Purging Air Conditioning lines with a screwdriver.

[Joe]

So I need to purge my AC lines and I am not sure how to go about it. I have half the motor tore out so taking it to a AC service place is out of the question. My question is; is it possible to just crack the line and let the refrigerant leak out. Will it cause any damage. I’ve had tree huggers tell me it will hurt the environment or something. It’s r134. So should I just loosen the bolt to the system and let it blast out? What would you suggest? Are there places that will do it for you? And I mean come to your house and do it.

Thanks

Topic

[Its me]

If you are in the United States it is illegal to intentionally release it. It should be recovered into a proper container…

Karl

[Erik]

That r134a if you have a full charge and you remove a bolt that holds the hose on at the lets just say the compressor it will come out with extreme force and that stuff will make you sicker than a dog trust me ive been there i thought i had recovered all the refrigerant but i didnt and i didnt like the end result not one bit. Id find a different way to evacuate the right way or try leaving the system in tact while you remove your engine if possible

[Joe]

Yeah. I have heard how bad it is to breathe. That is one concern I have. I was thinking of just cracking it and letting it go and leave the area for a while, lol. So do they sell some kind of cheap device that lets me evacuate it properly? These frigging hoses are in the way. I am changing out the AC compressor so it needs to be done. The one that is on the car is currently frozen up. The people who owned the car before me obviously burned a belt and so they found a belt to bypass the AC system. It was causing problems and was rubbing against the motor causing the belt to fray. This is my project car and I am going through everything on the motor to get it into tip top shape. Thanks for any other insight.

[Joe]

I just checked the AC pressure to see if there was any charge to it. And nope. No charge. So yeah. Right on. Thanks for the replies.

[EricTheCarGuy]

EricTheCarGuy says, ‘don’t do it’. Have the system properly evacuated before performing any service on the system.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-hvac-problems

[Jonathan Stiver]

Just reassemble everything to get the car running and take it somewhere to recover any old refrigerant. Use the old “bypass belt” or no belt if you have to. It won’t be as expensive as you think. Not only is venting refrigerant to atmosphere harmful to the environment, your health, and criminal record… It lets moisture get into your system. Once that happens you’ll have to replace the accumulator/drier and vacuum the system and hope for the best.

[Justin]

Honestly though the HFC-134a stuff is not as bad as people make it out to be!!!

Take my current car, a 2008 Mazda 3. It has 1.1 pounds of R-134a (AKA 17.6oz of the stuff). If I were to release it ALL into the atmosphere, somehow I would be a criminal. In contrast, I could go pick-up those Dust-off or Fellows computer spray dusters and release the same stuff into the air “legally.”

The Fellows “non-flammable” Pressurized Duster (i.e. Computer/keyboard duster)… This one:
[IMG]http://assets.fellowes.com/images/products/zoom/9963101.png[/IMG]

It contains: 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane

Has this for it’s MSDS:
http://images.discountofficeitems.com/pub/Master_Images/Master_PDF_Files/FEL99790_MSDS.PDF

That’s right boys and girls… 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane

That is analogous to:
Dymel 134a
Forane 134a
Genetron 134a
HFA-134a
HFC-134a
R-134a
Suva 134a

Okay, so what’s the difference between:
[IMG]http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/394/394/467/467394394_860.jpg[/IMG]

and

[IMG]http://assets.fellowes.com/images/products/zoom/9963101.png[/IMG]

Answer: TAX (paid to our government mafia friends in Washington) :whistle:

[Justin]

Stay away from Dust-Off though when working with Car Air Conditioners…

It contains 1,1-Difluoroethane

Also Known as R-152a

It IS more reactive and corrosive as far as I know, a little less stable; ultimately, it is more flammable though realistically it has a very similar temp/pressure curve, so it would almost certainly work.

[Kevin Criswell]

I don’t advise using the “chemical dusters” either, 134a can be some really nasty stuff and is NOT good for your lungs.

I use either a rechargeable “air duster” that uses real air, or I pop the desiccant moisture remover on the end of a blow off gun and turn the pressure way down.

[Justin]

Fair enough. I was just using an analogy explaining that venting a little R134a though illegal (don’t do it), isn’t worse than using a chemical duster.

I would recommend compressed air for dusting anyway not to mention it would be pretty tough to get the contents from a computer duster into a vehicle’s AC without some crazy puncture clamp.

Chemical dusters CAN make you sick (possibly kill) if you huff them; hence, the bittering agent. That said, ordinary use of a computer duster for keyboards, motherboard cleaning, etc. should not cause this even when used indoors. Most automotive work is done either outdoors or in a well ventilated garage, so it is even less of a concern.

Don’t vent it, but if you were outdoors, venting a pound of refrigerant wouldn’t likely cause harm to the mechanic.

Either way the OP has no concerns; since, his system apparently is empty anyway. Hopefully he successfully repairs his entire AC system and leak checks it (under vacuum)

[Author]

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