Aircon regas etc

[Mike Hartland]

I recently had my 7 year old GS re-gassed. By the time we got into the warm weather it was struggling badly and failing to cool the car. Performance had tailed off over a while, so I guessed that it was not a catastrophic failure.  I had it done by my dealer who checked and confirmed no leaks and he also mentioned about keeping it on full time to protect seals. It is marvellous now, so quiet in this weather.

[sudhir]

I have a gs250 12 plate, A/C gas used in this car is the newer version and Halfords want 135GBP .....anyone had the new gas refilled?

[Britprius]

I have two cars with AC.

A Toyota Aygo that is now 14 years old "admittedly with only 75,000 miles" that has never had the AC serviced in any way, and still blows very cold on the hottest day.
My other car a GS450H that is 12 years old with near 150,000 miles I have to top up the refrigerant about every 2 years as the efficiency of the system declines. To do this I use an aerosol can of R134A pipe freezer "the sort plumbers use", and available from places like B&Q for around £15 per can. This can lasts for approximately 3 top ups, and brings the AC back to full working order according to the specifications in the workshop manual.
I have checked the specification of the gas I use, and it is identical to that of the OEM gas used. 

John 

[Herbie]

4 hours ago, Britprius said:

My other car a GS450H that is 12 years old with near 150,000 miles I have to top up the refrigerant about every 2 years as the efficiency of the system declines. To do this I use an aerosol can of R134A pipe freezer "the sort plumbers use", and available from places like B&Q for around £15 per can. This can lasts for approximately 3 top ups, and brings the AC back to full working order according to the specifications in the workshop manual.
I have checked the specification of the gas I use, and it is identical to that of the OEM gas used.

John, I'm shocked! 

I'm assuming that as it's meant for plumbers to freeze pipes, there won't be any lubricating oil in there so at least you're not mixing PAG in with ND11.

However, every top-up you do is diluting the amount of oil in the system, so are you not worried about the effect of that?

[Britprius]

12 minutes ago, Herbie said:

John, I'm shocked! 

I'm assuming that as it's meant for plumbers to freeze pipes, there won't be any lubricating oil in there so at least you're not mixing PAG in with ND11.

However, every top-up you do is diluting the amount of oil in the system, so are you not worried about the effect of that?

Perhaps I should have said I purchased some ND11 oil in the US while working there originally intended for my Prius if needed. It was supplied in small one dose plastic pouches making it affordable. In the UK it only seems available in cans at a very high price.  I added one of these pouches at the first top up "along with a dye to show up any leak", and will probably add another dose of oil in a couple of years. There is however no sign of a leak or of any oil around the system. So I am not worried about lack of lubricant.
I should also say there has always been enough pressure in the system for the compressor to run so no possibility of moisture entering the system.

John.