H means high

So I took the can of AC refrigerant back to the store with the intention of returning it.  I wound up walking out of there with the same can.  I was looking around at their various AC related items and I saw a kit that was labeled for use to convert R-12 to R-134.  Well that’s odd, the one valve looks exactly like what I was trying to jam the connector onto last night?  I looked closer and saw the plastic cap that fit this valve had an H on it.  Hmmmm the plastic cap I took off last night had an H as well..  Why the f it would not click in my head that the H stood for HIGH PRESSURE is beyond me. Oh, and the cap was RED as well, as in, “Warning don’t touch this dummy!”  To confirm my stupidity I saw that the other, slightly smaller valve had an L on it.

So in a nutshell I was trying to connect to the high pressure side of the AC system which is a big no no.  Thank goodness I wasn’t successful.  I did some googling and found that the low side port is tucked back in a somewhat hidden location.  I will give the recharge another attempt after work.

As I was carrying the can back to the truck I decided to read the warnings.  It mentioned to not leave the can in your vehicle as high temps could cause it to EXPLODE.  Well the can had been sitting in the cab of my truck all morning and Florida in September is still hot as hades.  I had visions of the damn thing exploding while I’m driving.  I decided to take it into the office for safekeeping.  Exploding items just have a way of ruining your day.