just got my a/c up and running. using old compressor old condensor old poa valve and old evaporator. replacced low pressure hose added r12 and to my surprise 54 degrees out the vents at day and 47 at night after maybe 4 minutes. question is that the condensor i inherited with the other parts works well but how well i dont know. how do i tell if i would benefit from a new condensor or throwin money ,marty
Lightly and quickly touch the condenser as the coils cross back and forth. Careful, the incoming refrigerant is scorching hot. If there is an area that is colder, there is a restriction and the condenser should be replaced. The whole condenser should be hot. The only place you want a restriction is at the valve where the refrigerant is metered into the evaporator. Those temps don't sound too bad for Florida, with the humidity factored in. Were these values measured when moving, or stationary? Moving should be cooler, or put a fan in front of the car. The high side can go as high as 400 psi if things aren't working right. Don't let it do that. Make sure you don't have too much refrigerant in the system, as this will also cause high temps. You should have a sight glass in that vintage. You should see no bubbles with the AC running. And I really hope you put in a new receiver/drier or desiccant pack.
will do the touch test though can you do that with the temerature laser gun? i did put in a brand new TA drier though i dont know the numbers ,the a/c guy that put in the r12 is a real pro and seemed very happy with the reesults. i will go check the sight glass,funny i forgot about that 30 years ago.values were measured in my garage and are not as good in the hot A sun with the 40 year old conv top baking down but adequate though eventually cools well.. i didnt post but was also wondering as it runs 190 with a/c off and 200 205 a/c on if that temp would affect the a//c efficiency. thanks to some members i feel i have located my overheating problem as a/c on 8 min of idle 230 degrees. the guy who installled my motor 3 years ago must have mistakenly used a long nose pump and as a result my fan is buried in my shroud. recently a member got me the correct pulley for 70 455 as installed also was a 350 2 groove pulley. i feel that when the short new TA pump is in with the correct pulley, the fan will exit 2/3 and should greatly improve idle cooling.marty
If you have a handle on the reliability of the laser detector, that's probably OK. Back in the day, we used our fingers (judiciously, a blister limits your ability to do real work, sort of- I've done many a job with bleeding and blisters). I used to be able to move live coals around in a barbeque with my fingers, when I had enough calluses. Now, I use tools. The older I get, the better I used to be.
