Grassroots AC system depressurization

Tried the place bravenrace recommended?

bravenrace wrote: If you can get an empty tank, put it in a vacuum (or not if you have no way) and connect it to the system. You won't capture all of it, but you'll get a lot of it. You can even use a gas grill tank. To those of you condoning letting it fly, I don't know what to say. I'm in no way shape or form an environmentalist, but advising someone to release a known hazardous gas into the air when there are other options for containing it is irresponsible, to put it nicely.

+1

It is never cool to litter, pollute, or incorrectly dispose of toxic waste. There are easy alternatives that don't screw things up for the rest of us.

If turning it in for reclamation it needs to go in a tank specific for 134a only. It can't be mixed w/ other refrigerants either.

Propane tank, no way. No recycler will accept it, might as well throw it in a landfill.

Yep. And those cans you get at the auto parts store won't work either; it has to be resealable.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: on a forum where most of us enjoy selling out catalytic converters for exhaust system money, I didn't think that was a high concern.

That's not my impression of this forum at all... Certainly, not unheard of, but given that modern cats cost a gnat's whisker short of no power, I think removing a working cat on anything outside of a full-time race car whose rules don't require cats is something you don't do (I'd generally be inclined to leave them on there, too, but I understand the need to keep every hp and lose every ounce on a pure race car). My impression is that a lot of folks on this forum don't do things to make their cars run significantly dirtier when it's only going to save them a couple of bucks or a couple of pounds.

I plan on adding a cat to my M42-powered 2002, despite the fact that the 2002 never had a cat to start with. I'm modernizing it in many other ways, why not make it clean, too?

There's no reason a little attention can't be paid to ecology without taking the fun out of cars... You don't have to be a treehugger to not E36 M3 where you eat.

Okay, that got a little rantier than I meant it to, but I think it's important.

I'm going to give bravenrace's place a call at lunch.

In reply to bgkast:

Because it's Thermo King, you may find them too expensive to come to your place, but in any case you need to find a mobile heavy equipment HVAC repairman. They routinely go to the machine instead of the machine coming to them. For them it's no big deal. We have small dealers like that, but none in your area.
And you can put the refrigerant in a clean and empty propane tank. I use them here at work to store refrigerant in between tests. If a recycler won't take it, it's because they don't know if it was clean and empty when you put it in.

In reply to bravenrace: Yeah, they quoted me $330.

I may just try to negotiate with the mechanic up the road. How much labor should it take to Hook onto the valve and evacuate the system? The mechanic won't even need to pop the hood because there isn't one. The refrigerant removed can be re-sold, correct?

In reply to bgkast:

Shouldn't take more than a half hour once their there.

Drain it into an empty propane tank and then recharge off said empty propane tank when putting the car together. A lil propane in an AC system never hurt anyone.

Draw a vacuum on the tank and put it in the freezer before draining and it will suck most of the R134a out.

93gsxturbo wrote: Drain it into an empty propane tank and then recharge off said empty propane tank when putting the car together. A lil propane in an AC system never hurt anyone. Draw a vacuum on the tank and put it in the freezer before draining and it will suck most of the R134a out.

I'm pretty sure that he is not needing to keep the refrigerant.