Ever wonder what a full Behr A/C system weighs?

[stymee]

Wonder no more! I had all the components together today so I weighed them. Not as heavy as I thought, but still 3% of the car!

Evaporator 12 lbs

Condenser, Fan and Dryer 14 lbs

Compressor 30 lbs

All wires and hoses 5 lbs

Total weight = 61 lbs

Add in the 12 or so ounces of refrigerant and the belt, and you could say 62 lbs. This unit was functioning fine, and may be going up for sale at some point.

[jgerock]

Good reference information. Thank you for posting.

[c.d.iesel]

but the mechanical drag on the motor,

added vibration and noises,

load on cooling system really eats up the cars performance.

[bnam]

Thanks for weighing, I was thinking about how heavy the compressor is when I picked it up 2 weeks ago from the PO.

Is it possible to marry a more modern compressor with the BEHR system?

Byas

[Andy74tii]

Wow, this is great information, as I admit I have always wondered how much that stuff weighed! I moved from Texas to Colorado about 5 years ago and now no longer have the need for A/C, so I jettisoned all that crap. I must have spent a grand getting it all working, and it never really worked all that well anyway....

[Conserv]

As previously said, thank you for doing this. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say "A/C adds 150 lbs." or "A/C adds 200 lbs."!

Steve

[stymee]

Looks like you could save a few lbs with a Sanden 508 rotary compressor, they publish a weight of around 17 lbs for the compressor minus brackets.

C.D. had me convinced to yank the whole system:

but the mechanical drag on the motor,

added vibration and noises,

load on cooling system really eats up the cars performance.

I have to think that there is a major effect on the cooling system, even when not running. That condenser is almost the size of the radiator. Throw the fan in front of that and there isn't much airflow left for the cooling system.

Anyone planning on installing an A/C system that has an uncut bottom tii pump belt cover that they want to trade with my already modified one?

[bnam]

Would the Sanden rotary compressor work with the rest of the Behr system (particularly what's in the cabin -- as I don't want to yank those)?

[malagalaga]

The a/c really does extend the driving season around these parts, but I agree that it really doesn't work very well.

If anyone is considering adding a/c, I'd really urge them to spend the money elsewhere (like toward a second car for those really hot day!).

[jgerock]

Would the Sanden rotary compressor work with the rest of the Behr system (particularly what's in the cabin -- as I don't want to yank those)?

That should be fine. You will most likely need to replace the hoses and possibly the receiver/drier. I will eventually do this on my 73tii. I have the "group buy" bracket from HobieDave in Florida.

[bnam]

Is this HobieDavie bracket needed for the Sanden compressor? Or, can I repurpose the existing bracket.

[harry6422]

Also remember guys these ac unites were designed to use R12 , which you can't buy unless you have a stash , you will have to use R134 which requires a much larger condenser, the part in front of the radiator, to work as well as R12 did. We all know there is no room for that , so after changing to a rotary compressor and converting the rest of it to R134 it will work about 70% of what it did with R12 which was not anything like ac in today's cars. I deleted the ac on my 75 restoration because of this , it's great to know I saved 62lbs along the way , may be more ,I had a York compressor .

Harry

[Brandon]

Good reference information. Thank you for posting.

Curious, does the a/c in your tii still work? I was always amazed it worked considering all parts were original.

[BarryA]

with a Sanden on the factory system in the E21, couldn't be happier - much less power required with the ac on, compressor weighs less and causes MUCH less vibration than a Behr rotary, system produces 36-37 degree vent temps on R12.

Don't know if he's going to produce another run of them or not, but HobieDave did a run of VERY nice Sanden brackets a while back - there's a post trying to track one down a few posts up.

And by the way, at least in my area (Sacramento CA) most a/c shops seem to have no problem getting R-12 - both the systems in the E21 and my wife's E24 were designed for (and work much better with) R-12, so I've stayed with it. Last couple of times I had them serviced, there was no issue with finding the refrigerant, and cost wasn't out of line (about 50% more per pound than R-134).