bleeding air fron air con pipes without vac

[rgormley]

how would i tell when the air has been blead (purged)from air con without using a vac.

i was told to open one valve (leave other valve closed)
bleed air using the bleed valve util white gas just apears,then stop
open second valve, thats it, jobs done!!

**BUT** how much air needs to be blead?? i blead for 3 secs or so and did not see any what gas?

help?? I dont want to waste the gas or vent into the ozone.....

Cheers, Richard

[cross]

Count to 10...

Either way, its not going to be perfect, either you will leave some air in the system, or leak some refrigerant. Its the risk you take when not using a vac pump.

[Timmo]

help?? I dont want to waste the gas or vent into the ozone.....

Then use a vac pump or have someone do it for you.

If you don't you will have a contaminated system which will fail prematurely as well as venting to atmosphere. LAst time i checked it was a $10,000 fine if you're caught purging a system.

[Barry_White]

Then use a vac pump or have someone do it for you.

If you don't you will have a contaminated system which will fail prematurely as well as venting to atmosphere. LAst time i checked it was a $10,000 fine if you're caught purging a system.

I thought that was only for the old gas. If it was a new unit it wouldn't have the old gas in it.

[cross]

I thought that was only for the old gas. If it was a new unit it wouldn't have the old gas in it.

I believe it is illegal to deliberatly release any kind of refrigerant.

[ajt]

I believe it is illegal to deliberatly release any kind of refrigerant.

It is illegal, it seems that the diy installation of split systems and venting of ozone depliting substances has become quite a concern.

http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/ozone/publications/split-systems.html

[Timmo]

I thought that was only for the old gas. If it was a new unit it wouldn't have the old gas in it.

Wrong!

Most non-inverter systems still have HCFC R22 (old Gas) and mineral oil. It's slowly being phased out but still very common. I work for a very big computer air manufacturer and R22 is still our main product.

The newer refrigerants HFC 407c and R410a which are the 2 most common in domestic air conditioning may not have the same ozone depleting (ODP) rating but are still very nasty greenhouse gases. As global warming is a very hot issue at the moment the fines are set accordingly.

And seriously If you don't know the properties of the gases, esp. R410a, please read up on the hazards first. I'm not against DIY jobs but they do need to be done properly and checked.