INTRODUCTION
CONTAINMENTOFAIRCONDITIONINGREFRIGERANTS
Thefollowingprocedureisaguidetoservicingmobileairconditioningsystemsinawaythatminimizesthepotential
forlosingrefrigeranttotheatmosphere.Followingtheproceduresinthissectionwillhelpensurecompliancewith
SAEJ2211for
R134Asystems.
DANGER
Avoidinjury!
ObserveALLprecautionslistedbelowwhenservicingtheair-conditioningsystemandhandlingre-
frigerant.
Failuretocomplywillresultindeathorseriousinjury.
D0043A
FireorexplosionhazardexistswithR-134aundercertainconditions.R-134ahasbeenshowntobenonammableat
ambienttemperatureandatmosphericpressure.However,testsundercontrolledconditionshaveindicatedthat,at
pressuresaboveatmosphericandwithairconcentrationsgreaterthan60%byvolume,R-134acanformcombustible
mixtures.Whileitisrecognizedthatanignitionsourceisalsorequiredforcombustiontooccur,thepresenceof
combustiblemixturesisapotentiallydangeroussituationandshouldbeavoided.
R-134aserviceequipmentorvehicleairconditioningsystemsshouldnotbepressuretestedorleaktestedwithcom-
pressedair.MixturesofairandR-134ahavebeenknowntobecombustibleatelevatedpressures.Thesemixtures
arepotentiallydangerousandcouldresultinreorexplosioncausinginjuryorpropertydamage.Additionalhealth
andsafetyinformationmaybeobtainedfromrefrigerantandlubricantmanufacturers.Failuretocomplycouldresult
indeathorseriousinjury.
Recovery
1.Besurethatallserviceequipmenthoselineshaveshutoffvalvesorcheckvalveswithin30cm(12in)oftheir
ends.Thiswillensurethatonlyminimalquantitiesofrefrigerantescapetotheatmospherewhentheequipment
isdisconnectedfromtheairconditioningsystem,andonlysmallamountsofmoistureandothercontaminants
canenterthesystem.
2.Besurethatallequipment,includingtheconnectinghoselinesandmanifold,arecompatiblewiththerefrigerant
inthesystemwithwhichyouaregoingtowork,andthatyourequipmenthaspreviouslybeenusedonlywiththe
refrigerantyouareabouttoservice.
3.Besurethatallshutoffvalvesaretightbeforeconnectingthemtotheairconditioningsystem.
NOTE:Keepshutoffvalvesclosedatalltimesunlesstheyareconnectedtoavehicle'sairconditioningsystem,
arefrigerantstoragecontaineroranotherpieceofserviceequipmentcontainingthesamerefrigerant.Thispre-
ventsrefrigerantfromescapingintotheatmosphere,damagingtheenvironment,contaminatingtheequipment,
andcostingyoumoney.
4.Connecttheextractionorrecoveryequipmenttotheairconditioningsysteminaccordancewiththeinstructions
suppliedbytheequipmentmanufacturer.
5.Starttherecoveryprocessbyturningontheextractionequipmentandextractingtherefrigerantfromtheair
conditioningsysteminaccordancewiththeequipmentmanufacturer'sinstructions.
6.Continuetoextractrefrigerantuntiltheairconditioningsystemisunderavacuumandthereisnorefrigerant
remaininginthevehiclesystem.
7.Verifythatthereisnorefrigerantremaininginthesystemby:
a)Shuttingofftheextractionunitandobservingthesystempressurelevel.
b)Waitingveminutesandobservingthesystempressureagain.Ifthesystempressurehasnotrisenabove
atmosphericpressure(0gaugepressure),allrefrigeranthasbeenremovedandyoumayproceedtostep8.
Ifafterveminutes,thesystempressurereadinghasrisenaboveatmosphericpressure(0gaugepressure),the
extraction/recoveryprocessmustberepeateduntilthepressurereadingremainsatorbelowatmosphericfor
atleasttwominuteswiththeextractionequipmentshutoffbeforeproceedingtostep8.
8.Closetheshutoffvalveintheservicelines.
9.Removetheservicelinesfromthevehiclesystem.Iftherecoveryequipmenthasautomaticclosingshutoffvalves,
verifythattheyareoperatingproperlyanddonotleak.
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