Things You'll Need:
- Refrigerant charging manifold
- Refrigerant canister or cylinder
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Step 1
Make sure you know the correct type of refrigerant to get. The unit should use either R22 or R-134a refrigerant. You also need to know the operating pressure for your air conditioner.
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Step 2
Shut off the air conditioner's compressor.
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Step 3
Connect the central hose of the charging manifold--it should be the yellow one--to the canister or cylinder of refrigerant. Purge all the lines on the manifold by throttling the regulators on the refrigerant cylinder and the manifold's other two lines.
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Step 4
Attach the plain pressure gauge (red) hose to the air conditioner's liquid line service valve or the compound gauge (blue) hose to the suction valve. Make sure you shut off all the regulators and remove the protective cap from the service valve before connecting the hose.
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Step 5
Open the regulator slightly for the hose you've connected, then open the regulator for the refrigerant can. If you connected the compound hose, turn on the air conditioner now. Observe the pressure on the corresponding manifold gauge for whichever hose you connected.
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Step 6
Close the can's regulator once the gauge reads the correct pressure for your unit. Close the hose's regulator and disconnect the manifold from the can and the air conditioner.
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Step 7
Turn on the air conditioner if you charged it through the plain pressure hose and make sure the air coming out of the unit is adequate.
