Recharging Car Air Conditioner

A/C Pro Refrigerant with gauge and hose.

My car now has over a hundred thousand miles on it and the air conditioner was starting to lose its ability to cool down the car on hot days. For me, this is a serious matter because hot environments cause anaphylaxis within minutes of exposure so I need to ensure my car is able to keep my body cool. So, I made a few phone calls...

The price I was quoted was $150...  ugggg.

That is a significant chunk of my fixed retirement/disability pension. Most of my ridiculously low retirement/disability pension is spent on out-of-pocket medical costs each month so I already have little room for extra costs. I have some hobbies like anyone else just to keep my sanity in the boredom known as retirement and these hobbies cost more than I see in my bank account every month. I needed another option for this air conditioning dilemma...

The first thing to do was to do a search online for a do-it-yourself fix. Naturally, I found one. Not only did I find that this was an exceptionally easy fix but it was an inexpensive fix as well!

Long story short, I went to WalMart and picked up a $35 can of refrigerant which comes with a hose and pressure gauge (the auto stores were closed while we were shopping so they lost out on a sale and if WalMart didn't have what I needed in stock, I was going to buy it on Amazon). After reading the directions and watching a short video on YouTube, it took me only 10 minutes and $35 to recharge my air conditioner in my car!

A mere $35 was the retail cost of the refrigerant and included the cost of a hose and gauge. If I were recharging people's air conditioners for a living, I would only need a canister of the refrigerant. I could probably get this in bulk for about $10 each. Yet, I was quoted a price of $150 for ten minutes of work and $10 worth of materials. 

I mention this because this really is an easy fix. It is almost as easy as refilling your windshield-washer fluid! I wish I knew about this decades ago!