OT: R-22 in heat pump

I appreciate all the ideas and wisdom! I hope it just needs a few pounds of R-22 and that if I tighten the Schrader valves and replace the caps with new O-ring type, I hope I get a few more years out of this unit. The new higher efficiency units won't pay for themselves for at least 10 years. Maybe by then they will have better technology available and cheaper.

My bud said most leaks on that type of system will be cured by tightening the Schrader valves and replace the caps with new O-ring type. Makes sense to me.

If I have the slightest problem, I'll call a pro. My bud's bud loaned me a 30 pounder in trade for some brushes and he said to call if I need him. How cool to have friends!

Your bud said to tighten the valve cores, right? With a little slotted tool that's made to fit inside the end of the valve and fit over the core, right? You're not going to put a wrench on the outside of the valve and turn the whole thing, are you?

Thanks, Lloyd

hehehe

Oof! Harsh, mon. Sounds like you've known slot machines. Not I.

-- The United States of America is the greatest, the noblest and, in its original founding principles, the only moral country in the history of the world. -- Ayn Rand

"Slot machines"?

Good advice, I've got a gallon of purple stuff coil cleaner that you mix with water and spray it on with a pump-up garden sprayer. It makes the AL look bright and shiny. What's in that stuff? I assume it's some kind of acid.

It's those little valves like in a tire stem and the caps that fit over them. It makes sense that the o-rings don't last forever and older caps don't have o-rings.

"Tom Gardner" fired this volley in news:g7mdnbhGMdrbxTXQnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Lye.

Make sure you rinse it squeeky-clean after the stuff has done its deed, or it will continue to - um - "clean" the aluminum fins until they're so clean you can't even see them anymore!

LLoyd

Y'know, drop a dollar in and go to town. But not I.

-- Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.

Purple stuff has caustic in it, caustic soda *eats* aluminum. The opposite of an acid, it's a powerful base. Good for making soap out of organic greases and oils so they can be rinsed off. Not so hot for metals that react with it. And aluminum reacts with just about anything, acid OR base. Get it well rinsed off afterwards.

Stan

Gunner Asch fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Gunner,

The problem with a 30-lb'er is that consumers can generally only get the small cans. What an individual would pay for a jug vs. what it's "worth" are two different things.

Last time I looked, R-134A had jumped to over $15.00 per can, due to another EPA "environmental charge" slapped onto the price. They tried to get it outlawed from public consumption, and could not get the rule passed in their time frame, so they "surcharged" it instead.

LLoyd

I was wrong. I did not remember correctly. The easy to get license for $25 is only good for small appliances. Not good for central air conditioners.

Dan

Little confused here. Don't small appliances use R-22? Would they not sell it to you in a 30 lb. tank if you had that $25 dollar license?

Garrett Fulton