Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum

Hi all, new to this forum. Just have a quick question. I had R134a stored in my recovery tank that’s previously been in systems using pag46 oils. I was recovering ac out of my 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid which uses nd-11 Poe oil, which I realized after recovering all the refrigerant into my tank containing pag 134a and deciding to read the sticker on the hood. Do yall think it’s ok to still reuse that refrigerant or should I fill it with new stuff? Is my refrigerant in the tank basically trash and I should recycle it now?

Did you use an automotive RRR machine to recover the refrigerant? The reason I ask is because RRR machines typically collect any recovered oil in a separate graduated container so that the technician can add back into the system the same amount that came out. The recovered oil normally doesn't mix with the refrigerant contained in the tank.

I did not use an automotive machine. I did use a manifold gauges with a sight glass and there was a little bit of neon yellow/green refrigerant which would be oil and not leak dye, right? In the tank, if there is any oil would it be sitting on top of the refrigerant?

Maxdub wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2024 7:01 pm Hi all, new to this forum. Just have a quick question. I had R134a stored in my recovery tank that’s previously been in systems using pag46 oils. I was recovering ac out of my 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid which uses nd-11 Poe oil, which I realized after recovering all the refrigerant into my tank containing pag 134a and deciding to read the sticker on the hood. Do yall think it’s ok to still reuse that refrigerant or should I fill it with new stuff? Is my refrigerant in the tank basically trash and I should recycle it now?

Maxdub wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2024 10:33 am I did not use an automotive machine. I did use a manifold gauges with a sight glass and there was a little bit of neon yellow/green refrigerant which would be oil and not leak dye, right? In the tank, if there is any oil would it be sitting on top of the refrigerant?

Back when people were converting vehicles from R-12 to R-134a, it was common practice to flush the system, drain the mineral oil out of a compressor that originally used R-12, and replace the mineral oil with POE because POE was, at that time, compatible with the mineral oil should any traces of the latter be left behind.

The yellow/green substance that you observed in the sight glass was fluorescent dye, and it was mixed with both the oil and refrigerant that you recovered from the Honda, which ended up in the tank.

In today's world, mixing oils usually is not recommended. Oil that has been recovered from an electric compressor has a different formulation compared to the old-style POE and isn't compatible with the original ND-8 (PAG-46).

To be on the safe side, I would recycle the mixture in the tank and recharge the system with virgin refrigerant. The question is, how much ND-11 oil did you recover, and how much needs to be added back in? Starting with a completely "dry" system, the answer is easy. Now, it's guesswork.

So when I was recovering the refrigerant I had both the low and high side open on my manifolds but I was throttling the flow at my recovery unit. In hindsight I probably should have had the high side closed until the pressures dropped to avoid sucking in liquid but there was probably about 3 seconds of liquid refrig/oil bubbling in the sight glass and I throttled it down, the rest of the recovery was vapor. I do also have a filter dryer inline at the recovery machine. Would I be wrong to guess that maybe 5ml of oil was sucked out or would it be more in your honest opinion? Would that much loss of oil be a problem? The ac system takes “about 5oz” of oil according to online sources.

Maxdub wrote: ↑Thu May 23, 2024 4:08 pm Would I be wrong to guess that maybe 5ml of oil was sucked out or would it be more in your honest opinion?

Hard to say. It probably was a mixture of refrigerant, oil, and dye that you saw in the sight glass. In any event, 3 seconds worth has to be a very small amount. Only 5 ml of oil lost from the system (about 0.2 of an ounce) is as good a guess as any.

I don't have the factory specifications for your car's A/C system. Is there an under-hood decal that lists them?