What's the best way to evacuate my A/C and save the R-12. I am installing a vmount but I need to remove the condenser and reroute some lines. Does some one rent the system I need? I would take it to an A/C shop but I will need to have it evacuated and then take the car home for a couple days to make the install, then back to the shop to get a recharge and check for leaks. I don't know if they will "hold" my R-12 or will give me credit for it? Thanks

 

I had a local shop give me credit for it.. though there was so little in the system that the credit for the refrigerant equated to the charge for the evacuation. Consider it a free evacuation and a good opportunity to install some envirocool instead of the r-12.

 

Other than spending a few hundred and buying a used A/C pump from the pawn shop the only real way to evacuate the r-12 and save it is to go to the A/C shop.

You can rent a pump from some Autozone stores but the one they offer doesnt have the means to save the r-12.

 

You can buy a used evacuation pump on eBay for about $200 and a tank for another $100 or so and evacuate and reuse the R12 yourself. You could easily resell when you are finished with them.

 

While you can get a decent evacuation pump for $200, you can't get a reclamation pump/system for $200. I believe they do a good bit more than just pull a vacuum. They separate the refrigerant from the oil and store the refrigerant as a liquid. I don't think that you could coble together a reclamation system for $300 that would let you re-use the refrigerant.

I may just be short sighted (and would love to be proven wrong) but I think there's a reason they are expensive.

 

The $200 price was for slightly older used units, e.g.,

http://cgi.ebay.com/THERMAFLO-R12-RE...QQcmdZViewItem

New tank:

http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-ROB17.../dp/B000UXGV4G

 

And there we have it.. foot in mouth. Thanks. I guess you can get just about anything on eBay.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Basically, take it to an A/C shop. I just didn't know if they would give me credit or whatever. I will call around and see.