Is it possible to refill an air conditioner all by oneself?

The car air conditioning system, like any part of the car, needs proper operation and periodic maintenance. The refrigerant used in a car's air conditioning system is Freon, most commonly R134a or R1234yf. During operation there is its involuntary leakage, which cannot be stopped. During a year the loss of freon is about 10-15 %, it is considered normal. To restore the required amount of refrigerant, air conditioner charging should be done on average once in three years. If the car is rather old, it should be charged more often, once in two years. The technology of charging (service) for all air conditioners is the same and consists of the following stages: checking of tightness, evacuation of refrigerant, vacuuming, charging and checking of operation.

There are a lot of articles and videos on how to refill your car's air conditioner yourself. In addition, there are special kits for this procedure available for sale.

A lot of articles and videos on how to refill your car's air conditioner yourself.

The company MSG Equipment is engaged in the development, production and improvement of equipment for diagnostics of air conditioning systems, such as: compressor diagnostic stand MS111, pneumatic flushing station MS101P.

The experience accumulated over the years, allows us to say that independent refuelling or repair of air conditioner, quite often leads to serious breakdowns of this system. 

Let's give some examples of why you should service your air conditioner with specialists in this matter.

The first step of maintenance is to check the tightness of the system. If this step is skipped because it requires specialised instruments, a situation can occur where an unsealed system is refuelled. It is tantamount to pumping up a punctured wheel, which will go flat in a couple of kilometres or earlier. As a result, the conditioner will work with lack of refrigerant, lubrication and inevitable presence of damp air in the system. All this will lead to a full exit from standing: compressor, thermostatic regulating valve (TRV), condenser. As a consequence – costly repairs will be required.

The second step is to evacuate the refrigerant. All the refrigerant must be evacuated from the system, along with the refrigerant some oil will be evacuated from the system. Properly this operation can be carried out with the help of special equipment, which will clean the refrigerant, measure the weight of the pumped out refrigerant and oil, which in the future will allow to carry out refuelling with the exact amount of these components. It is important to know that when servicing an air conditioner, as with any other refrigeration equipment, there must be a balance in all aspects of it. For example, lack of oil – the compressor will experience oil starvation and will break down quickly. Excess oil – impairs heat exchange in the condenser and evaporator, as a result – the air conditioner performs poorly. This is a case where oil can spoil the porridge.

The third step – vacuuming, it is to remove air and moisture from the air conditioning system. These residues, when mixed with oil and refrigerant, form an acid that destroys the system from the inside out. Therefore, if you charge the air conditioner without pre-vacuuming, you should know that you will not be able to charge the right amount of refrigerant. Running the system with a lack of refrigerant, with air and moisture – is a quick failure of the system.

The final step – charging. This too has its pitfalls, which are a large amount of fake, cheap, freon. If you are unlucky enough to refuel with inappropriate Freon, the consequences will be the same – poor operation of the air conditioner, breakdown, expensive repairs.

We have told in general about the method of air conditioner charging and about the consequences of violation of charging technology. Now it is possible to answer a question: whether it is possible to refill conditioner of the car by yourself? Yes, it can be done if you have all the necessary equipment. If we have not convinced you that it is necessary to carry out maintenance with specialists in this field, then safely ignore our arguments. It will keep our customers working.