Apparently, pulling a vacuum does NOT get the oil. I little extra oil won't hurt anything....

What was temp vs pressure at idle when you refilled?

 

It was about 80F ambient when I did the refill and got the 39/175 reading.

 

I think you are still low on charge. 40-50 PSI on the low side (compressor running) at 80*F. High side can run over 200 at that point.

 

I added the rest of the second can. Not much left to start, but made no difference on the low side. High side is now close to 200. It was also hotter outside, close to 90F. That is now 24oz which is more than what I could find was normal. The only info I could find, said 21oz is full from empty. Blowing cold though!

 

If outlet temp is good, then yer good.

 

BE careful with adding oil. Adding additional oil and dye and leak seal... all that stuff takes up space that should be active refrigerant. I find that a lot of the AC shops all want to put in dye as part of their service.

I also see that a lot of the cans of refrigerant all have some oil, dye, or sealer. Only use that stuff if you are certain you had low oil. The sneaky companies are tricking you into thinking you are getting something extra (and maybe even charging more for it) when in reality they are giving you less expensive and heavier oil in place of expensive refrigerant. So if your 14 oz refrigerant can has stuff in it, it is likely not 14 oz active refrigerant.

Now everything in life leaks. So it is efficient to regularly top up a hvac system and that includes in your house. Low refrigerant means less efficient. TOO MUCH refrigerant also is LESS efficient as there can be more liquid in the condenser thus making the area of the condenser less, and thus less efficient. POINT BEING
Don't presume that you have a leaky system if after 15 years you refrigerant is low. Top it up to just at the low side of the green arc (DIY R134 blaster can) and call it good. Everybody thinks that the high sector of the green arc is better, nope. The higher your low side pressure, the warmer the evaporator is going to be (and thus, the air coming out of the vents.

JoeBoater fromTexas,
I think you are fine with the work you have done. The only thing I would have recommended was that with a 15 year old system that has been opened was that you should have replaced the accumulator drier. That was a perfect opportunity. They are not very expensive and they are the filter that removes an environmental moisture and acids that form in an R134 system that has net been properly evacuated. Always replace a 7-10+ year old accumulator drier IF the system is going to be opened to the environment AND if the system has been empty or opened to the environment regardless of the age or mileage of the drier... It is just good, cheap insurance. Good Practice.

A good evacuation is not just pull the vacuum down and hold it....
A good evacuation is a long vacuum period (pump running) and could/should involve breaking the vacuum with a little dry nitrogen or a little mig/tig welding ARGON (not Stargon, co2 argon mix for steel) you can even use a little refrigerant to just barely bring the needle out of vacuum and then suck it down again. We call that 'breaking the vacuum'

It is a common misconception that the vacuum hold is your leak test... and yes, while if you do see the needle move while during a vacuum hold, it would be goofy to charge a system with refrigerant, a real leak test would be to use dry nitrogen or argon to pressurize to about 350 psi (the highest pressure the system should see in normal operation) and see if that reading falls off. You can also use soapy water at joints and places to see if you get bubbles while under pressure test.

Please send us an update. Let us know what you find and how it works. If it all goes south, hopefully it hold off and will be after the climate gets cooler.