Making a refrigerant recovery tank

[killahog]

I picked up a manifold gauge set and a vacume pump at an auction today and was explaining to a friend that I needed to find a recovery tank. He told me where he works they routinely made them out of empty R134 tanks all I would need is a valve. Has anyone on here done this? from what I read there is a check valve in the newer tanks how can these be modified ?.

 

[walrus]

I don't believe it's legal to use old refrigerant tanks. Plus they aren't safe to use in that fashion.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

It's not legal, not easy and definitely unsafe. The same thing goes for turning them into portable compressed air tanks. All disposable refrigerant cylinders have a check valve. They can't be refilled. Besides, how were you planning to recover the refrigerant?

Tomm

 

[killahog]

It's not legal, not easy and definitely unsafe. The same thing goes for turning them into portable compressed air tanks. All disposable refrigerant cylinders have a check valve. They can't be refilled. Besides, how were you planning to recover the refrigerant?

Tomm

I was planning on recovering the refrigerant with a vacuum pump, after doing some reading it didn't take long to understand why using one of those is not a good idea. However I can see several reasons why a mechanic would do so possibly to recover some refrigerant from a vehicle that was going to be scrapped and then take that tank home.

 

[Dagny]

134a is too cheap to justify it . I have silver soldered 1/4 inch fitting on these tanks for a variety of reasons over the years.

 

[2mJps]

I would like to do the same thing. Why couldnt you use a propane tank. What stops me from reuseing 134a is i would like to filter it some way. Maybe some kind of filter could be built? Some one is doing what we want to do we just need to find them. I dont do much ac work or i would be trying some thing.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Some one is doing what we want to do we just need to find them.

Yes, someone is. The recovery tank manufacturers. Spend the $80.00 or just rent a cylinder if you're certified...

Tommy

 

[mikebaker1129]

Yes it can be done,but it is against DOT regulations to transport a refilled throw away cylinder.
Propane tanks are very similar to the recovery tanks sold,but you would need to purchase a recovery tank valve to install into your tank and the valve cost almost the price of a new tank. Last new tank I purchased new was about $70 for a 50lb tank.
Pull a vaccum on the tank,put it in the freezer over night and then connect it to your car that you want to recover from. Liquid is more dense so I normally get as much liquid as I can first.
I have done this when recovering on a hot roof in Houston even with a machine,using a ice bath on the cylinder to keep it cool.
You can only refill 80% so that means 40 lbs in a 50,24 in a 30lb cylinder.
You can install a filter drier inline to filter out contaminants. We do this to protect our machines from debris.we can pick up used tanks here for around $20 on Craigslist.
Good luck.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

I was planning on recovering the refrigerant with a vacuum pump, after doing some reading it didn't take long to understand why using one of those is not a good idea. However I can see several reasons why a mechanic would do so possibly to recover some refrigerant from a vehicle that was going to be scrapped and then take that tank home.

A vacuam pump is not made to be pressurized,I tried a stupid experiment 20 some years ago.
It was an expensive experiment!