What and How to Save off of A/C

[BarnOwl]

If you saw my previous thread, you know I'm swapping engines this weekend. The donor car was in a front end collision that took out the radiator. I assumed it took out the condenser too. Well after much destructive work with a 3" high speed cutting wheel, a sawzall, and a 3 foot crowbar, I got the radiator out. I went to take the hoses off the condenser and I hear a hiss. Hmmm I thought the system had been sitting open for the last year. If it had been open that long about the only thing I could salvage would be the evaporator after a good flush. This changes things. So, how do I store things for safekeeping? I'm just starting to get into A/C work and don't know this yet.

[Gerry Proctor]

Pull it and cap the ends. The only thing you can't save is the receiver/dryer.

[BarnOwl]

Ziploc bags and rubber bands okay for caps?

[fdryer]

Even paper towels rolled into a makeshift plug will do; all you want is to plug the ends off from any air/moisture/dirt entering until you decide what to do with the parts, even the receiver/filter/drier, especially if the system had a charge left and you heard the discharging of any remaining refrigerant.

[BarnOwl]

Originally Posted by fdryer

Even paper towels rolled into a makeshift plug will do; all you want is to plug the ends off from any air/moisture/dirt entering until you decide what to do with the parts, even the receiver/filter/drier, especially if the system had a charge left and you heard the discharging of any remaining refrigerant.

What I want to do is store the parts. I have two Saturns. Well, four if you count the car I'm parting out and the car that the engine from that car is going into. Sooner or later, I'm going to need a hose or a compressor or an evaporator or an expansion valve. The drier's cheap enough that I would want a new one if I was opening up a system anyway. I heard it discharging when I went to pull the fitting off the condenser. In fact I didn't take it off and I'm pretty sure it's going to continue discharging slowly all night.

Last question till I think of the next question, should I flush the evaporator and condenser before I put them up or before use?

[fdryer]

As long as they're intact, not cracked, bent, broken, and completely salvageable for use leave 'em as is till you use them then flush them and dry with compressed air prior to connecting. That way you're sure of a clean installation, even with the drier, as total evacuation for an hour or two will pull out any moisture. The drier is probably good since you have some charge still left that indicates the a/c system was still under pressure and not leaked out completely. I agree its cheap but it may be worth keeping. The key to a/c is a clean install, paying meticulous attention to the small details like how much and which oil, replacing the O-rings, knowing what oil is left in the system as in the compressor and draining it for replenishment with fresh oil, and last but not in the least the total evacuation of the system with an evacuation pump to rid the sealed system of any air and moisture. If things went right the vacuum gauge won't budge from absolute zero when the pump is turned off and the valves are closed. When no movement of the vacuum gauge needle is indicated for more than five, ten minutes then its safe to say that no leaks exist and refrigerant can be injected.