AC Refill Pressure Gauge Past Red ??

[Tim]

Excellent follow-up, John.

I'm entirely against these single-hose refrigerant products. It boils down to providing a product that takes advantage of a consumer, IMO.

If it is low on refrigerant, 99% of the time, it is due to a leak, not the average yearly loss (1-2%) a system could have! I've got an 11-year-old Tacoma that still works perfectly. How will the color-coded gauge correctly determine a proper charge with systems varying from 1.2 pounds to 4.5 pounds? PSI is PSI, yet a properly working orifice tube system and a properly working expansion system will run at different pressures.

These products are no different (IMO) from the suicide cans of years past. Why did we call them suicide charging kits? Back in the day of R12, the low and high sides had similar ports. People would put the charging hose on the high side and pump whatever pressure they had back into the can they were holding. Thankfully, you can't place the charging hose on the high side with this current version.

We can't blame the consumer walking the aisles of the local parts store for trying these products, as they are flashy and look to address any problems they might have.

43-MT1416 Gauge Set