Supco BPV31 Bullet Piercing Valve, Silver

This line tap is PERFECT for sealed mini fridge units with R134A refridgerant. It does not leak, has its own pin valve and works with 3 different line sizes.. Perfect for what i needed. I popped my mini fridge when my impatient self decided to defrost it with a knife.. This was a rather large mini fridge that was my wifes before we got married and I felt kinda bad. After looking at direct replacements, I was finding them (fridge) to be about 120-140 new, and 60-80 on craigslist (that were in good condition, not repainted by some college frat LOL). So after a few months of thinking and kicking myself, I searched youtube and found out aboout these and how to charge a sealed system. So, i bought one of these, a car R12 to R134A adapter kit (i beleive it was the GM kit), and a Can of R134A at wallmart (the can was 10 bucks vs 15 at autoparts stores, and the adapter kit was 10 bucks). I already had the Recharge hose for a R134A can. I had to fix the hole first, which i used JB weld.. I did about 4 applicatons before it completely sealed. I tested the seal with some R134A after setting up the steps below and used a squirt bottle of soapy water.. when i had no bubbles, i was satisfied. I installed the adapter according to the youtube video on the Suction side of my compresor, connected up my fittings and opened my can a bit.. Then i turned on the compressor and let it go.. It took a bit to get flow out of my can because i didnt puncture it correctly, but once i did, the compressor's tone changed and the lines started to get cold. My mini Fridge only needed 2.8 Oz of refridgerant so i didnt want to leave it on long. Being my gauge was not correct for my application, i had to wing it a bit. After playing a bit with it and adding some more R134A as needed to get the lines in the cooling compartment colder, i finally got it and now my mini fridge is working fantastic again! So, for say 25-30 dollars worth of parts, I fixed her mini fridge and I gave myself a pat on the back for doing it.. Nothing amazing i know, but still. I like to save money.... Could have saved more had i not broke it in the first place, but lesson learned

Bought this because it was referenced in a diy youtube video. This worked great and I successfully using to to bring new life to a wine fridge.

Very affordable quality fitting to allow you to add Freon to a refrigerator which is low. This clamp on valve attaches to three different size copper tubes using the two inserts provided. The instructions inside explain the process. Very easy, even includes the allen wrench. My side by side Viking freezer/fridge has a top mounted compressor. There are no service valves, so this one is needed to measure the pressures and to add Freon. You mount to the suction, or low side on a straight portion of the copper pipe. That one is slightly larger than high pressure side. Also it will be cooler than the high side which should be warm to hot. Clean up the copper with a bit of emory cloth or steel wool. Wipe clean. Place the valve over the pipe with the port in a position convenient to attach the Freon can hose. Tighten down the three clamping screws. The center screw gets advanced a few turns to pierce the copper. The piercing needle also functions as the valve. After attaching the Freon hose, you back the screw out a turn to two max. You can then add Freon in bursts watching the gauge between bursts. In second picture you see a can of R134a ($4.88 from W*****t). Note, because these cans now have a built in Schrader type valve, I attached a $4 blue plastic can adapter to use with the hose. A word about the adapter; They are cheaply made and easily cross threaded when attaching. I watched all the videos, read the comments and still was confused! Allow me to explain. The bottom of the adapter has a brass threaded collar which screws onto the top of the can. The top has a blue plastic threaded nipple which screws into the Freon can tap - hose- gauge adapter (also purchased here on Amazon). There is a fixed needle in the bottom of the adapter which opens the Schrader valve in the can when screwed on, allowing Freon to flow. There is also a needle in the top of the adapter centered in the middle of the blue threaded nipple. I don't think that one does anything at all, certainly doesn't open the flow through the adapter (that was confusing me). I recommend screwing the brass Freon hose can tap onto the top of the blue adapter FIRST. I used a bit of teflon plumbing tape on the threads. Snug up the connection, but not too tight. Next, Turn the handle on the brass tank adapter all the way clockwise to close the valve. The pin on the tank adapter, which is designed to pierce the old style tank metal tops (no longer sold in the US) simply closes the valve. It doesn't do anything inside the blue adapter, and certainly doesn't touch or push the internal pin in the adapter. Now, carefully screw the blue adapter, already attached to the can tap- hose -valve assembly onto the Freon Can. After about two turns, the pin will depress the Schrader valve on the can and a small puff of Freon will be released. Keep turning about one to two more turns until the can is seated inside the adapter. No more Freon will leak out. You might want to wear a glove to hold the can, but honestly, only a tiny puff of Freon leaks out around the connection. You are now ready to go. Before attaching the hose to the BPV valve, open the valve on the can tap a crack to push a small blast of freon through the hose. This will blow out any air and moisture from the hose. Then quickly snug the hose onto the BPV valve. Now with the valve on the can adapter closed, the gauge will read '0'. Next open the valve on the BPV, by backing out the center screw with the allen wrench one full turn or a bit more. Watch the gauge. With the compressor running, if the Freon level in the fridge is low, you will see the needle go into the negative range. Mine went to about -10, indicating a very low level. Inside my Viking Fridge, the label indicated a full charge of 5.5 ounces of 134a. I was probably down around 2 ounces. Then open the valve on the can adapter a turn or so, watching the gauge. The pressure will shoot up to 40-60 indicating Freon is flowing. Leave the can adapter valve open for 10-20 seconds, then close and watch the gauge, which will go back down quickly, showing the pressure in the fridge suction. With each successive blast of freon, the pressure should increase in the fridge. Note: as the Freon leaves the can, the can will get cold and may sweat. As a result, the pressure on the gauge with each successive blast of Freon will go down. This is totally normal. Continue the process of blasts of Freon until the gauge goes to about +2 pounds. At this point you should be close to full. DO NOT OVERFILL THE FRIDGE. Too much Freon will put a strain on the compressor. Once you have added sufficient Freon, close the valve on the can adapter, then close the valve on the BPV by tightening the center screw with the allen wrench. You may then remove the hose from the BPV and place the cap on the BPV securely. Note: during filling, keep the Freon can upright so only gas is pulled into the fridge, the liquid in the can stay s on the bottom. DO NOT allow the can to flop over on it's side. I then disconnected the Freon can by unscrewing it from the blue adapter. Again, short puff of Freon comes out as you disconnect, but really a tiny amount. The built in Schrader valve in the can top will seal it, so the remaining Freon stays in the can. So, Refrigerators and Freezers and AC's should not use up or loose Freon. There must be a slow leak in the condenser, evaporator or one of the connections. I will monitor to see how long it takes for my Freon level to drop and assuming that it is very slow, will consider one of the leak stop products when I have to top up again.

