I had my van converted to R134a by the best shop [or so I've been told by
more than one source] in Sacramento.  Even with everything replaced except
the long pipes front to rear and system maximized by using the most
efficient condenser it is marginal at best.

Just my experience.

Mike

On 1/31/05 3:47 PM, "Jeffrey Schwaia" <jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM> wrote:

> Thank you for your "suggestion" that I consider my future needs, however,
> why should I act now?  Is R-134a about to skyrocket in price?  Perhaps the
> purchase of R-134a is akin to Microschmeg stock in 1985?
>
>
> My Point of View:
>
> The price of R-12 has been pretty static at $22 a can, R-134a is about $5 a
> can.  A Vanagon takes 3.5 cans of refrigerant, let's say $100 of R-12 to
> make the math easy.  Now, considering my first statement about the A/C
> system, "good & tight, with no leaks", IMO it is by far the smarter path to
> keep the system stock spend the extra $80 and use R-12.
>
> I have worked on several vans that had been converted to R-134a where the
> owner installed a high efficiency condenser and not one of them cooled as
> well as a good working stock R-12 system.  Hap-hazard R-134a conversions
> often do more damage than good due to the fact that these systems were not
> designed for R-134a (e.g., the conversion has to be done right).