Newbie - A/c Questions Options

[BrianLe]

Hello,

I'm new to the site. I had a Corolla back in 1983 (didn't do much on it myself) and now my son has a 1997 Corolla. I try to do most repairs myself, sometimes getting in over my head. While repairing some front end damage, I disconnect a high pressure A/C tube at what I believe is the expansion tank on the left (driver's side). That was scary while all the coolant blew out of the tube. I had the tube disconnect a day or two and did not run the car while I removed the radiator, did the body work, and put it back together. Since then, he has driven it a month or two without running the A/C. This passed weekend, I recharged it, before reading you should evacuated the air and any moisture from the system. It seems to cool OK. Considering where I disconnect the tube and the short time the the system was open, do you think it will be OK to not evacuate the system?

The low side pressure on the recharge kit is in the danger range (75#) after the system has been idle a while. When the system has been running for a while, it will be in the "Alert" range until the radiator cooling fan comes on. It will then drop into the "Filled" range. At those readings normal?

Thanks

Brian