I’m going to a local aicon service place on Wednesday. The test and regas on my daily driver, £59. As a customer a second, third car etc costs £29 + any gas used.
So anyone in the Derby area…
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Did you give the inside of the joint a very good clean and use silicone grease on the O ring?
I use a mobile A/C guy in Tamworth and he’s really good. I don’t know if the rest are as good but he franchises with Cool Car.
Welcome to the dark art of Air-Con. 
Yes there are many places to get it done but in the end you get what you pay for. A quick fix is rare, just filling isn’t a fix although its considered “normal” to loose maybe 10% of the gas charge on most systems. None are 100% gas tight but many can be very close.
Here in the UK to work on Air-Con requires that you have to of completed and gained a qualification in the safe handling and use of a refrigerant gas. Other than that there is nothing to stop individuals/DIY-ers from using small top-up cannisters. Today’s all-in-one AC servicing machines have made it possible for the inept to pull gas out and stick it back in a foolproof manner, many certificate holders may be those at bodyshops/repairers who simply need to use a AC machine to remove/dismantle bodywork, many will be more skilled at AC work.
I’ve been doing air-con since the 90’s, fed up with getting in agricultural dealers to fix tractors and harvester systems that generally work much harder and continuously than what we are talking about here on cars. Once you found someone who was really good at it you were ok, otherwise it was much as what has been mentioned earlier in this thread- plenty of people who just do quick fix/bodges. To do repairs takes time which costs money hence doing our own works well as some parts of the procedure take time to do even when they are done with today’s plug in and forget service machines. AC work and understanding the principles of what is happening inside that system is crucial and a never ending journey, luckily where I work it is only on their own vehicles & machinery so its in my own interest to look after them as part of their regular servicing routine.
Finding a leak is only the beginning, why did it leak? new oring and it still leaks? is there a system fault making the pressures too high and forcing a leak? Just having a vehicle in, chuck gauges on and top up the gas isn’t a fix and if the repairer only has one machine they’re stuck unless they can work on other jobs until its free.
If/when you find someone who does a good job, stick with them
In no particular order, a guide to what to look out for IMO -
- 10% gas loss is often considered “normal”
- Best not to fully or overcharge old systems
- Ideally pressure tested with nitrogen at 10bar
- not all AC oils/systems have UV dye (although just dye can be added )
- Filter/dryer cannister should be replaced at intervals before desiccant breaks down
- never re-use orings or seals (black were R12 era, most are now green for R134a >)
- use a proper seal-lube or dip in AC oil
- before refilling system needs to be pulled to 30"mg vacuum for 30min to remove moisture and then left for 30min to see if compressor shaft seal leaks
- check if they are using kit able to vent/remove Non-Condensible-Gases (NCG’s) from the refrigerant? These will “block” the condensers cooling area/efficiency (even new gas usually comes with NCG’s, it require its weight & temp compared to a pressure chart for 100% refrigerant)
- Never fit a new compressor without a system flush (a warranty requirement)+ new filter/dryer , also if the condenser is a parallel flow type- replace it, its is not flushable.
- R134a and the newer R1234yf gases are not interchangeable and neither are many components/lubricants.
After saying all that, it was nice to re-gas our recent upgrade from a Mk1 to a Mk3.75 sport-venture as part of its full service. The AC hadn’t been used much by the seller to the point that it had actually stopped working from low gas without her realising! I recovered around 30% of the original charge weight, pressure tested with nitrogen, deep vacuumed and hold tested for an hour, recharged+dye, UV+performance tested OK.
Hopefully a case of not running it to keep the compressor shaft seal lubricated for several years! Worked very well in the recent mini-heatwaves too 
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Thank you for the comprehensive reply! Lots of good information there. The main problem I have is finding someone not too far away! Fife isn’t blessed with many options for AC. I’ll keep looking though.
i had my aircon regassed at a local garage and they confirmed it held pressure - needless to say it slowly leaked out
the guys at perfomance link found the leak whilst doing otherwork and replaced all the seals to the aircon with genuine ones. Its beautiful now
I ended up fitting a new condenser and one of the pipes myself. Having it tested and (hopefully) refilled at AC Wizard in Cowdenbeath, tomorrow. Fingers crossed. . .
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