Refrigerants, Oils & Regulations

Graphic Courtesy of Danfoss On 8/8/17,  the United States court of appeals struck down an EPA phaseout of HFC refrigerants under the Clean Air Act on the basis that the Clean Air Act only gave the EPA the right to regulate ozone-depleting substances. However, many of us figured that the decision was likely to be […]

Over the years, I have heard technicians say that refrigerant can wear out or “lose its blend” by sitting in a tank. Refrigerant does not wear out or “lose its blend”… at least not like that. What can and does happen is called “fractionation.” Refrigerant blends are composed of a mix of refrigerants with different […]

This article is based on the recent HVAC School podcast episode on A2L refrigerants with Jason Obrzut. You can listen to that podcast HERE. Jason is a member of the AHRI Safe Refrigerant Transition Task Force and has co-authored Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology (the RACT manual). You can access AHRI’s A2L refrigerant resources at […]

I am consistently surprised by how much false information still circulates out in the field, and one of the ones I hear often is the idea that you cannot or should not “top-off” or recharge R410a systems on top of an existing charge of R410a when the system is low. So, to be clear, before […]

We’ve all been in the unenviable position of unsweating a compressor and getting blasted in the eyes with a waft of gas that smells like burning sulfur from the pits of Hades. As we stagger back, covering our noses and holding our breaths, memories of the phrase “phosphene gas” from trade school or World War […]

There has never been a more complicated and confusing time surrounding refrigerants than what we are in right now. We are seeing flammable HC (hydrocarbon) refrigerants with increasing regularity, and EPA rules that just changed appear to be changing again. With all this tumultuous change, it's important to know what to look for in refrigerants […]

We all know (or should know) that venting refrigerant is a big no-no and can result in trouble from the EPA. There are many other potential violations, but two of them can easily occur if you aren't thinking ahead at the disposal of mercury and oil. Mercury is found in fairly large quantities in the […]

  We've all heard about glide, but what is it really, and how does it affect our system? Glide, or temperature glide, is the difference between the bubble point and the dew point of the zeotropic refrigerant mixture. Well, that wasn't very helpful, was it? All we did was introduce new terms without defining them, […]

If you remember my recent article on the company that went to my friend's house for a PM and did nothing but leave a system quote. Well, it got worse… My friend Josh left them a D-rated review on a popular review site, and the owner of the company responded with… an apology? A bottle […]