DIY or DIE

I bought this contraption about 2 weeks ago online for 35 bucks planning to refill my moldy AC with Freon which i did. (When i did it i accidentally released some Freon that was smelling strongly like mold).

After i was done with it i put it in big plastic bag, a cardboard box planning to re-use it in a while to check if the AC in the car kept pressure and in the middle of the living, 2 meters away from where i sleep most nights and spend most times.

I first noticed i started to have mucus discharge in my nose. First i ignored it then i started to believe it was from the mold but yesterday i woke up with tonsils so inflamed and throat so full of mucus i could barely breath or talk or swallow. So i started to take some antibiotics (i always keep a stash for situations like this). At first it seemed to help but towards the evening it flared back. And then i finally figured. It was the bag with the device in the middle of living that was putting a very irritant something in the air. Mole_cules.

Then i reacted. I searched online. PAG46 oil (it was obviously the oil not the refrigerant that evaporated within seconds after i unhooked the thing) is said to be water soluble so i ran some water through hoses and put it in water till morning. However that didn't do it as the irritating smell (now i can recognize it but is not very distinctive) was present in the bathroom. Then i added some dishwasher detergent which is supposed to make oil more water soluble. Something changed at the surface of the water. Smell in the bathroom diminished.

And now conclusions. I don't believe it's the oil (yeah i know technically it's not an oil but an alcohol) but the additive from the brand i bought at O'Reillys also available at Autozone. ICE32. Cause the other one available in stores at Walmart that didn't have the additive was of unknown viscosity (simply PAG oil). Because the oil has been around for a long time and as they say "all AC systems do leak" more or less (otherwise you wouldn't have to refill them, duh!).

It's just another come up that is supposed to enhance the oil "by binding to metal" bla bla. The more unnatural theses things get the nastier. Ironically it has the number 32 in the brand name.

There are lots of people complaining about AC making them sick, and this may be one the reasons it may make them even sicker in the future. The more classical reason is contamination of the in dashboard (impossible to clean) cold radiator (evaporator) and ducts.