How To Vacuum A Car’s A/C System
There will come a time when a car’s A/C system may show signs of aging and a need for repair. In order to prevent these signs of aging from affecting your car’s performance, you will need to take extra care of it. Maintenance will be needed just so you can maximize the life of the system. There are many ways by which you can actually take care of the A/C system and one of that is through vacuuming it.
Vacuuming an A/C system is a process where you can remove moisture or air that may eventually damage the A/C system later on. Remember how serious moisture is as a problem in the A/C system and you will understand why vacuuming will be necessary. It will not just reduce the A/C system performance but will also contribute to freezing of the system. This can then result to long-term damage. Therefore, you must consider vacuuming your car A/C system and here is how you can do that.
Prepare the Manifold Gauge
Vacuuming the car A/C system will require preparing the manifold gauge. Before you do the job, you have to make sure that all control valves found on the gauge are closed. Connect the pressure gauges to the air conditioning system with the blue hose connected to the low pressure side and the red hose to the high pressure side. You must also prepare the vacuum pump where the yellow hose will be connected. Once done, you can start the vacuum pump and then open the side control valves to assure that vacuum will be pulled all throughout the air conditioning system.
Work the Vacuum Pump Accordingly
The length with which the vacuum pump will be operated depends on a host of factors including the work that needs to be performed as well as the condition of the A/C system in general. If you are vacuuming the car’s A/C system for purposes of regular maintenance, operating the vacuum for 30 minutes will be good enough. In case the system has been contaminated or has a seized compressor and has suffered other catastrophic failures, you should operate the vacuum at least for an hour or so. This will assure that the system will totally dry.
Pulling Deep Vacuum Is Needed
You must make sure that the vacuum pump is able to take in deep vacuum. Make sure that you create a vacuum that is deep enough to boil all sorts of moisture that can damage the system. Remember that water will not boil unless the vacuum level reaches 1,500 microns or so. Lower micron levels are needed in deep vacuum and about 200 to 300 microns is ideal. If you are making use of the usual rotary vane vacuum pump in the process, you must be familiar about how you can operate one to the best benefit of the A/C system.
It is indeed very important to learn how to vacuum a cars A/C system. You can always seek professional help but it will never hurt to give the process a try.