How to figure how much oil
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2020
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2010 ml350
How to figure how much oil
My wife and I run an animal rescue in rural NC. We both love dogs, but one night near the end of last summer, she hit and killed a dog, that according to her was completely un avoidable and it really made her cry. It’s my job to keep our cars running as best I can for as little as I can I have previous experience in hvac, but mostly I’m an electronics guy. Anyways my question is after the “dog incident” the ac stopped cooling, and now it’s time to get it fixed. I need to know when I replace the condensor coil, is there a way to figure out how much oil to add? The damage was to the connector on ther lower drivers side of the coil, and it was out of refrigerant almost immediately. My plan is to replace coil, drier or what ever the desiccant vessel is called, and oil, pull vacuum and recharge. The only thing I’m unsure of is how much oil to add? Any one with any experience please answer.
thank you for reading
Charles
thank you for reading
Charles
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,473
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From: Ball Ground, GA (N of Atlanta)
2003 S500 2007 GL450
First question: "...it was out of refrigerant almost immediately."
If immediately is one or two minutes, the escaping refrigerant will carry a lot of oil out with it.
If immediately is an hour, the oil loss will be much less.
The oil is distributed throughout the system, with most in the compressor, some in the condenser, some in the evaporator, some in the receiver/dryer, some in the hoses, etc. If the failure didn't spray oil all over everything, I would add one ounce of the proper oil to the condenser, and one ounce to the receiver/dryer.
If immediately is one or two minutes, the escaping refrigerant will carry a lot of oil out with it.
If immediately is an hour, the oil loss will be much less.
The oil is distributed throughout the system, with most in the compressor, some in the condenser, some in the evaporator, some in the receiver/dryer, some in the hoses, etc. If the failure didn't spray oil all over everything, I would add one ounce of the proper oil to the condenser, and one ounce to the receiver/dryer.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 42
Likes: 2
2010 ml350
First question: "...it was out of refrigerant almost immediately."
If immediately is one or two minutes, the escaping refrigerant will carry a lot of oil out with it.
If immediately is an hour, the oil loss will be much less.
The oil is distributed throughout the system, with most in the compressor, some in the condenser, some in the evaporator, some in the receiver/dryer, some in the hoses, etc. If the failure didn't spray oil all over everything, I would add one ounce of the proper oil to the condenser, and one ounce to the receiver/dryer.
If immediately is one or two minutes, the escaping refrigerant will carry a lot of oil out with it.
If immediately is an hour, the oil loss will be much less.
The oil is distributed throughout the system, with most in the compressor, some in the condenser, some in the evaporator, some in the receiver/dryer, some in the hoses, etc. If the failure didn't spray oil all over everything, I would add one ounce of the proper oil to the condenser, and one ounce to the receiver/dryer.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,473
Likes: 439
From: Ball Ground, GA (N of Atlanta)
2003 S500 2007 GL450
If it took five minutes for the pressure to bleed off, I doubt if you lost more than a couple of ounces of oil. One or two ounces too much of oil might slightly lower cooling efficiency, but I doubt that you would ever notice it.
If it were mine, I would replace the condenser and receiver/dryer, putting one to two ounces in each, pump it down and leak check, and recharge to the amount shown on the AC sticker.
If it were mine, I would replace the condenser and receiver/dryer, putting one to two ounces in each, pump it down and leak check, and recharge to the amount shown on the AC sticker.
