Does anyone still service AC with R12? In Tx

2old2fast said:

I have about 15-20 # in a 30# container & 8- 12 oz cans I'll sell !

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curtis73 said:

If you find someone that does it, be prepared to pay more for a recharge than a complete conversion to R134. R12 has been banned from being produced for about 30 years (1994) so at best you might find a place that has recovered R12... for which they have paid a hefty price for a used and possibly contaminated product.

Finding R12 is kind of like trying to find vintage SAE 30W oil from 1965 to run in your 1964 engine. It's rare, expensive, and probably just a jug of tar at this point.

Why don't you want to mess with R134?

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jsm1847 said:

I have a vintage air system that is set up for r12. The research I have done says that the 12 cools much better, unless the system was set up originally for 134.

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gregaba said:

On all the system's we have done the air temp. coming out of the vent's is around 38 to 41 degree's with the 134,
Greg

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gregaba said:

No, when you run a vacuum on it the process remove's the old oil. Just run the vacuum for at least an hour, install the new pag oil and then recharge.
Just remember with he 134 you will use 80% less then the R 14 on install and the pressure's will be a little higher.
When I get to about the right pressure I just watch the vent temp. until it get's where I want it.
I live in southern Oklahoma so know what you mean be hot summer's.
Greg

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gregaba said:

You can go to your local parts store and buy the adapter's for the connector's for about $30.00 a set.
You will need a vacuum pump and a 134 gauge set to do the work .
Greg

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curtis73 said:

You are mostly on-track here. R12 is more volatile, meaning it needs less pressure differential to generate evaporation and therefore cold temperatures. That volatility (and the stuff that's in it) is the exact reason it's banned. If it escapes into the wild - which it is trying very hard to do - it is highly damaging to the environment. If you put R134 in an R12 system, it will cool, but not as well. But if you have an R134 system with R134 refrigerant, it will cool every bit as well as an R12 system. It's just that the components of each system are engineered to make the stuff work. It's not that A is better than B, it's that they require different components to operate at their best.

The big thing with R12 in my opinion is that it will constantly bleed you dry. Recharges are expensive, they use recovered freon which could have come from a contaminated system, and if you get a leak, you're back to square one. I don't mind carrying water in a leaky bucket, but I won't use it to carry single-malt scotch. If you have R134, it's cheap to recharge yourself with a $5 can of juice from WalMart. I have a tiny leak in my van, so I top it up every spring for a couple bucks. If I had to do that with R12, I would have to take it to a rare shop that has recycled R12 and pay through the nose.

Buy now, cry now, sleep tight. Your compressor should work just fine with either once you get the oil out. They're somewhat generic. Swap out the orifice tube for an expansion valve, get a more efficient condenser, enjoy. If you shop wisely and do your own labor, you can likely do the swap yourself for about the same money as a single recharge of recycled R12.

Keep in mind that the capacity of the system to cool the air is a function of volume in and heat out. A lot of people think that getting a bigger compressor is the ticket. It will only help if you have enough condenser to shed enough heat to re-liquify the freon. The more heat you can remove in the condenser, the colder the air will be in the car.

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