Date:         Wed, 7 May 2008 21:17:46 +0000
Reply-To:     Trvlr2001@COMCAST.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "John C..." <Trvlr2001@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: How to convert to 134?

As the Moody's said;
Breathe Deep / The Gathering Gloom......

The world will survive.
It is Self Healing.
The problem(s)
will be eradicated!
All 6+ billion of them ...

As Henry Ford once said ;o)
They can have my Car...
When they pry my cold dead fingers off of the Steering Wheel !!!

YMMV...



> This issue (ozone layer hole) and smog are what made the EPA. They were
> it's rallying cryings and the information about R-12 on the EPAs website
> is almost treated like holy script. They still keep a ton of outdated
> info on their site that has long ago been proven wrong, etc. Thirty
> years later the smog is almost a thing of the past (Pittsburgh is now
> the smoggiest city instead of LA) and the ozone layer hole never
> happened. Is it because we pulled the R-12? I would say yes except for
> the fact that we replaced it with something that is also supposedly
> harmful to the ozone layer, and that leaks about ten times worse (R-134a).
>
> The super ironic part about this whole discussion is that the engineers
> have indeed been coming up with the next big refrigerant. It is
> something that is so innocuous that ten years ago when they were
> starting to develop it no one ever dreamed that it would cause any
> problems. It is a gas that we breathe out and plant life absorbs
> naturally. What could be more tame? I am referring to CO2 :-) So the
> new public enemy number one is what is scheduled to replace R134a
> someday. I guess for the EPA making CO2 their new hobby horse is just
> long term job security. Now if we could all just stop driving our evil
> cars, and breathing out for the next twenty years I am sure we could
> drop the world wide level of this toxic gas by at least .01 %. We could
> save the world!
>
> Gotta love the EPA.
>

> > Actually, the frequent loss of R134a into the atmosphere is a big
> > deal, environmentally speaking. And actually a very BIG deal. Turns
> > out that just like Freon R12, R134a has it's own issues, and it would
> > not surprise me to see changes coming that take the stuff off the
> > market. Dunno what would take it's place, but the
> > engineering/scientific types will come up with something. The public
> > is not going to be without it's AC. This very thing - issues with 134a
> > - is at least in part why Freeze 12 got the OK to replace R134a.
> > Regards,
> >
> >
> >
>> >> Yes, John makes a great point and I think this is the reason why I have
> >> looked through so many Vanagon service histories and saw an A/C charge
> >> every summer since they were brand new. A normal vehicle has the A/C
> >> compressor come on when you turn on your defrost. That way even in the
> >> winter the compressor is being cycled on and the system stays happy. In
> >> the Vanagon not only is this not a feature but on the newer ones if it
> >> below a certain temperature you couldn't get the compressor to come on
> >> without hotwiring it. So the systems sit all winter until we turn them
> >> on in the spring and by that time the seals have contracted and released
> >> most of the refrigerant. I have just resigned myself to charging it
> >> each spring and as long as R134a stays relatively cheap this isn't a big
> >> deal.
> >>
>
> >>
> >>
> >>> One thing not mentioned in all the related posts is that you need to
> >>> run
> >>> the AC for a few minutes once a week year round to keep all the seals
> >>> wet. They tend to dry over time and shrink, and then they leak
> >>> refrigerant.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> :
> >>>> Does anyone know of a complete set of instructions for converting
> >>>> to 134
> >>>> from R12? I'm talking complete, like where to get any parts needed
> >>>> for the
> >>>> compressor and how to get the compressor open to fit them, how to get
> >>>> the
> >>>> oil out, put new oil in, and that sort of thing. I inherited a nice
> >>>> set of
> >>>> manifold gauges but have never used them. I also have access to a
> >>>> vacuum
> >>>> pump if that is required.
> >>>> Jim
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >