ac orifice tube

[pamoffa]

Hi guys, I've been having AC trouble for a while and the other day I removed the orifice tube it was completely dry looks like oil has never been through it no residue I wiped it down with a clean white rag and there was no evidence of anything showing on the rag.. do you think this is telling me the system is under oiled or can they be dry like that as normal

[65Guy]

there should be a light coating of oil but nothing crazy. the oil is carried in the refrigerant just as a means to lube the compressor. did you evacuate the system when you pulled the orfice?

[pamoffa]

for some reason I lost my charge I have a leak some where there was nothing to evacuate so I was curious about what condition my tube was in and noticed it was too clean and dry. My plan is to find the leak and adding oil or not is a big question.

[65Guy]

You problly lost some oil. just put it all back together and leak check it with compressed nitrogen and soap bubbles. then pull a good vacuum and get some 134a that as an oil charge in it from auto zone. while you can have too much oil if you use the can of 134a with oil charge in it you should be fine.

[pamoffa]

Thanks 65guy, what you said about getting the 134a with oil in it seems like a sensible thing to do looks like they have about 2ounces of oil in it. i think thats a better idea then buying a bottle of pag and putting a bunch in, I've read on multiple threads that over oiling doesn't hurt anything but it does take up valuable space and also the dye also takes up space.