable.
      If you’re a perfectionist then you’re like a micron gauge but at the same time it’ll cause you a lot of frustration as you’re learning to use it.
      Gets back to physics there’s a lot of things that will make you think you have a leak when you don’t.
      Look for videos on using a micron gauge and videos on pulling vacuum.
      Look for the name Jim Bergman
      Videos by True Tech Tools in their training video section on their website
      Go to Testo‘s website and look for training videos and reading some of their study and training material on vacuum and micron gauges.
      Keep in mind Automotive is a little different than residential or commercial HVAC because they use metal lines no rubber hoses rubber O-rings so there’s some funny stuff that goes on that alters test results when using a micron gauge with rubber components and exposed shaft seals on compressors
      Residential and most commercial a lot of medic compressors do not have external shaft seals going to clutches that’s a possible leak source.
      And if you’re really nerdy and a perfectionist and really want to learn more about HVAC learn about the residential and commercial stuff to it will take you to a next level higher than anything in automotive
      Look for a UA-cam video by Brian orb
      HVAC For Techs by Techs
      Videos by Ty he’s a HVAC instructor on UA-cam
      Videos by engineering mindset
      Videos by HVAC learning LLC. (I did not quite get that name down correctly the instructors name is Craig the last name sounds Italian and he has books and other learning material
      After that you’re now on your way to learning and knowing more about air-conditioning than probably 95% of all automotive technicians within 100 mile radius of your area.
      Oh yeah I forgot to mention MACSW
      macsmobileairclimate.org/

    • @turboflush
      @turboflush 3 роки тому +2

      @@coldfinger459sub0
      Craig is amazing. Good teacher.
      TK has a good troubleshoot writeup for micron gauge.

  • @waynecostanza2280
    @waynecostanza2280 3 роки тому +1

    Do you recycle your own refrigerant?

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому

      Yes

    • @waynecostanza2280
      @waynecostanza2280 3 роки тому +1

      Do you have any past videos you have made about that?

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому +3

      @@waynecostanza2280 that will be a future video I have planned. That’s such an important video to have very correct and detailed information.
      A subject about refrigerant recycling deserves editing and for me to spend time producing.

    • @Mrelectric423
      @Mrelectric423 3 роки тому +3

      @@coldfinger459sub0 I’m looking forward to learning about that too.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  3 роки тому +1

      @@Mrelectric423 what I do is next level way above and beyond any piece of automotive equipment sold on the market. .
      The moisture contamination issue is a big pandemic problem in this industry you have no idea.

  • @rickmiles2381
    @rickmiles2381 2 роки тому +1

    Wrong. You should never overfill. End of story.

    • @coldfinger459sub0
      @coldfinger459sub0  2 роки тому +1

      Yes I hundred percent agree with you none of my employees would ever be allowed to do such a thing and nobody touches my tanks except me.
      And since on this day the high temperature was only 54°F and it was at the end of the day when I was doing my last refrigerant recovery‘s and going directly back to my shop for recycle.
      The temperature was dropping by the time I made it back to my shop the temperatures were in the mid to low 40°F so that only means one thing if you know your gas laws ? .
      1: That’s a pressure inside the tank will always be decreasing due to the falling temperature
      2: And the volume of the gas Will be decreasing inside the tank as the temperature of the tank falls.
      Something we learned in grammar school math class and grammar school science class reinforced in middle school high school and college.
      And for those fortunate enough to go through their 2 1/2 to 5 year HVAC residential and commercial refrigeration classes it was emphasized and reinforced the gas laws are driven into your head like a nail into a board.
      I would never ever recommend anybody overfill their tank but because I know the basics of the grammar school level of the gas laws I know the tank it’s not hydrastatically locked still with headspace and ever decreasing in pressure on my way back to the shop.
      Now it be a completely different story and outcome if I if I overfilled my tank at 7 o’clock in the morning in 40° weather to the point where it’s hydrostatic Lee lot and then put the tank back on top of my vehicle in the sun and the mid afternoon was 90° that tank is going to blow off the valves and there’s gonna be a mess.