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MOBILE AIR CONDITIONER REFRIGERANT EVALUATION
Citation:
Harmon, D., W. Rhodes, AND L. Weitzman. MOBILE AIR CONDITIONER REFRIGERANT EVALUATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/D-89/064.
Description:
The paper discusses an evaluation of refrigerant from mobile air conditioners. The data gathered indicate that CFC-l2 refrigerant does not degrade significantly with use. Furthermore, while small amounts of contaminant are removed with the refrigerant during servicing, most of the contaminants remain with the compressor oil. Current servicing practices do not require that the compressor oil be changed unless the compressor is replaced. The presence of HCFC-22 in concentrations above the specification for new CFC-l2 (0.5%) is rare; it occurred in less than 1% of the 227 cars tested. HCFC-22 contaminant quickly leaks out of the automotive air conditioner through hoses and does not appear to cause operational problems while in the system.