I always wanted to do this, today I did. Swapped out the 134A refrigerant for propane and tested it in the shop. @PlanoRednecks #propane #carairconditioning #willitwork #redneck #rednecks #planorednecks
Propane (R290) is an excellent substitute for R22. Also doesn't require as much to charge. My brothers ac had a leak in the condenser coil. Repaired it and charged with LP from his gas grill. Used a PT chart. Been running since 2019
As to the pressures, you can probably find a chart online. Your low side needs to be at a low enough pressure that the propane will boil in your evaporator, but will take long enough to boil that the effect is spread across your entire evaporator, at your target temperature. Your high side has to be at a high enough pressure to force it to condense despite the energy it absorbed when it boiled, but not so high as to solidify it or cause it to become excessively viscous. One possible cause for your problem in this video is that a car's AC system is set for pressures that don't work well with propane. Propane is a denser gas than 134a, but has a lower melting/boiling point. This means that it will require higher pressures to work, and likely a different ratio of high side/low side pressure as well. So, you've established that propane won't work in an unmodified car air conditioner. You will need to tune it; set the valves, regulators, possibly get a different compressor, and operate it at a higher pressure than the car's system is designed to make use of, in order to get good performance out of propane. The good news is that because propane has a higher density, once you get the pressures right it should be more efficient. But as I said below, you will now have a flammable air conditioning system capable of producing explosive conditions in your car.
Idk what you did but my 2002 civic has straight propane from a little torch size bottle... Running about 40 psi low side I think around 200 high side and it comes out ICE cold. I finally just got the numbers dialed in. Trick is to hold the rpm at about 1500 and go to 35-40 psi on the low side. Idk what you did. Maybe too much or too little but it works for me very well. Also compatible with PAG 46
Did the same thing but the difference is that I made a diy gas powered Window AC unit a predator engine belt driven a compressor which I filled with butane
Propane is a direct R22 substitute at 30% by weight ....... 70% propane + 30 % iso butane ( or butane ) is a PERFECT REPLACEMENT FOR R12 AT APPROX 30% BY WEIGHT !!!!!! ask me any question ... peace and love Jay.
@@carlin7322 not 30% less but ....30% of the original charge weight .....the version of Propane for refrigeration is called " R290 " the iso butane is R600a you can buy a very similar version already made labeled " Envirosafe R134a substitute " ..i corrected my previous post...adding that the mixed blend is a substitute for R-12 Jay.
It absolutely does. It was one of the first refrigerants. However because of its extreme flammability, it was never used on a large scale. Refrigeration is all about temperature and pressure. Any substance, that can be evaporated at low pressure, and then condensed at medium pressures (nothing extreme).
This guy knows nothing about refrigeration. He put way too much propane in the system. People who say, it's not cold enough, let's add more refrigerant, don't understand how ac systems work. More refrigerant equals more pressure. More pressure equals higher temperatures.
propane does NOT work... but LIQUID PROPANE GAS DOES!!! Please post a new video with you testing LPG in the system, just flip the tank upside down when charging :) your Buddy isn't lying
No need to charge propane as a liquid. Just like R12 or R134a, it can be charged as a gas and the system will condense it into a liquid. The only refrigerants that must be charged as a liquid are non azeotropic blends like R410a because the multiple different refrigerants the blend is made from can fractionate and end up in the system in incorrect proportions. Since propane is a single chemical, it can be charged as a gas no problem because there's nothing to separate.
They say you should never add refrigerant as a liquid. But as someone with HVAC experience, I'll do it at points, in small amounts when the can is getting cold. You really don't want to have liquid refrigerant enter the compressor, as it's non-condensable in liquid state.
It doesn't make any difference here. The only time a refrigerant has to be charged as a liquid is if it's a blend because blends can fractionate (boil off at different rates and upset the mixture) if charged as a gas. The real problem here is that the propane he used isn't nearly pure enough (must be refrigerant grade) and that its temp/pressure chart is very similar to R22 and totally different than R134a. There's a reason the R12/R134a replacements are a mixture of propane and isobutane instead of straight propane, not to mention made to much higher purity standards.
@@averyalexander2303I would disagree here, doesn't need to be refrigerant grade, I swapped all R134a appliances with a leak in it to LPG the winter blend from the gas station. The winter blend is 60% Propane and 40% Butane, summer blend is the opposite. Always attach a filter dryer after the bottle and fill the system, honestly what should happen? All Systems are running still and the good thing about it, the molecules of Propane are bigger than R-134a and if the leak is tiny enough no need to refill. You need Butane to reduce head pressure. Greets from Germany
refrigerant changes from liquid to gas and vice versa in every cycle it makes! you can make gas turn to liquid state by compressing it pushing the molecules to be close to each other which increase pressure and temperature and since it’s hotter than outdoor air this allow it to reject heat in condenser and turn to liquid then just by reducing pressure using orifice tube or expansion valve the gas will expand and pressure and temperature will drop significantly and now you get very cold mist ready to boil by absorbing little heat from the air that been pushed on evaporator coils And when you charging from suction line I don’t think you want liquid to be in compressor cause you can’t compress it already dense there is no space between molecules That tell you even when you flip the cylinder it’s going gas , it’s only liquid in cylinder because it’s pressurised the vapor above it is pushing it but once it’s out it will become gas cause there is no pressure it’s boil at -30C so the only way it’s liquid under high pressure
I like the video. I really think you should do a part 2 to this video and turn that propane tank upside down. I think if you get the pressure's right tthen it should work. And when you turn the tank upside down it might leak a little propane where your hose go together should be no big deal though that line gets so cold it they want to leak just don't smoke and you should have a better results. Please try this
A few problems. One you didn’t flush the system of all the pag oil which isn’t compatible with propane. Two you didn’t weigh your refrigerant out. Three you didn’t change the expansion valve to make sure you had the correct superheat for the refrigerant you were using. I bet the last part could be argued because it’s based on temperature which will go hand in hand with the charge amount but I digress.
