AC questions

[John Dol]

Working on the AC system. I have the FFR vintage air system.

http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae46/jdcoupe1969/batterytrayandacinstall007_zps6cbd9444.jpg (http://s956.photobucket.com/user/jdcoupe1969/media/batterytrayandacinstall007_zps6cbd9444.jpg.html)

What are the outlets doing?

From the rear to the front: cool, heat, and defrost??

Also the vacuum lines are 2 red, 1 grey and one black.

Black goes to the vacuum on the Fast EZ unit, that leaves 2 red and one grey.
There only two vacuum valves on the unit though. How do I hook them up?

Also can you hook up all the lines and not charge the system right away?

Thanks,

John

[CHOTIS BILL]

I have the same unit and would like to know the answers also. I believe the outputs toward the bottom of the picture are for the floor vents. The center outputs are for the dash vents and the one toward the top left of the picture are for the defrosters. I found some instructions on the Vintage Air web site and found some info but they don’t show our exact units.

Bill Lomenick

[loeffler1]

John
Front 2 are heater and 3 oval are AC. If you look at these outlets there is a vacuum controlled door that shifts between heat and AC. The rear round are defrost. Do you have the instruction manual that comes with this unit? The vacuum valves connect to electrically controled vacuum solenoid switches so that when you move the dash mounted control panel to, say, defrost the vacuum solenoid will click and send vacuum to the valve that control the defrost door. Incidentally both the mode switch and the heater motor speed control are exactly the same switches except with different labels. Yes you can do hookup without filling. The only thing that you can't check is the operation of the comressor as the binary or trinary switch whichever you have will not sense a pressurized system and won't allow the compressor clutch to operate. I'm having a problem with my mode switch and as everything is installed it would be almost impossible to reach this switch, should have tested it when I installed it. Be sure you do. I might just have to bypass this switch and toss in 2 toggle switches under the dash to fire up the solenoids. I have tested everything and eliminated all but this switch. Call me for details. Might also install a vacuum caqnnister. Look at your photos of my car and you'll see it behind the air cleaner mounted on the firewall. Looks like a round black ball. Vintage sells them inexpensively. Incidentally ours are unique to FFR but are the Mini Space saver Units.

[Carlos C]

John:

I'm universally certified in A/C&R, and as far as your question about hooking up the lines goes, here are are few pointers. It is good to go ahead and close the system as soon as possible, as you want to prevent moisture entering the system. Not sure if the A/C kit's compressor already comes filled with oil (I don't remember it being specified on the instructions), but it is a pain to get the moisture to flash off the oil; not to mention that closing it off, will prevent debris from entering the system (worse than moisture).

Before you close off the system, make sure that you lubricate all the seals and o-rings with refrigerant oil. This will keep them from drying off and failing prematurely, causing refrigerant leaks. At that point, if you know your way around a refrigerant vacuum pump, or know someone who does, it'd be a good idea to go ahead to put the system on a vacuum. This step has to be done regardless, prior to charging the system with refrigerant. You'd need the said pump, a gauge manifold, the correct hoses, and a micron gauge. If you need specific instructions on how to hook this up and the procedure, PM me. The short and sweet is that you'd want to get down to around 500 microns, and stay there. This will give an indication that your system is sealed, and all moisture has been removed.

Although not necessary unless you're troubleshooting a leak, you can then add dye or a little refrigerant, and fill the system with about 100 PSI of dry Nitrogen. This is done to check for leaks at all connections. If using dye, it should be obvious if you have a leak. If using refrigerant, you'd have to use a leak detector. Neither the dye, nor the Nitrogen, will damage your seals, components, or sensor. Let me know if you have any questions, although I know that my explanation was probably overkill...

Carlos