Messed up my ac

[97WS6-Bird]

Alright guys, I did something stupid. I went to recharge my ac w/ a recharge kit with a guage on it. I saw that it was really low so I filled it without following the instructions. I didn't have the car running nor did I shake the bottle. Am I screwed or can I start over by draining the system. And if so how do I do that. Also I checked for leaks and there are .

[Rob B (shoebox)]

Did any even go in? Normally the compressor must be running for it suck any out of the can.

[97WS6-Bird]

The guage said it was full so I stopped then realized I didn't do it right. Did I just fill it with uncharged air?

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean by full. What kind of gage are you using? The only gages I have used are dial gages and they don't say empty or full. The only way you can tell is with the engine running, the A/C on and watching the gages.

[sneitzel]

I bought a can at AZ that has a reusable hose and gauge with it.
All it reads is LOW (yellow), OK (green) and HIGH (red).

This may be what he is referring to...

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I bought a can at AZ that has a reusable hose and gauge with it.
All it reads is LOW (yellow), OK (green) and HIGH (red).

This may be what he is referring to...

Where are you supposed to connect this gage to? The low side or the high side? Is this that thing that looks like a tire gage?

[Christopherrr]

Its one of those diy recharge canisters...you connect it to the low side port.



Sounds like when you tried to recharge it without the compressor running all you did was fill the accumulator/dryer...not good if it's full of oil (clogging). You must have the compressor running so the freon/oil can circulate.

You could depress the schrader valve to release the r134 that was forced in (that's illegal to release freon into the air) or you can take it to a shop and have them evac and recharge it correctly. I advise the latter.

[97WS6-Bird]

Yes I also bought the one from AZ and the guage on it said it was totally low and then I hit the trigger till it said full. I later checked it the correct way but it was to late it was already full. So I guess I'll take it somewhere to discharge it and recharge. Thanks for the input.

[sneitzel]

Its one of those diy recharge canisters...you connect it to the low side port.

Yup that's it, except the version I have has a small inline gauge as described above.

EDIT:
Much like this one.

[97WS6-Bird]

Just thought I would let you guys know that I had the ac fixed. They said I filled it with uncharged air. cost me 10 bucks

[Gary94Formula]

I'm glad that's all it was. It could have been costly...

[sneitzel]

Glad it was simple.

I checked the one I have and it does actually have numbers on the gauge.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Being able to see the low side temp is OK (better than nothing) but you really can't tell if it is full or functioning correctly without a high side gage. If the orifice tube gets clogged up the low side pressure will go up. It will show full but not be working correctly. You fill it to the high side pressure getting up to the high side pressure switch. That is about 420 psi. You want it to run close to that. Too much Freon and it will make the pressure go up and the high side pressure switch will turn off the compressor making it “short cycle” and not get cold. Too little pressure and the spray will not chill the coils and blow cold air. R134 systems are easy to get to get too much Freon in it causing it to short cycle. If after filling it now the compressor is clicking on and off and short cycles of less than 5 seconds you have too much Freon in it. Let some out until it runs longer.