Wally,
There are several brands of hydrocarbon products available that are
direct replacements for R134a, R22, and R12. Redtek is
a big one in this area, available at Canadian Tire and NAPA, and there is
another brand sold through TSC. The product labelling
says something about how you should have the original refrigerant removed
professionally first, and there are labels which you are
supposed to apply in the engine compartment to indicate that the refrigerant
has been changed. The labelling on the cans is not
real clear about what they actually contain, but you can find out through the
product literature available online. I am not
certain exactly how the law applies to retailers, but R134a is not sold here
directly to the public through regular retail outlets
or in kits due to regulations requiring that refrigerant recovery equipment be
used when servicing equipment containing
halogenated hydrocarbons. The replacement products available to us amateurs
work ok but they consist of mixtures of butane and
propane. All of this is fine for your car or RV, but obviously these products
would present a potential fire hazard in a sailboat.
I don't know what the regulations are like in Mexico or the United States.
Environmental regulations are both federal and
provincial here, and in Ontario mechanics need an endorsement on their license
to work on AC. I saw cans of R12 for sale in a
variety store in St. Martin, several years after it was illegal everywhere
else, but I am guessing that sources of supply like
that must have dried up by now.
Here is a link to the Redtek web page.
http://www.redtek.com/index.html
Steve Thomas
C&C27 MKIII
-----Original Message-----
From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com]On Behalf Of Wally
Bryant
Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2013 9:53 PM
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Subject: Re: Stus-List Fridge upgrade - 34+
Can you clarify that? I thought that if the can said R134a it would
contain R134a.
Wal
Steve Thomas wrote:
> Whatever you do, don't use one of those refrigerant replacement kits that
> they sell in the automotive stores. They use a mixture
> of butane and propane to approximate the characteristics of the more-or-less
> chemically inert gases used originally.
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