Haha, no need to weep for me; this is a learning experience with me going the road less traveled. I expected there to be a few glitches, and I was trying to do it as cheaply as possible from the start.
I wish my issue was as simple as improper charge weight, and now that I think about it, I may have caused the early demise of my Denso. There was an instance when the low side shot up to around 85psi when I was charging as a liquid..... I was listening for slugging, never heard it then decided to back off.
Anywho, the lowest I saw a U.S. made cylinder of 134a selling for was $150 shipped. It's still available, so I may still grab one.
My compressor got delivered today. It's not remanufactured as advertised, it's new and it's Chinese. Label on the compressor has the brand as "Omega"; Tough One is only mentioned on the box and there's no mention of 4 Seasons. It has a 2 year warranty (plus 1 year from my credit card company) but hopefully, I'll never need to use it.
Upon opening it, I thought I received a used one. It was greasy, had fingerprints all over it, and the sticker over the ports was half missing. The clutch pulley had no signs of use and the oil I drained looked perfect. I'll hope for the best.
I'm getting too good at this. I had the Denso out, the new compressor in and the car back together in about 1.5 hours. If I didn't have to run out for o-rings, it would have been quicker. The new compressor came with o-rings but they were huge.
Not too much oil came out of the Denso. I'm guessing I lost more oil than I thought when the line blew out of the filter. That may have also helped the compressor go bad.
Anyhow, I pulled vacuum, shut it down and after it held for 20 minutes, I pulled another vacuum for an hour. Hopefully my can tap will arrive tomorrow, and I can recharge with another alternate HC. I'll update later.
-Todd