Did you replace the Drier or suction Accumulator ? Sure I usually always pull a vacuum on them but I have done many in backyards for friends and charged the systems without pulling a vacuum on them and they cooled fine. Yes its the right way to do them but yours sounds like something else going on since you said the low side was reading high ? How high was it reading as they should run around 28 to 32 on the low side. Makes me think if the comp went bad that maybe it has something else that got in the system. Ron