DIY aircon refills

[Bren]

Halfords knock these out for £40 - can you get them cheaper?

 

Just wondering as many garages will do it for £40

[Pillock]

The Halfords kit is a nozzle that you keep, and a can with a £10 return value. So you pay about £55 I think (it was £35 for the gas, and £20 for the nozzle) but get a tenner back

 

It'll also refill two cars if they're not totally empty, so best value if you can go halves with a mate or need two cars doing.

 

You don't get the vacuum test or guarantees that a refill place will offer though, so not great if it's an unknown entity such as a new car where the eBay advert says "air con just needs a regas HONEST MATE" and actually the clutch is seized and it's popped all the hoses.

 

Check Groupon, I saw something locally to Leicester for a recharge for £21.50

[Kiltox]

Saw someone having halfords do this for them in the car park the other day, thought it was hilarious given you can get a proper job done for less (assuming they charge even more to do it for you!)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I had mine done by a pro the other day for £29

[Richard]

It was barely worth it ten years ago when garages were charging £80 and I spent £40 on the kit, it's not worth it at all now that garages have got cheaper and the kits haven't.

[fatharris]

I did Herman today, was filling it for what seemed like an eternity but the gauge stayed at about 27psi. Does that seem right? Used about 1/3 of a can.

[Dave_Q]

There seems to be an influx of people offering 20 quid regas on my local car selling pages on Facebook. If you speak txt it may be worth investigating your local ones.

[Jazoli]

I have had success with the cans, the alfa took a 1/3 of a can and has stayed cold for almost 5 months, the focus lasted about 6 weeks but has a leak somewhere, where I live there are no cheap AC refils, Kwik Fit want £50, the Local AC repair place want £75 and that's it for choice, I wouldn't piss on KF if it was on fire so a £40 can is good value for me.

[BavarianRetro]

The proper ones suck all the existing gas out, clean it, do a vacuum test to check that it's not leaking, then refill it to the correct pressure putting in the correct amount of gas and oil. I've used one. It's as simple as connecting it, putting in a code for the car and having a cup of coffee.

 

£60 should cover it.

[mrcitroen]

Used one of these today on my Alfa. I had been sceptical of these and even more sceptical of handing my car to any if the national chains offering the re-gas service..

 

I really only trust a couple of garages where I know the guys. However both would mean me leaving the car there etc etc. So, I took the gamble and bought the stuff from Halfords. That was the best cost V time man maths thingy for me. They doing a 3 for 2 so got the sanitiser stuff free.

 

My Alfa was only marginally chilling the incoming air. After adding almost a whole can it is now freezing cold. It's a 58 plate 159 and has not ever been charged. I know as I have had the bugger since new.

[dollywobbler]

On the other hand, I'm rather glad my local garage has recently had the proper kit installed. If I'd bought the Halford stuff, I would have wasted my money due to a quite horrendous leak.

[twosmoke300]

Not to mention pumping the refrigerant into the atmosphere . My Ac man always tests empty systems with nitrogen before gassing them

[trigger]

A lot of garages charge for the amount they use, a local garage does a groupon deal for £25 but limits it to around 450mg of gas then charges for more for going over that. Most systems are over 500mg so you need to be careful.

 

The garage i used today charged £30 for how ever much you use but they said every few places locally do that.

[AMC Rebel]

I had a go at this (the Halfords thing)- it worked for my Puma - the thing not to underestimate is the joy of tinkering!  

 

OK I could take it to someone who knows what they are doing, will do a much better job and in the long run will be far cheaper and kill fewer German trees - but where's the fun in that?