corvette1989bham

I hear that the government is once again outlawing 134a freon that replaced R12. What is their new freon that will be outlawed in five years?

c4cruiser

Nothing on the EPA website about R134a going away. Where did you hear that??

CF6873

Although R134A is currently very hard to find and also suddenly very expensive I have not heard that it is going away anytime soon. There is a rumor that Ford may introduce a new freon next year but I have not heard that from a reliable source. I work in the auto parts business and we usually will hear about changes long before they happen.

85 500 horse

If it does happen, it will have nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with someone lining their pockets.

c4sforever

hard to find?very expensive?the parts stores near me have shelves of the stuff for cheap.going to do the conversion on my car very soon.

C5Jimmy

Its not going away at all

Its about as available as water

next refrigerant on the chopping block is R-22 (aka HCFC-22) in 2015 or 2020 I believe......Central air(residential& commercial) and window a/c units mostly use R22 ( Carrier currently has a replacement* for 22, called "Puron" R-410a Very high pressures: approx 400 head, 150+ suction!)*Replacement meaning a whole new system

Don't worry about R-134a (aka HFC-134a) ... its going nowhere!

mikey whipreck

very cheap

hell, walmart carries the stuff

IBEAM700

I use HC12a it’s a blend of propane and butane. If you didn’t already know propane has excellent thermodynamic properties, and only takes half the charge of the old Freon.
What this means is lower head pressures for the compressor, and the system in a hole operates at a lower pressure.

This in turn relates to longer system life. I’ve been running this stuff in my DD for 2 years with absolutely no problems.

It’s also compatible with your current system, so no need to change components or oil type.


http://www.oztechnologyinc.com/index.htm

Muffin

IBEAM I thought that stuff was illegal in Florida. There was a report of a fatal automobile explosion in Dade County which was blamed on hydrocarbons leaking from the AC system.

bogus

propane and butane in your AC system? Not this little grey duck.

That would be akin to driving a suicide machine. I am well aware they work, but at what price?

rws.1

Propane and butane are both flammable. As such they are not legally permitted to be used in automotive applications.

IBEAM700

I did a lot of research on Blends before I actually installed the HC12a. Like I said it’s been about two years, but I seem to remember it needed to reach a temp of 1600 degree Fahrenheit before it would spontaneously combust. Nothing under the hood of a car gets that hot, and other than being exposed to a naked flame it’s perfectly safe.

During the testing they intentionally leaked the blends into the passenger compartment and under the hood, and again nothing, nada. Remember the average system holds 18 to 24 ounces of R12 that relates into only 9 t 12 ounces of HC12a. The stuff is going to dissipate so fast that the chances of a fire are almost null.

Also, blends have been used in farm equipment and in Europe for a long time. It’s the wave of the future.

I would like to see the detailed accident report from Dade County. Id bet if in fact the A/C system as filled with Blends it had little to nothing to do with the explosion

azzkikr

When my AC went bad, I had it repaired and converted to whatever was on the market at the time. What a waste of money! I still drive down the road with my head out the window like a dog! - except of course when I'm driving in Dade, then it's one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on my Glock 17, sorry for the insults folks, but sometimes my business has me driving through some "rough" neighborhoods where they don't speak English, and I kind of stick out like a target or an easy opportunity.

corvette1989bham

Sorry guys,,, 134a is being phased out (months , years I dont know), that is why the 300% price jump. You guys that says it in your stores cheap...stock up . a 30lb bottle went in last six months from <80 to over $300. My information has comes from TWO different major parts retailers. (orielly and Napa)

CF6873

I work for a parts jobber and we can hardly find any at any price. Maybe Wally world has the kits but I doubt you will find the 30lb cylinders. If you do find it for cheap buy it because it will be money in the bank for awhile.

petdoc

[QUOTE=azzkikr] I still drive down the road with my head out the window like a dog! - except of course when I'm driving in Dade, then it's one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on my Glock 17

What is it with you Azzkikr.....Plastic car ....now a plastic gun, too???

jlbruggeman

I'll stock up on the R134-I thought the freon had leaked out of my 88, turned out to be a bad switch. Since then, have "found" a few cans of R12, one in my mother-in-law's garage! Like a previous poster said, 134a is like money in the bank. I'm headed to the local farm supply store, they keep it for tractor A/Cs, about the same price or less then Wally.

CentralCoaster

Well that sort of defeats the purpose of an R134a conversion. I thought it was environmentally friendly... so what's the deal?

Also I was under the impression that all the HCs and HFCs are flammable.

But you can bet on R22 going away within the next few years. The deadline is coming up where manufacturers can no longer produce a/c units with R22.

bogus

R134 does the same kinda bad things that R12 and R22 do.

R22 is good stuff, and is not as prone to release. I wish they would not get rid of it. Home systems are sealed copper. Less prone to leaks.

I have heard the same thing about R134... it's going up in price.... and no one really knew why.

wake

I've been stocking up on R134a whenever I find it on sale a few cans at a time... Big Lots lately has had 1lb cans for $2.50... I'm up to almost 3 cases sitting in my garage now...

It's not too big of an investment and I'm ready in case they pull the plug on it like they did with R12... I really missed the boat on that one, and after paying $100+ to charge my older R12 cars up, I'm not getting caught with my pants down again...