One word…. OVERCHARGE! Yep, you heard right. Putting too much refrigerant into a system, is just as bad as not having enough! So how does overcharge happen?
- You use the MORE IS BETTER theory and dump the entire can of refrigerant into your system without knowing how much you really need. Every system has an optimal fill amount and there are no dip sticks to check the fill on an a/c system.
- You use a gauge to fill your system, but your vehicle has a Thermal Expansion valve (TXV) and sensor bulb. What’s a TXV? Without getting too technical, a TXV meters the refrigerant flow in your system and sets a maximum operating pressure. This means that once the max operating pressure is reached, the TXV regulates the refrigerant flow to the low side of the system. Once your system is full, if you use a gauge to measure the pressure on the low side, you are only measuring the amount of pressure after the TXV has regulated the refrigerant flow. Your gauge pressure never increases, but your refrigerant fill does! What’s happens if you keep trying to get your gauge pressure to increase?? Overcharge! Our video at acavalanche.com shows you how a TXV works in your system.
So, how do I charge my system, without overcharging it?? The fastest, easiest way to accomplish this is to charge by vent temperature. AVALANCHE developed SMART CLIPS to measure vent temperature and visually show you when you have added enough refrigerant. Simply place SMART CLIPS in your A/C vent, add refrigerant, until the first clip turns blue and continue to add refrigerant until the second clips turns green. VOILA! A correct refrigerant fill and a cold passenger compartment. What else could you ask for on a hot day??