Duracool for your A/C...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jabber
  • Start date Start date
J

Jabber

I have a 1999 S70 which has been a great car so far. This spring I
noticed that the A/C was a bit weak and it seemed to be getting worse.
It got so bad that the compressor would cycle on for 1-2 secs and then
go off. Must be either very low on or out of R134a. So when I was in
to the dealer for some brake work I asked them to check the A/C. Sure
enough they told me that the condenser was toast. So I did some
research and found out about Duracool. Essentially an environmentally
friendly replacement for R134a which is available to the average Joe.
Even in Canada! So I contacted a dealer and bought some. Lo and behold
my A/C is working now! Even with the supposed hole in the condenser.
Even more troubling is the fact that there was a charge in the system
when I went to add Duracool to it. The dealer told me that they had
evacuated the system... So I learned a few things. Don't trust
everything the dealer says; do lots of research before plunking down
cash for work at the dealer and explore all options.
Hopefully the charge will last the summer. If not I bought a few extra
cans of Duracool just in case.


Jordan B. 1999 S70 Loaded and now cool!
 
Jabber said:
I have a 1999 S70 which has been a great car so far. This spring I
noticed that the A/C was a bit weak and it seemed to be getting worse.
It got so bad that the compressor would cycle on for 1-2 secs and then
go off. Must be either very low on or out of R134a. So when I was in
to the dealer for some brake work I asked them to check the A/C. Sure
enough they told me that the condenser was toast. So I did some
research and found out about Duracool. Essentially an environmentally
friendly replacement for R134a which is available to the average Joe.
Even in Canada! So I contacted a dealer and bought some. Lo and behold
my A/C is working now! Even with the supposed hole in the condenser.
Even more troubling is the fact that there was a charge in the system
when I went to add Duracool to it. The dealer told me that they had
evacuated the system... So I learned a few things. Don't trust
everything the dealer says; do lots of research before plunking down
cash for work at the dealer and explore all options.
Hopefully the charge will last the summer. If not I bought a few extra
cans of Duracool just in case.


Jordan B. 1999 S70 Loaded and now cool!
Click to expand...


R134a is already environmentally friendly and can be purchased by anyone
anywhere that sells car stuff, even Wal Mart and Target have it. I'm not
sure what Duracool is but if the condenser is leaking, you'll be adding more
of it sooner or later. It's possible and in fact likely that the dealer
evacuated the system, then charged it with enough R134a to use a leak
detector on it, located a leak in the condenser and informed you of such.
 
www.duracool.com


James Sweet said:
R134a is already environmentally friendly and can be purchased by anyone
anywhere that sells car stuff, even Wal Mart and Target have it. I'm not
sure what Duracool is but if the condenser is leaking, you'll be adding
more of it sooner or later. It's possible and in fact likely that the
dealer evacuated the system, then charged it with enough R134a to use a
leak detector on it, located a leak in the condenser and informed you of
such.
Click to expand...
 
James said:
R134a is already environmentally friendly and can be purchased by anyone
anywhere that sells car stuff, even Wal Mart and Target have it. I'm not
sure what Duracool is but if the condenser is leaking, you'll be adding more
of it sooner or later. It's possible and in fact likely that the dealer
evacuated the system, then charged it with enough R134a to use a leak
detector on it, located a leak in the condenser and informed you of such.
Click to expand...

R134a isn't as environmentally friendly as was supposed. That
doesn't mean I'm blindly endorsing any alternatives, just that we
shouldn't think that this particular problem is already solved.
 
R134a isn't as environmentally friendly as was supposed. That doesn't
mean I'm blindly endorsing any alternatives, just that we shouldn't think
that this particular problem is already solved.
Click to expand...


Well it doesn't deplete ozone. Yes, it's a greenhouse gas, but so is CO2,
everything is a tradeoff.

The thing that gets me is it's perfectly legal to use R134a to blow dust out
of your computer keyboard, but a federal crime to vent it from a
refrigeration system. Same stuff, but if used as a refrigerant it falls
under different regulations.
 
And R134a was just recently found to be carcinogenic and apparently
will be replaced in the coming years. It's very hard to get any
refrigerants in Canada or Ontario at least. So Duracool appeared to me
to be the only solution. I will wait until this weekend to take a
gauge reading to see if any "gas" has escaped. When I left the dealer
I specifically asked to have the system evacuated so I am leary of the
"enough gas to detect a leak" explanation. Still working perfectly
today when it's 30 degrees and humid as hell. Toronto is in a fog....



Jordan B 1999 S70 Loaded!
 
I did my home work on durakool as you call it and it seems the compressor
needs less of the gas than it does with r134a so much so it uses 1\3 the
amount of gas .So it means the compressor is working less the battery is
getting it easy and all is fine .Its called hychill here in Australia .Some
cab companies use it for it uses less energy & less fuel sounds good so far
..As well with less pressure the compressor should last longer .IF any one
knows other wise please tell us .P\s after seeing so many ripped off with
air con I like to make sure of any thing I hear .
 
Jabber said:
And R134a was just recently found to be carcinogenic
Click to expand...

Could you please cite the scientific source of that statement?
Regards
Viktor

The e-mail address in the header is never read
For private e-mail please use vikwei at gmx dot at
 
In <[email protected]>,
Jabber said:
So I did some
research and found out about Duracool. Essentially an environmentally
friendly replacement for R134a which is available to the average Joe.
Click to expand...

The environmental claims on Duracool's website are bull-shit. Duracool
is a hydrocarbon gas, and as such, it is just as likely to contribute to
the greenhouse effect as R134a.

There's detailed information on Duracool here:
<http://www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/refrigerants/hc12alng.html>

AC
 
In <[email protected]>,
Jabber said:
And R134a was just recently found to be carcinogenic
Click to expand...

Rubbish, rubbish, and more rubbish.

Here's what the IARC, NTP, OSHA, and ACGIH have to say about R-134a.

"Carcinogenicity Information
None of the components present in this material at concentrations
equal to or greater than 0.1% are listed by IARC, NTP, OSHA or ACGIH
as a carcinogen."

Finally, to the best of my knowledge, here in the US, the EPA doesn't
permit the use of HC-12a or Duracool 12a for mobile applications.

AC
 
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