Help with vintage air
 

Ok I got frustrated with charging my vintage air system in my Camaro so I took it to a shop to have it charged. They said they were able to charge the system but the ac clutch wasn't in gauging. They said I wasn't getting power to the binary switch. When I got home and checked the power lead to the switch the where correct. I found I had not the connector out. Now, I have power getting to the binary switch but clutch still will not turn on. Wire is good going from binary switch to compressor, but it seems like the binary switch isn't working. How do I test the switch? Also, can I remove the switch without loosing the refrigerant?
Thanks,
Jon

Should be able to bypass the switch to make sure the compressor clutch is working. To replace the switch will require draining the system, it's under pressure.

I just bypassed the switch and the clutch does work

If there's power to the binary switch but none coming out when commanded and the system is charged correctly it sounds like a bad switch.

That's what I'm starting to think. For my sanity, how can I check to make sure system is charged correctly?

Throw some gauges on it to make sure it is charged. I don't see how they could charge it when the clutch was not engaging but I am not an expert. I know that when I charge them they have to be running....

Don

Ok thanks. I wasn't sure about that either. I will try it tomorrow. Thanks

dhutton,
Our AC recharging machine will charge without the vehicle running. Charges into the high side and the machine can build some extra pressure to get in the required amount.

Should be simple enough for most shops to drain and swap a switch quickly.

Thanks. That was the part I was unsure of.

Have to wonder why the shop could not troubleshoot a disconnected connector...

Don

Normally, if we suspect a binary switch we do like you did, jump it and if the compressor kicks on (assuming you have a charge in the system) you know it's the switch.

I don't know the shop, but it is possible they didn't want to diagnose a system someone else installed. We get similar feelings when someone brings us something they put in and want us to fix it. It's hard not knowing how something was installed, most people we deal with are trying to save a buck and we end up having to redo nearly everything.

Not saying you don't know what you are doing, just giving a shop's perspective. Sometimes it's a simple fix, like a switch, sometimes the person didn't follow instructions and you spend 3-4 hours going through everything to make sure it's correct (wired directly to battery, no scotchlocks, etc etc)

Who knows, maybe they just had time for a recharge but not for a diagnosis!

I share Mitch's perspective. If you came in and asked for a charge, we would charge it. If we got wrapped up in every job, we would never make money.

But yes. The switch is open to the refrigerant on the other side, so you have to drain it to swap the switch. My A/C machine will charge without the compressor running, and it only takes 15 minutes to do an evacuate and recharge. Maybe you can check the shop and see if they'll cut you a deal to evac and recharge with you there so you can swap the switch right quick.

If there's pressure in the system, a switch should have continuity (a couple of ohms). If the system drops below 25psi on the low side the switch should be open (infinite ohms, no continuity).

If you have a trinity switch, two of the terminals should act as I stated above. The third is the activate wire for the cooling fan relay.


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Does anyone's vintage air make a quiet ticking from the condenser inside the cab when everything is turned off? My optima yellow top seems to drain faster than I expect, so wasn't sure if this was normal.

It's possible one of the actuators is being ran, but figuring out why might be more of a task.

I'd pull the batter cable off and use a multimeter to gauge how much amperage is being lost through a draw. You can use a test light too, but it won't tell you the amount, just that there is a draw (which if you have ecm/tcm/pcm/ect there will always be). Then pull the fuses for the vintage air unit and see if the the draw goes away or becomes less. If it does, then you know its the the a/c unit. If it doesn't, you can start pulling other fuses in the car until it goes away.

However, if the test light doesn't light up or the multimeter shows no draw, you just have a battery issue.