sorry to bring up the dreaded hicas subject again!

 

first question is about degassing the air con - how can i do it on my drive? i understand that it is nasty stuff, but how nasty is it? if i just release the pressure using the valve by the battery will anything untoward happen, and how long will it take to empty?

 

 

 

also i seem to have a different set of pipework to my hicas than ive found anywhere on here. i have no pipe running from the tank to the solenoid?

 

from the tank - 1 pipe runs to the pump, and 2 run forward to behind the air con rad.

 

from the solenoid - 1 runs to the pump, 2 run to the rear steering rack, and one runs forward to behind the air con rad?

 

were there any different variations of this apart from the later electrical gubbins? its a 1990 uk car.

does your air con work, mine didnt so when i pressed the valve in nothing was actually in there anyway, i got some helpfull (actually really helpful) info from yaseen give him a pm, hopefully he will keep you informed

Dont breath it in and I guess itwould be fine. However be aware that if its the origonal R12 refrigerant then it contains some seriously nasty CFC's which are very bad for the environment.

R12 handling and discharging is covered by health and safety law, any one garage , breaker, member of the public, in fact anyone found to be willfully discharging R12 to the atmosphere will risk a £20K fine :shock:

 

yes read that again a 20 thousand pound fine!

 

Of course there are occasions of R12 discharge such as if the vehicle is involved in an accident and damage is caused to the system so it leaks, this then would not be deemed willful.

 

Accidentally ( on purpose) loosing a pipe connection is not without danger both from inhaling the gas and if reported to the authorities you would could be found guilty due to negligence

 

The best way to deal with this is to use a professional system or company who can recover the gas into a storage vessel for disposal accordingly.

 

Use a local mobile ac company should not be too dear say around £30, better to be safe than sorry.

 

 

Jeff TT

R12 handling and discharging is covered by health and safety law, any one garage , breaker, member of the public, in fact anyone found to be willfully discharging R12 to the atmosphere will risk a £20K fine :shock:

 

yes read that again a 20 thousand pound fine!

 

Of course there are occasions of R12 discharge such as if the vehicle is involved in an accident and damage is caused to the system so it leaks, this then would not be deemed willful.

 

Accidentally ( on purpose) loosing a pipe connection is not without danger both from inhaling the gas and if reported to the authorities you would could be found guilty due to negligence

 

The best way to deal with this is to use a professional system or company who can recover the gas into a storage vessel for disposal accordingly.

 

Use a local mobile ac company should not be too dear say around £30, better to be safe than sorry.

 

 

Jeff TT

 

What he said, i't cant be used anymore !

so be very very careful or very wise

thanks for the advice guys. if anyone is interested i have found the msds info for r12 -

 

General

Synonyms: difluorodichloromethane, Freon-12, halocarbon 12, fluorocarbon 12, arcton 6, arcton 12, refrigerant R12, CFC-12

Molecular formula: CCl2F2

CAS No: 75-71-8

EINECS No: 200-893-9

Physical data

Appearance: colourless gas

Melting point: -158 C

Boiling point: -29.8 C

Vapour density: 4.2 (air = 1)

Vapour pressure:

Density (g cm-3): 1.329

Flash point:

Explosion limits:

Autoignition temperature:

 

Stability

Stable.

 

Toxicology

Generally regarded as presenting a negligible risk to health. Typical OEL 500-1000 ppm.

Toxicity data

(The meaning of any abbreviations which appear in this section is given here.)

IHL-MUS 100,000 ppm acute

ORL-RAT 380 mg kg-1 chronic

IHL-RAT 800,000 ppm acute

IHL-GPG 40,000 ppm acute

 

 

Transport information

Non-hazardous for air, sea and road freight.

Personal protection

Adequate ventilation.

UK series 2 cars have a little oil cooler in front of the engine oil cooler to cool the power steering/HICAS fluid - explains the piping. Maybe earlier just has a long u bend tube as a hydraulic fluid cooler

UK series 2 cars have a little oil cooler in front of the engine oil cooler to cool the power steering/HICAS fluid - explains the piping. Maybe earlier just has a long u bend tube as a hydraulic fluid cooler

 

 

fantastic - cheers bud, hopefully when the air con comes out it will shed a little more light on it. thanks again.

well, all sorted today woohoo! air con was virtually empty, which might have something to do with the bottom row of the condenser falling off when i pulled it out!

 

as far as the hicas, yep a little oil cooler caused the confusion with the pipework - thanks for all the replies ;)