Re-charging disposable R134a Tins?

[sinewave]

Mate of mine from down south has posted me two empty R134a tins to see if I can re-charge them for him.

Has any one done this?

I know the old 13kG cylinders had a 1 way valve on them to stop re-use but do the small tins have this valve?

I have not tried yet as I need the adapter valve which screws on to the tin which I can get for £7.50 off fleabay but don't want to order one just for this job if the tins have a 1 way valve anyway?


(Yes I know tiz not best practice etc etc!)

[Grizzly]

Hi Sinewave.
I am confused by your use of the term "tins"!
If you mean disposable cylinders with the acme style thread?
Then surely as a fully qualified refrigeration engineer you must know it is illegal to recharge them?

If it's dumpys provided they are yours you can do so. The non return valve is not to difficult to remove.
Of course you already know the percentage of charge recommended?
Grizzly

[Brian_UK]

Also, why is "you mate down South" wanting you to fill gas bottles for him, can't he simply buy the gas like everyone else?

Sounds very dodgy to me.

[sinewave]

I just owe him a favor that's all.

He spent quite a lot of time doing some remote PC desktop repairs for me and just mentioned his car A/C has a small leak (over 2 summers) which 2 local garages have failed to find over the years.

Like a lot of vehicle 'Air-con' service centres they use the term 'service' as a replacement for a Top up if they can not locate a small leak or it's just dry seals etc etc.

He has bought a couple of the Halfords 'Tins' over the years and just enquired if they could be physicaly re-filled or not.

[Grizzly]

Yeah!
Not running the a/c frequently enough will loose refrigerant with dry seal as you state.
Have you passed this gem onto your mate?
As far as I know, (I could be wrong?) Dumpy's are the smallest that can be recharged.

I am a great believer in a favour for a favour.
Good luck on that one.
Grizzly

[Brian_UK]

[snip]

He has bought a couple of the Halfords 'Tins' over the years and just enquired if they could be physicaly re-filled or not.

I think that it would be quite hard to refill those Halford cans as the fitting is only designed to accept the recharge hose. They are probably a simple spring loaded ball seal.

Personally I wouldn't try it.

[SeanB]

If they are like the cans I get they have a needle that pierces the can, so that it is not possible to remove the tap assembly without all the gas blowing out. Then again, the cans are cheap, around $10, and the brass valve assembly ( just a green handle with a 1/4" fitting on it) are around $3.