What to do with my R22?

[matttheniceguy]

I found a really good deal on a new 5200BTU ac unit today, and plan on using it's compressor and consensor for my single stage unit. I'm just not sure what I should do with the R22 it is charged with. I do not have any sort of HVAC licence or reclaiming equipment. It seems to me the two options are:

-Strip the unit down and take it to an HVAC guy and have him suck it dry, and then just use R290 to charge it.

-Use a compressor to put the R22 into another (evacuated) tank, build the single stage, and then charge it with a mix of R22 and R290 (or maby just straight R22) once I know there are no leaks.

Does anyone know if it is legal to do the second option in Canada? Will some R22 give me better temps than straight R290? Any guesses as to how much a HVAC guy would charge to evacuate my AC for me?

Thanks guys.

[The Weedman]

With mine i just put an old a/c bottle into vacuum and sucked it all out. R290 is able to run a little bit cooler so you should stick with that unless you can get some r402a. Make sure you evac the system for at least 1-3 hours to make sure you have no water/moisture in it. when you have it all built.

[matttheniceguy]

Doesn't R290 have a lower boiling point but less capacity, which is why people often mix the two? I don't think I have to worry much about capacity anyway, as this is a 1/2 hp compressor for a barton core.

Could anyone give me some advice about the proper way to reclaim a refrigerant. I really don't want to let any of that nasty crap out. Could I just put a shrader on the high side of my vacume pump (two compressors in series) and then pump the refrigerant into an evacuated container through a manifold gauge? If I were to do that, wouldn't I release some of the R22 from the lines of the gauge set?

I don't have a licence or time to go take the course right now, so I think R402a is out of the question.