I believe Rick called and they said no to his request for 1967 AC hoses with non-standard crimps vs factory screw band clamps for the end fittings. Rick can comment further. However, they did make up hoses with crimps for another friend that had a 69 Corvette a few years back. So I dunno......but each person having this need should call them for their particular system.

Larry

 

Does anyone know how to upload a video? I made a short video of where my leak sniffer is picking up a hit on the refrigerant hose like I mentioned in a earlier post.Would like to get members thoughts or ideas. Thanks

 

Update on trouble shooting A/C leak: I isolated and sealed off the compressor. Reason: I wanted to verify that I wasn't getting any residual gas leaking out of the compressor seal dropping down onto the rubber hoses causing my sniffer to alert. I continued to get the alerts moving the sniffer along the 13/32 hose from the drier. Next I wanted to see if the compressor seal was also leaking so I slit a small hose in the sealing bag and stuck my sniffer in. The sniffer sang like a canary with a continuing alarm, confirming a leak. I did this test 3x waiting approx. 10 hours after sealing up the compressor. My conclusion is I have 2 leaks going on, one is that the r134 refrigerant is permeating through the original hoses and also that I have a compressor shaft seal. My plan of attack is to replace the hoses to the barrier type and also replace the compressor with a Alma unit. I purchased the compressor from Arizona Mobile Air ($345 + shipping). Alma part # 15-16262A, cross reference part # at Arizona Mobile Air is 14-22260NC. The Alma compressor has a hardened shaft and uses a double lipped seal and the shaft concentricity is held to a tighter tolerance than the original units that used the carbon/ceramic seal. There is slight confusion between how the dealers and Alma view the position of the coil. In the Apco catalog they state the coil position for this part # is at 10 o,clock ,but when you order from the dealer whether it be Arizona Mobile or Omega they cross reference the Alma part # as a 2 o,clock coil position. The reason for this is that the catalog views the compressor looking straight at the clutch while the dealers view the compressor from the muffler end .

 

Nice job!

 

Rick:

I knew you would order the ALMA compressor, because you want everything just right. But you could probably live with the existing A6 with the double lip seal and just add a can (or part of a can) of R134a every spring. Like the old days.

I know you will be happy with the final product of ALMA compressor and barrier hoses. Always GREAT talking to you and sharing our stories from when we and our car were younger.

Larry

 

Larry, sounds like you know me like a book.Ya, I can be **** at times. Well most times. Anyway,thanks again for all your insight.Stay safe my friend

 

Please keep us posted. I want to know how that Alma compressor works out.

Ed

 

Will do

 

It will work just fine. Put one in about a year ago for a local guy..........after TWO AC DELCO rebuilt A6 compressors failed to work properly.

Larry

 

I have one lingering question while I wait for my new compressor arrival.With my confirmed two leak areas in my system along with refrigerant leakage over time, when I pull a deep vacuum for around 6 hours at 29 inches and then shut off the gage valves and then the pump and leave the system sit for approx. 18-20 hours the vacuum doesn't drop?? Wouldn,t the vacuum in system pull in air thru the leaks and make the vacuum drop??

 

Yes. The purpose of the vacuum on the system is to pull air through the leaks and thus reduce the vacuum. If it’s not dropping then you either have no leak or it’s very slow. I’d let it sit another day or two to see what happens.

Ed

 

Yes, but also a vacuum is "pulled" because a system must be charged into a vacuum, never anything but a vacuum. There can be no air in the system. You should pull a vacuum and hold it as long as you can, if it holds for several hours it is likely fine. Keep in mind that the compressor shaft seals are pulled in by the vacuum against their natural state. In some compressors and compressor types this will result in a vacuum failing to hold at exactly 29 Hg long term. No AC recharge shop since the beginning of time ever spent more than a half hour sucking down a system.

Dan

 

Been thinking about this... Here’s a thought / question. If a system holds a vacuum is there a chance that under high pressure - when running - it can still leak?

Ed

 

Sure. We count on that sniffing for leaks with the detector.

Dan

 

Just remember that when you pull a vacuum on an AC system, you want to remove all the air and all of the water that may be present. Air removal is the easy part.............getting out all the water (by vaporization/boiling under vacuum) is much more difficult. At 29 IN HG vacuum, water will boil off at 80F. At 29.8 IN HG vacuum, water will boil off at 32F. At 29.95 IN HG water will boil off at 6F.

For cars, like Dan said, most shops only pull vacuum for a short time and then charge refrigerant. They assume there is very little water/moisture in the system and individual components........and that the desiccant in the drier/accumuluator will remove anything that remains. The desiccant in a typical drier can remove and hold about 1 tablespoon of water, maybe a bit less.

I always pressure test a system and check for leaks before pulling a vacuum. That way you know you don't have any leaks.

Larry

 

Larry,

remind us how you pressurize a system. I recall you using nitrogen but can’t recall the procedure.

Ed

 

Ed:

Nitrogen is good for purging and pressure testing..........since it is dry and contains no moisture. The problem is that with pure nitrogen, you have to soap solution test everything, since the electronic refrigerant leak detectors will not work on nitrogen alone.

So ideally, I would purge with nitrogen for about 15 minutes to displace air and remove some moisture. Then pull a vacuum for a few hours to remove remaining moisture in the system. Then I will use a can of R134a or a bit of R22 to pressure the system up to about 70 psig. Takes maybe 1/2 a small can of refrigerant to do this or about 1/2 pound. Then use the electronic leak detector and some soap solution to test everything you worked on or feel could leak. Then depressure and fix and leaks. THEN pull a deep and final vacuum for another few hours. At this point you can vlave in the system and see if the vacuum holds.

Assuming it does, I will pull a quick final vacuum on the system to remove any air that might have leaked in during the last few hours, and immediately charge 1 can or 1 pound of refrigerant. Now your system is under 60-90 psig positive pressure. Then get ready to charge the remaining refrigerant and start the car and charge unitl the bubbles in the sight glass disappear, and your gages tell you that you are at the correct LO and HI pressures. Double check refrigerant amount by numbers of cans used or pounds added using a scale.

An alternative is to simply add the required amount of refrigerant as a liquid into the compressor discharge line. Heat up the compressor with a hair drier to vaporize any liquid refrigerant that could be inside, and turn the compressor over a few times by hand. Then start the car. This is how the factory did it............but they did not use a heat gun on the compressor since the engine was not started up for maybe another hour or so at the end of the line. By that time any liquid vaporized from the compressor

Oh, be sure to add any refrigerant oil before charging the refrigerant..........if any oil is needed. However, you can add some oil afterward if you forget, but it is a bit more difficult to do. But you need some oil in the system to keep the compressor from seizing when you start it.

Hope this helps.

Larry

 

That more than helps Larry. Thanks. I have to figure out why my Camaro lost refrigerant and this will certainly help. It’s been to cold for me to do anything. Should warm up in the next few weeks.

Stay healthy!

Ed

 

Just my $0.02, but ideally pressure test with dry nitrogen to 180# and hold for an extended time, hours. While under pressure you can check for bubbles with soapy water, but maintaining pressure over time is best test. Pressure test with vacuum is basically testing at 14#. Otherwise great instructions.

 

How do you pressurize to 180lbs with nitrogen?

Ed