air con refill with dye

[RaceDiagnostics]

I had my air con refilled a month ago but its cut out again so a fairly big leak. Can anyone recommend a refill that has dye included that I can use a UV torch to find the leak.

 

[Johnseat]

Go somewhere which can fill your system to 9 bar with nitrogen, you should be able to hear the leak!

 

[ukracer]

ATS stuff should have it in there....well mine did anyway

Had mine done at ATS but it just gets cold .i dont have a clue what they put in....

 

[doubleboost]

I do a 150 psi test with Nitrogen
If the pressure holds the system is put under vacuum
Then refilled with refrigerant as well as a quantity of lubricant and the green dye
A small leak can be very hard to find
It is normally the condenser at fault

 

[zeppelin builder]

I do a 150 psi test with Nitrogen
If the pressure holds the system is put under vacuum
Then refilled with refrigerant as well as a quantity of lubricant and the green dye
A small leak can be very hard to find
It is normally the condenser at fault

does sent a propane flame change colour when held near a leak i seem to remember an industrial refridgeration guy showing me

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I had mine regassed a month or so ago but the ac stopped working yesterday, the fault code shows low pressure. I checked last night with a UV torch but nothing showed up.

I had a look at the ATS but it doesn't say anything about dye.

I checked the Halfords gas but it doesn't have any dye in it either. Looks like I will need to call in a specialist.

 

[Rig Pig]

I've got a leak on the wife's car to sort, there's a very suspicious oily patch on the condenser.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I've got a guy coming round tomorrow morning with a nitrogen bottle and some washing up liquid. Hope the leak is bad enough to be able to spot it.

 

[Justme]

Its leaking so will need vacuuming out before refilling.

Cant you just use a compressor to presurise it?

 

[wookie]

I had mine regassed a month or so ago but the ac stopped working yesterday, the fault code shows low pressure. I checked last night with a UV torch but nothing showed up.

I had a look at the ATS but it doesn't say anything about dye.

I checked the Halfords gas but it doesn't have any dye in it either. Looks like I will need to call in a specialist.

To be honest this is why places like Halfords etc shouldn't be allowed to refill aircon systems, it's a specialist job that to do properly takes time. Anywhere offering "Air con refill for £30" can't be doing a proper job. Since yours has leaked out in a month or so unless some component has just failed that should have shown up when they tested the system prior to refilling.

 

[zeppelin builder]

Wouldn't advise that trick with some refrigerants...they are very very flammable

would i be right in thinking it was called R32 it was fixed and filled up with reclaimed gas years ago, then they changed it to something more eco friendly

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning gents.
Over here we are supposed to check for leaks prior to charging any gas into any system. The dye, is something that is put in as an extra if the owner requests or agrees. In air condition systems the gas is R410a and is a 'snuff' gas. It is non flammable, however the byproducts of it's combustion is very unpleasent and equally unhealthy (down right poisonous). Globally there many names for refrigerant gasses however they are the same thing, but may be made by a different company and called a different name. As has been stated above, the purpose of the dye in the refrigerant is to come out in the oil and leave a fluro trail when viewed through UV glasses and appropriate torch. This process can identify a tiny leak that would not normally be located by the 'refrigerant sniffers'. The dye is injected into the system and travels around in the lubricating oil. When there is a leak the dye loaded oil escapes and with it comes the dye. The smaller the leak the longer the system has to run for the dye to build up enough the be seen.

Hope this helps to enlighten some.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Car stuff here used to use R12, was then R134a and now is a myriad of stuff including R1234yf (flammable horrible stuff)

car stuff here is still R134a. Small stationary systems can be changed over to 'basically LPG with a fire supprescent' but it is still flamable. I have steered clear of that stuff due to application and potential risk. You cannot use these flamable gasses in enclosed engine rooms. Need not go into why

 

[normspanners]

Had mine done at ATS but it just gets cold .i dont have a clue what they put in....

Thats coz they used coolin gas not heating gas
Vauxhall use heating gas in their zaf-fires its a cracking heating system but can interfere with drivers view of the road

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Ok got it pressurised with nitrogen and found a leak in the condenser, that will be a pain to get out. It also turned out there was dye in it already.

 

[ukracer]

Ok got it pressurised with nitrogen and found a leak in the condenser, that will be a pain to get out. It also turned out there was dye in it already.

How much did that cost?? My nissan navara has a leak but i dont know where.

On a side note my saab has just been done and now it idles like a dog and does not seem to drive as well as before......

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

The guy only asked for £20 but I gave him £25 cash, he was here for about 30mins, he did also get 93grams of my refrigerant for free. He measured the weight as he pumped it out into his bottle.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

The guy only asked for £20 but I gave him £25 cash, he was here for about 30mins, he did also get 93grams of my refrigerant for free. He measured the weight as he pumped it out into his bottle.

Just to clarify. Some of the gasses are two or even three component mixes. When you get a leak the most reactive or high pressure component will escape most leaving the refrigerant unbalanced. In these situations the remaining charge is to be reclaimed and a fresh charge, charged for the system to operate as expected