UN-converted my AC back to R12

Well, the PO had converted my AC to R134a and to be honest it just wasn't capable of keeping up with mother nature on those super hot days. I brought it in and had them evacuate the R134 and refill with the correct R12. What a difference!!! I saw someone earlier use the expression.... "now I could hang meat in there".... and it fits MUCH HAPPIER with it now. The whole job was a whopping $189. (I think that's damn cheap.) If any of you are considering a conversion, DON'T!!

Tom in NH
1994 348 SS

 

It only kills them when they tear the hood off old cars and suck it out of the high pressure hose.

 

The conversion to R134a is complicated if you do it correctly, which is why most people do it wrong. R134a isn't as efficient as R12, so R134a systems will typically have larger condensers with more surface area than their R12 counterparts. If you convert, you "should" install larger condenser and more fans, but most don't go through the hassle. The refrigerant also uses a different type of oil, but that's a minor consideration. Typically the compressors will work with either refrigerant, as will the rest of the system.

One major concern is that R134a is a molecularly smaller substance, so it leaks more readily than R12 (if it's in a system with seals that were designed for R12), so oddly enough, those who convert may end up causing more environmental damage with the R134a they're leaking through the R12 seals than they ever would have if they'd stayed with R12......

Anyway, the conversion back to R12 is pretty simple. They just suck all the R134a refrigerant out of the car, draw a vacuum, and fill it back up with R12 refrigerant and the proper oil. In my case, they also needed to remove the R134a conversion fittings that the P/O used to allow the car to connect up to the R134a filler. Pretty simple and it took just about one hour to complete.