PM5K
Member
I know this isn't exactly the right place to ask, but I'm sure there are a lot of similarities between household HVAC and automotive, so here are my questions:
Is it possible to get an accurate idea of how much refrigerant your system needs using gauges? So in other words if it's supposed to be 35 PSI, and it's 25 PSI, can I use that to top off the system, or is it a lot better of an idea to know that the system takes 2 lbs and just evacuate it, pull a vacuum, and then recharge it with 2lbs? (I do know that if the system is low that it has a leak that needs to be repaired first, but that's not the subject of this topic)
I ask because I've been trying to do it via the first method, and it seems like there is some amount of time you have to wait between adding freon, and getting an accurate reading on the gauges, presumably because you have to wait for the pressures to equalize between the high and low side. If that's accurate, how long would you normally have to wait? It seem to me that it can take 5-10 minutes before I can get a steady reading.
TIA
Is it possible to get an accurate idea of how much refrigerant your system needs using gauges? So in other words if it's supposed to be 35 PSI, and it's 25 PSI, can I use that to top off the system, or is it a lot better of an idea to know that the system takes 2 lbs and just evacuate it, pull a vacuum, and then recharge it with 2lbs? (I do know that if the system is low that it has a leak that needs to be repaired first, but that's not the subject of this topic)
I ask because I've been trying to do it via the first method, and it seems like there is some amount of time you have to wait between adding freon, and getting an accurate reading on the gauges, presumably because you have to wait for the pressures to equalize between the high and low side. If that's accurate, how long would you normally have to wait? It seem to me that it can take 5-10 minutes before I can get a steady reading.
TIA