Questioning what the freon type was or would be from custom coach. Tag on compressor states R12 or R22. So...is there a general consensus? 12 or 22 or is there a drop in replacement?
If yours follow the standard CC design, you probably have Copeland compressors with R-12 refrigerant. That's what mine have.
There are some replacements available for the R-12, with R-134 being the most common. However, R-134 requires changing the oil in the system and possibly the expansion valve. Other replacements exist which can be dropped in the existing system - my a/c tech used one to top off one of my units. Don't remember what he used exactly, and I don't know how to contact him anymore.
When/if you call around for someone to work on your units, remember that they are not residential, they are not RV, they are not automotive. They are commercial refrigeration units like you'd see in a walk-in beer cooler at a convenience store. The compressor unit which would normally be down in the basement of the store is in your 'basement', and the evaporator unit which is normally hanging inside the cooler is the part inside the upper cabinet in the bus.
I had to do some digging but finally found a really good independent commercial refrigeration guy to help with mine when they acted up last year. One of my units was improperly filled and apparently had some air mixed with the refrigerant. He evacuated the system, changed the drier, ran a vacuum test, and then finally refilled with whatever magic formula he used to replace the R-12. Topped it off till the bubbles stopped in the sight glass, then ran it to double check pressures. It's been cooling great since.
I've since secured a tank of reclaimed R-12 to do my rear unit when it needs it. The stuff is still out there, and if you know a good a/c guy they may have some reclaimed R-12 on a shelf looking for a new home.
Thanks again Richard. Hope to meet you in Blytheville.