Aircon: Converting R12 systems to R134A

[Lauren]

For those that have R12 systems, it is possible to convert to R134A which is not only legal, but about £50 a refill and you can have it done anywhere.

In order to do the conversion a special oil is used. The aircon place, vacuumed the system for a couple of hours to remove all the old oil and refigerant.

Then the new oil which is compatible with R12 systems (The AC guy said that there are conversion kits for Japanese cars available) is added and then the system was refilled and pressure tested with R134A.

Following that the system was tested for leaks. Old R12 style refill valves were replaced with appropriate valves for R134A. Cost was £130 + VAT




The aircon is now lovely and cold, massive improvement. Interestingly the AC guy reckoned that imported cars from Japan, California (ie hot places) tend to have much better quality systems than you find in European cars, he reckoned because of the necessity of it over there.