You NEED to get the LIQUID Propane in there, Not the Gas. Can NOT do it with the tank sitting like normal, Its the same as refilling Small Propane tanks with a bbq sized 15-20lb one using an adapter . Many commercial cooling units run Propane
4:29 a true engineer wouldn't waste their breath to distinguish between -29.99 & -30. Its so small of a difference, it wouldn't matter. Now accountants, on the other hand...
Propane is R290 with a différent réfrigérant curve closer to that of R22. Condenser and metering device are set up for 134A in an automobile it will dro p right in a R22 hvac system and work just fine but not légal in an HVAC system due to safety concerne. It is used on commercial free standing réach in coolers where there is a small overall system charge in a well ventilated area.
Well he said he wasn't bright and this video proves it lol. Next time at least flip the tank upside down so you're putting liquid in or better yet use 290 which is pure propane meant for refrigeration
Some gas bottles are used for decanting, having a discharge pipe right at the bottom of the gas cylinder. Propane doesn't, and therefore, they need to be turned upside down, as others have stated. I was recently quoted $185.00 AU to recharge my system. That is a scam as its not even close to materials, labour and expertise..costs...So I will try to do this myself!
subscribed becuase you recycled your freon :) liked becuase your battery was dead, now just waiting on you to try the methods as in the comments below for a follow up video!
Something is wrong, since your R134 is so warm. Your compressor may be shot. Not pumping like it should. There's a lot of junk compressors out there sold as new or reman. So replacing one is challenging to find a good one. One a/c repair place told me they go by the warranty length. It seems those with long warranties may be the better ones.
Did you fill it partially with liquid, didn't see it in the video. This experiment in my opinion is incomplete due to the nature of the system filled with gas instead of liquid/gas mix.
This channel is weird but.................. Pardon my observation but you only put propane gas in the system, arent you supposed to tip the propane can over to get propane liquid in the system like you do freon?? huh huh huh huh. you wanted it to fail and you made it fail duh.
You are totally wrong. Propane is refrigerant R-290. Look up your pressures, fill it correctly and then run your test. You will find that it is just as good. Oh, and make sure your system is tight. No smoking. I ran Mercedes in Phoenix Arizona for 6 years on propane, it was providing all the A/C cooling I ever needed.
@@sirHHO Good R134a replacement is R436A (or R436B), which are propane/isobutane mixes at 56%:44% and 52%:48% respectively. Use 37.5% of the weight of R134a gas you would have used.
Nobody's pointed out your AC system is jacked to begin with? You should fix the system and try again. You should be getting much colder air coming from the vent on R134.
First, You're using the vapor, not the LP. 2nd, I'd advise against not doing this in a vehicle designed for 134a as there are different compressions at work, and this could prove fatal.
The problem with this is that your air conditioner becomes a major fire hazard in the event of a leak. If it leaks enough while your car is in the garage, it could form an explosive mixture under your hood and blow up when you go to start the car. For that matter it could leak inside the cab of your car and blow up in your face when you try to light a cigarette or something.
But this is a largely theorectical risk. You'd have to have a big leak to get a 2%-10% explosive gas:air mixture. Aircon systems normally leak over years, so microscopic amounts get out at any one time. And the leak will diffuse. The 200g or so in a car aircon system is not that big a threat. Plenty of aircon systems do now use propane or other hydrocarbon mixes and they are not blowing up all over the place. One should of course be careful when dealing with flammable gases, but the obsession of some parts of the HVAC/aircon industry in keeping hydrocarbons away at all costs has more to do with their loss of control if people can use non F-gases than it really has to do with safety. There is much less resistance to this idea in Europe.
@@xxwookey The difference is that auto AC systems contain rubber hoses which can split and release all the gas in a couple of seconds. I was in a car when that happened. The refrigerant killed the engine, as it displaced the oxygen under the hood.
@@billsimpson604 Right, and you won't get an explosive mixture if you dump all the gas in a couple of seconds either. Puncture a propane cannister and try to set fire to the resulting plume: it's fast moving ice flakes and won't burn. Obviously it is _possible_ to get an explosive mixture _and_ ignite it with something before it dissipates, but it's quite difficult. There shouldn't be any exposed ignition sources under the bonnet either, which is why you can have a big petrol leak without the thing catching fire either (I've had a fuel hose fail and spray petrol everywhere).
