Refill portable AC with 410A

You need gauges to check it. You already noted the pressures you should see.

Low side pressure should be more on the order of 100-150 psi . High side will vary but I couldn't find a number . I'd need new gauges if I want to work with the newer refrigerants , my gauges (R134A vintage) top out at 120 low/500 high side . Did you know that propane is a very efficient refrigerant and is in use as such in some parts of the world ? Yes , I know it's flammable , but so is gasoline and there's a lot more of that in your car than the couple of pounds of propane there would be in your AC system .

Check the current draw of the compressor to see if its actually running. Maybe it's just a bad capacitor?

You'll probably have to install service ports to check and top off the refrigerant.

And FWIW, now that you own this "free" air conditioner, you'll likely have to pay to dispose of it properly...unless you just take it for a ride on a moonless night. ;-)

Most devices for use inside the house do not have a refill port. They are filled and then sealed at the factory and saves a few dollars. The ones that do should have 2 ports, the low and high side. Normally to add refrigerant you put some in the low pressure port and make sure it is vapor and not the liquid.YOu do not just open something and pour it in like refilling the radiator or the oil of a car. The refrigerant will turn from liquid to a vapor as soon as it comes out of the container if the valve is opened to the air.

windows, doors and/or curtains opened close doors, windows and curtains, bearing in mind the " TIPS FOR CORRECT USE" given previously

there are heat sources in the room (oven, hairdryer, etc) eliminate the heat sources

the air exhaust hose is detached from the appliance fit the air exhaust hose in the housing at the back of the appliance (fig. 1).

filter clogged clean or replace the filter as previously described

May just need a new compressor:

Darn.

I've assumed that auto AC have a refill port because the whole thing is bouncing around all the time, sometimes really roughly, and much more likely to leak than a home AC. Is that the reason?

The auto AC units that I have seen have the low and high pressure ports. The auto AC is not what is called a sealed unit. That is the compressor is driven with a shaft sticking out of it and a pully that drives it similar to the alternator. The seal on it can leak very slightly over the years so it may need some refrigerant added to it from time to time.

The home units are sealed units meaning the compressor and motor that drives it are made as a 1 piece unit and no shaft sticking out to leak.

Aha! Very clever. Does this mean that electric cars will have AC that doesn't leak. Wait, there already are electric cars with AC. I wonder what they use.

Similar to a heat pump. The one EV I drove was rather comfortable on a

In <v7caa8$2l4ia$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me Ed P snipped-for-privacy@snet.n writes: [snip]

All electric (and hybrid) cars I'm familir with use a standard compressor arrangement, except that the fully electric ones (and many hybrids) use an electricly powered compressor rather than a mechanical "fan belt".

That's for coolling.

For heating... hybrids tend to use standard gas egine heated hot water. Fully electric can either use direct resistance heaters or.. yes, heat pump.

The latter, of course, involve compressors, etc.

When I was a kid our refrigerator used sulfur dioxide as a refrigerant. When it started to leak we knew right away - no training needed.

Some EE labs at the U had an "absorption" air conditioner, powered by the U steam plant (heat). The refrigerant was water. Long ago some houses used absorption systems powered by natural gas. I think RV refrigerators are powered by propane.

If a compressor has been running one refrigeration line from the compressor is hot and the other line is cold.

It is very unlikely a homeowner can work on the refrigeration, unless they have worked in the field. Also unlikely you can come out ahead replacing a compressor.

Absorption refrigerators use Ammonia absorbed in water, and occaisionally water and brine. Ammonia is most common

The U system had water and lithium bromide, a form of brine. Water is what circulated like a refrigerant would.