Refrigerant Scale Facts w/ NAVAC

You can get precise charging with the NAVAC NRS2I01, and the display is backlit. It also comes with a portable control, which means that you don’t have to keep looking at the scale in a hard-to-reach location.

First, you start up the control. Then, you turn on the scale by holding the power button and connecting to Bluetooth. You can then zero out the scale by holding the “4” button on the controller pad to zero out the scale. Apply some test pressure with your hand to make sure that your scale is registering weight and zeroing out again after you remove the pressure. (You may consider zeroing out the scale when the tank is on there to keep track of how much charge you put in.)

When using a recovery tank, you need to keep two main numbers in mind: the TW and the WC. The TW is the tare weight, which is the empty weight of the tank. The WC is the water capacity, which is how much water it takes to fill the tank 100%. However, refrigerants have different specific gravities than water, and you only want to fill the tank to 80% under the maximum temperature conditions you’ll experience. You can use a calculator to determine the refrigerant fill you need to avoid hydrostatic pressure buildup due to an overfilled tank. It’s also worth noting that recovery tanks also have two different ports for liquid and vapor.

If we want to recover charge into an empty tank, we can zero out the scale by pressing the “clear” button; then, the tank will show how much refrigerant we’re adding. If we’re reusing a tank, we need to determine how much refrigerant is already in there before we add more to the tank. (We can zero the scale out once we know how much more refrigerant we can add.)

If we need to add refrigerant to the system, we can zero the scale out and then let the negative number tell us how much refrigerant we’re adding.

In some cases, we can’t check the charge with gauges or probes alone. When we can’t reliably check the charge, we can recover it into a tank and weigh it out. In cases where there is too little or too much refrigerant, we can begin refining our diagnosis and take the appropriate next steps. (For example, you could start doing a leak detection if you have too little charge.)

Using a scale also allows you to be the most honest technician possible. You can ensure that your prices match the amount of refrigerant you put into the system. To be an honest and safe technician, you must pull the scale off your truck every time.