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Converting Freon (R-12) Based A/C To R-34 On Older Vehicles - READ ONLY

27 messages,  Last post on Jun 18, 2001 at 5:24 PM

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#18 of 27 R-12 by Henry

Apr 30, 2000 (4:05 pm)

I still have two large cans of the R-12 freon that have been sitting in my closest for years. I bought them when the auto shops still sold the stuff. Any suggestions on what to do with them???

#19 of 27 Henry's R-12 by spokane

May 01, 2000 (3:44 am)

Your R-12 is valuable. A licensed A/C repair shop, with equipment for servicing R-12 systems, would probably be interested in buying it from you at a price somewhat less than what they normally pay.


Whatever you decide, please don't dump it in the landfill or vent it to the atmosphere. As you are surely aware, that would contribute (albeit very slightly) to the ozone depletion problem that led through legislation to the huge runup in R-12 pricing.

#20 of 27 refrigerants by bigsnag

Mar 29, 2001 (6:51 am)

Anyone else use Freeze 12? It's some type of refrigerant that is not controlled by the EPA, but can be used with R12 systems. I've even heard of people putting like 1 can in on top of the R12 that was left and having great results. I personally wouldn't mix the two, but it does work. I think it even gets colder than R12.

#21 of 27 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Mar 30, 2001 (8:50 pm)

I think this creates lots of problems, in that when a shop evacuates a system that has a mixed coolant, then his entire stock of coolant is contaminated. This is why some states, like California, is requiring shops to buy a coolant detector, so that contaminated coolants can be identified prior to their being mixed with the dealer's stock. I guess some people are even using propane (yikes!) in order to avoid the expense of R12.

#22 of 27 Hey Henry, by ab348

Jun 15, 2001 (11:57 am)

I'd take the stuff off your hands...
 
I wish I could get R12 here in Canada anywhere. You cannot -- it is illegal here to do anything to an R12 system without converting it to 134. This, I do not want to do as all reports I have read speak of lots of problems: higher pressures making things more leak-prone, lower cooling capacity, more frequent compressor failures, etc etc. From what I can gather R134 is an inferior refrigerant in just about every way. I find it incredibly curious that the refrigerant manufactuers like DuPont seem unable to produce a good R12 replacement all these years later.

#23 of 27 No one is going to market an R12 replacement by bhill2

Jun 15, 2001 (1:46 pm)

My memory, as well as that of umfl (post 2) is that at least one R12 replacement exists, but has not been approved by the FDA for automotive use. At this point, I doubt if we are going to hear any good news. The approval process is very expensive, and since all automakers now put R134 systems in new cars the customer base for such a replacement is small and getting smaller. It just wouldn't make economic sense to try to bring it to market.

#24 of 27 R12 Replacements are aplenty!! by berkelyblue

Jun 15, 2001 (6:51 pm)

I've seen them marketed under the name of Enviro-Safe, and the previously mentioned Freeze 12, and some Du-pont product that is a replacement, they claim that it works in R-12 systems and can be mixed. I'm gonna buy a kit and try it, since my car has no A/C now, the freon viewing windows shows less than half the Freon. If anyone else has any experience please post here!!

#25 of 27 by rea98d

Jun 18, 2001 (8:27 am)

Is that the FDA, or the EPA? The FDA is the Food & Drug Administration, and they could care less what your car does. They're concerned with things like making sure my whopper doesn't have dog meat in it, and my prescription medicines don't kill me. EPA is the Environmental Police Agency (hehehe), and they're the ones who worry about the ozone, cat converters, emissions, ect ect.

#27 of 27 Oops! Good catch, rea98d by bhill2

Jun 18, 2001 (5:24 pm)

Sorry about the reference to the FDA, I work in heath care research and it was automatic. Anyway, yes I did mean the EPA.

Messages Page 3 of 3

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