Death toll risers for Prius electric compressors

Death toll risers for Prius electric compressors

A video tells 1000 words proof is in the pudding.

since I was 12 when I started with my father and him teaching me air-conditioning there was one common thing with the majority of burnt up compressors. Low refrigerant level !!!...
We will leave our overcharged refrigerant
We will leave out excess of moisture contamination that causes an acid that makes metals rust and oil’s breakdown
We will leave out excess of air mixed in refrigerant with poor refrigerant recycling practices and poor top off and recharge methods.
When I walk up to a Prius and I hear that internets clicking groaning sound or the grinding sound of a dead compressor I’m almost always guaranteed to have a low refrigerant level every time. Unless some other human being was meddling with little refrigerant cans. Sometimes the human factor is the most destructive.

 

Site glass is a very poor indicator of whether or not a system is correctly charged or under charged for overcharged.
Even though in Toyota and other manufacturers have some literature written down about using the site glass. Much of this literature has been re-printed from literature from back in the 70s and 80s.
Even Toyotas on the website on oil fill capacity and how to measure and calculate oil is really convoluted sometimes absolutely useless even dangerous for the life of your compressor or performance of your AC.
Easy yes correct all the time no but as a general rule of thumb can get you by.
Works on a hot day say 80° plus with your vehicle in the sun set to fresh air mode outside not recycle all your doors open run your AC on high fan speed cold as possible but not max because that will set your air selector to recycle you do not want recycle selected.
Run your air conditioning for about 10 minutes to let it equalize and stabilize on that 80° plus day. Now this is where people get hands burnt and fingers chopped by fans that turn on. If it could be safely done I put my hand all the way down on the suction line as it enters the compressor and it should be nice and cool.
Under ideal conditions and if humidity was high you would see water condensating on all the surface of the metal line set the suction side going all the way back to the compressor. You cannot use condensation of water on the line if the humidity is low because it probably will not condensate because the dewpoint is too high.
If the return gas line is cool the compressor and a electric windings like that cool refrigerant flow keeping the compressor happy with a long life and oil return.

 

yes you are correct the big one is the suction line that should be the cold one, and the little one is the one with the site glass that should be the warm one.

 

wow, i know it's tough. I give the highest price first no nickle and dine extras, no low price and you needed to read the small print after the* no give the charge for a small price and rape the customer for the parts replacement and labor. I to worked at those places long ages in a past life. I can't stand some service writers, managers, service advisers. padding the bill, adding extras. dealers, chain stores, franchises, independent, you name it been there done that!!!... I almost totally gave up on the automotive trade I was so sick what I would see shop after shop. usually the owner can not turn a wrench but not always but most of the time. i'v had some many family members get ripped off from automotive shops. I have a chip on my shoulder about this topic. That's why when I see a vary honest shop I praise them. So far and few between.
I don't know how I would do it as a consumer. to find a shop that dose not top off refrigerant, only use new refrigerant not recycled from a old dirty RRR recharge recycle machine that has not had it's filter drier changed in years.

As for cheap gauges I did a YouTube video on that, ebay, amazon , harbor fright. I get to see shops actually buy and try to use them on customers cars. They are inaccurate, leak, can not pass a deep sub micron decay test or a high pressure Nitrogen decay test.
My vary first refrigerant manifold gauges I bought with my own money back in 1984 was a TIF big blue aluminum block 4 port with large inner valves, Teflon seals, bourdon 1% accurate, large 2 1/2' or 3' glycerine filled gauges. It cost a weeks wages back then.