Quote Originally Posted by sgharford View Post
I hear what you are saying above. HVAC companies love to protect their craft and I find usually recommend worst case, most expensive fix (ie replacing unit). Even if it's a charge of 1 lb of the banned no where to be found scary ozone depleting R-22 I know I'm going to get hit with a $1,000 invoice. Sad to admit, but I sold commercial HVAC equipment for six years for a major manufacturer, but I don't know how to work on them. The good condenser is original (47 years old) and never been charged, at least in my 15 years of ownership. There has been little reason for me to invest in tools and know how as result. But I am starting to get the itch...
You can easily buy 5-gallon jugs of R22 on eBay as long as you're willing to sign the certification saying it's either for resale or for installation by a certified a/c tech. With the understanding that it's unlikely the EPA has a spy satellite hovering over your boat, but some may have a moral objection to this. Once you do that, get a set of manifold gauges and adapters and recharging the system is very easy. There are tons of videos on youtube, or you can get the original cruisair factory manuals off the documents sections of the sea-ray forum that have detailed charging instructions. Or just buy the compressor and have a tech install it. They have to braze it in with a torch, one of those things they do all the time but was over my head and I'd probably burn myself or drop molten whatever into the compressor and ruin it, so I left that part to them when I did this on my old boat.