I owned a 1978 Cherokee-6 for 15 years with factory A/C. I spend many many hours and dollars trying to get the thing to work for more than 2 weeks. I finally gave up, flying all over north America with the extra useless weight. I recently bought a really nice 98 Saratoga HP with factory A/C. This time I was determined to make sure it worked. After a year and my luck the compressor died. Piper wanted $1800 and the compressor was on back order. My A&P waited 7 months but Piper still did not have any compressors. Summer was coming on and I wanted cool in the plane. After a little research, the piper compressor is in fact a standard automotive compressor. It is also used in other high end airplanes (and jets). Sanden, Model S5111 using HFC134A. I purchased the compressor, expansion valve, dryer, flush for about $300 brand new with a 1 year warranty. The rear plate had a slightly different hose connection orientation, so I simply switched rear plates and I am now cool again.
dGranger
dGranger
