[AT] Air conditioning problems In my parts getter...

[Phil Auten]

What did the EPA decide was wrong with R134a?

Phil in TX

On 6/12/2021 12:18 AM, Steve W. wrote:
> Brad Loomis wrote:
>> I hope you meant a detector for the current refrigerants and not NH3. 
>> Ammonia only requires your nose or a sulphur stick. And for those 
>> that may want to try their hand at refrigeration, a lot of the newer 
>> domestic/commercial units use either propane, R290 or isobutane 
>> R600a, as refrigerant. I'm not sure what the automotive industry is 
>> going to move to. I got out of commercial refrigeration not long 
>> after the requirements to recover and the end of R12, R22, R502, R11, 
>> and the rest of the chlorinated fluorocarbons.It was an awful time 
>> never knowing what someone put into what system. Then came 410a in 
>> A/C. Now that's going away. Customers didn't like to hear, we don't 
>> use that refrigerant, we'll have to recover it, time consuming, and 
>> charge your system with an EPA approved refrigerant, maybe have to 
>> change the oil, etc, etc, equipment was slow so labor costs were 
>> absurd. Like I said, ammonia is safe, easy, efficient, and well,  
>> dangerous in the wrong hands. :) And the bigger warning would be to 
>> never pressure test any system with oxygen.  And by this discussion 
>> it is apparent why automotive is the driving force for EPA  to 
>> regulate what goes into the atmosphere. A billion leaking autos is a 
>> lot of gas into the atmosphere. It just moved to HVAC and 
>> refrigeration because of the same gasses.
>>
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>
>
> Auto was R-12, then R134A and the new kid on the block is R1234yf The 
> new stuff is $$$$$$$ and flammable. A couple companies are also 
> playing with CO2 but the pressures in those make it unlikely they will 
> end up being used anytime soon.
>
> A 10 pound cylinder runs close to $900.00 at the moment. 8 oz cans are 
> about $50.00 a pop.
>
> If you are doing it as a business you need a lot of new toys for 
> leaks, testing and repair which is why I'm in no rush. Still a 
> majority of 134A vehicles around here. Not in a rush to spend big 
> money for the new machine, detector and testing equipment and a quick 
> skills update for the 609 crowd.
>