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I have some refrigerant in the lines but I need to top it off; likely have a leak. I am going to use a manifold gauge like Eric did in his video. But he charged his after vacuuming out the system; his was empty and he just used a full can. My question is how do I know when to stop? I heard overfilling is just as bad? Am I looking for certain psi’s? anybody anybody?? tanx
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You don’t (know when to stop). R134a cannot be (easily) trimmed. You would be best off taking it to a shop (for them to evacuate it of the old refrigerant), then finding the leak and repairing it yourself (if you have the tools, but more importantly the knowledge). I’m not a professional mechanic, but I did a LOT of research into proper refrigerant handling methods and got EPA certified to handle the stuff before I even attempted my first HVAC repair.
I’m not trying to discourage you, but based on the wording of your question it sounds like you don’t have much background/experience in this area. Good luck!
+1 I don’t recommend AC work for the DIY for this very reason. You can get in over your head real quick. Not to mention if you don’t handle refrigerant properly you can damage the system as well as the environment. More info here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-hvac-problems
I have a local oil change place that will evacuate and store any freon they retrieve. I do the repair and evacuate the system and check for leaks by shutting off the gauges and watching the system hold a vacuum for a period of time. Then I take it back to them they recheck for leaks and then recharge the system. They don’t charge me for the freon they pulled from the system. They charge me for any additional freon I need to make up the total charge plus their normal ac recharge fees. It allows me to save money on the repair but I can sleep at night knowing I am still following good practices.
Even though you can buy single cans you can’t really top off a system. There isn’t any way to tell when they are full or if you have a leak and will just leak it all back out.
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