ran my aircon nearly system empty for an hours

[omodos]

HI agian, will this cause permanent unseen damage?, wife insisted it was cooling a little, and we were doing highway driving for a good hour or 2 with aircon 'on' not at full blast but at a low temp that didnt feel too low to be honest. I went and had the system re-gassed as have a leak i believe but is cooling fine, but could running the system on low gas have caused unseen damage?

[ThalliumZA]

I doubt that it will cause any damage, except to the environment

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Usually, an AC system has a low pressure protection switche and if the pressure is too low in the system, it won't engage the compressor to protect it. I don't think you damaged the compressor.

[mike_dmt]

Originally Posted by Turbo_Bimmer

Usually, an AC system has a low pressure protection switche and if the pressure is too low in the system, it won't engage the compressor to protect it. I don't think you damaged the compressor.

+1.

[bastereo]

True, but when leaking you loose some pag oil with the refrigerant, so you could have caused some accelerated wear. Because if there is still a bit of refrigerant the system will cycle on short bursts.

[omodos]

ok thanks fellas for the replies, IF i dont get my leak detected and sorted and resort to using this r134a nasa stop leak or arctic freeze additive in my aircon will it damage the system? e.g this type of stuff

List: R-134a | O'Reilly Auto Parts

[ThalliumZA]

Originally Posted by omodos

ok thanks fellas for the replies, IF i dont get my leak detected and sorted and resort to using this r134a nasa stop leak or arctic freeze additive in my aircon will it damage the system? e.g this type of stuff

List: R-134a | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Personally i'm not too fond of any type of stop leak additives, and what i've seen, they sometimes don't last either.

I see in your other thread, there is or was dye in your system. find a black light somewhere, the same light used to check for fake money. and go around your aircon system with that light. you might be lucky and find the leak yourself. that dye should glow under UV.

one way is to buy a portable fluorescent torch and find a UV/Black light fluorescent bulb that fits it.

I would only use any kind of stop leak as a last resort.

[omodos]

thanks for the info, do you reckon i would be able to get away with looking for it at night with just a normal flourescent bulb or do i need the black glass as well....just wondering how easy it will show up considering it takes 2 years to reach a low level, will give it a try today at nite......