Updated Nov 9, 2013: This little gizmo worked perfectly on my 7 year old refrigerator when I discovered it was not cooling properly and concluded it was most likely due to a slow loss of refrigerant over time (versus a clogged capillary tube). My only complaint is my R-134a gauge set did not fit the threads on the device's valve port. Fortunately, I happened to have (in my collection of automobile R-134a paraphernalia) a female thread to quick-connect adaptor I was able to screw onto the device to make it workable. For a couple of bucks and a squirt of refrigerant, I saved a bundle avoiding a service call, or worse - a whole new refrigerator. This is an excellent device and so low-cost I'll buy another one just to have on hand. I'd like to suggest to the seller that since the device's connection port is a different size than an R-134a gauge set, they could also offer an adaptor fitting that can be screwed onto the device's connection port to allow attaching an R-134a gauge set.

Picture shows the freon level of our deep freeze before I recharged the system. Now it is humming along at 2psi and working great, thanks to this simple little device. The service tech told me that if the freon was low, I should dump our 9-year-old deep freeze and buy a new one. Then he probably realized he was talking himself out of a job and said the freon was probably fine but the start relay was broken and wanted $500 to replace it. I paid his service fee and sent him on his way. I found a start relay for the freezer online (about $45), and installed it myself. Basically, you unplug the old part, plug in the new part. While I was at it, I got a couple more parts that typically wear out on this model and installed them, too. All, plug and play. (A bit of unscrewing, but otherwise very doable for this 60-year-old gal. Lots of Youtube videos to help you!) The freezer worked after that but never got below 60 degrees, so it needed freon, too. This piercing valve was easy to use and with a can of 134A freon and a hose gauge, I added about 1.4 ounces and brought the PSI up to about 2. Now it is consistently below zero. So glad I didn't listen to that repairman. And if it leaks again, I'm all set to recharge it. I can do it, you can, too.

This valve was easy enough to install with just a screwdriver to remove the panel and some fine sandpaper. If you already do automotive AC work, then you probably already have the charging line and freon. Otherwise, a quick trip to auto store for the freon and hose kit. You will need the 1/4 SAE flare end to connect to this valve or an adapter if you use a quick connect. For my refrigerator a section of straight pipe was a little awkward, but this valves small size fit without issues. Do make sure you can attach your freon line before fully tightening this valve in place. Also make sure to properly prepare the section of pipe by using a fine grit sandpaper (1000-1500 grit). Before opening the piercing valve make sure a freon line is attached and tightened, also make sure to purge this line with your freon before opening the value or you risk pulling air into the system. There are several videos out there - some don't show copper line prep and freon purging. Watch several if you have never done this before. Unfortunately, my compressor had other issues and even though it was running it was not 'compressing'. There was plenty of freon in my system already so I ended up scrapping the refrigerator since repair would have not been worth it for me. I would buy this Supco valve again since it is a cheap and easy fix for a low freon issue.

There are a lot of different carto punches out there, but many of them suffer from the fact that they tend to deform the cartomizer out of round and subsequently are either difficult to seat properly in a tank or can actually damage the o-rings seated against the carto, causing dreaded leakage from the bottom of the tank. The bullet piercing valve punches a very small hole, and so it is good for augmenting pre-punched cartomizers with an additional hole or two to get the amount of wicking that the user wants. For most standard 50/50 juices, I would add one additional punch to a Smok carto with the 2 small pre-punched holes and 1-2 additional punches to a Boge with the one large pre-punched hole. For a couple of bucks, it's hard to go wrong with this thing if you are a cartomizer user. It's a little more involved to set up than most other carto-punches, but the way that the carto is supported such that it keeps it round during the punching process is worth the effort.

Worked well getting my 23 year old Edison dehumidifier working again.