A look at the new standard in mobile air-conditioning chemistry
June 6, 2022
Since Packard offered the first automobiles with factory air-conditioning in 1939, mobile cooling has been driven by R-12 and R-134a (both refrigerants in the Freon™ product family), followed by what is quickly becoming today’s standard, R-1234yf.Read Article >
A new refrigerant for Trucks?
May 4, 2022
EPA has listed HFO-1234yf under the Significant New Alternatives Policy Program for Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning in Non-road Vehicles and Servicing Fittings for Small Refrigerant CansRead Article >
The desiccant myth
April 12, 2022
There is a myth that exists involving A/C service work and driers that seems to come up from time to time. I have encountered it when handling tech calls and have seen it come up in A/C forums. Read more to find out what it is.Read Article >
Replacement refrigerant confusion
March 22, 2022
There was a group of several refrigerants which were blends with a high percentage of R-134a and a smaller percentage of R-142 that seemed to be the most popular.Read Article >
Talking refrigerant safety
March 15, 2022
Let's say I brought my car in to your shop with an A/C problem and described what was going on with it. You might ask me if myself or someone else had worked on it. Right?Read Article >
What does a MACS Section 609 card look like?
March 10, 2022
MACS occasionally receives reports from the field of a technician being refused purchase of refrigerant for not having a proper Section 609 card. Usually this is due to the technician not producing the right card or the counterperson not understanding what a MACS Section 609 card looks like. What does a MACS Section 609 card look like?Read Article >
Refrigerant supply, pricing and safety
March 8, 2022
What I'm hearing about refrigerant supply and pricing this year reminds me of a similar period in the mid-2000s. It was springtime, just before the start of A/C season. Supplies of R-134a were tight and the price had come close to tripling from the prior year.Read Article >
Refrigerant reminders
March 1, 2022
It could be a challenging year keeping adequate supplies of R-134a on hand and it will be more expensive.Read Article >
Checking for refrigerant contamination
February 24, 2022
A large percentage of MACS members have refrigerant identifiers and use of them on vehicles that come into their shop for A/C service prior to beginning any service work is standard procedure. However, there are a lot of non-MACS member shops who do not have identifiers and unfortunately are not aware of the potential issues which can be caused by refrigerant contamination.Read Article >
Correcting user error
February 15, 2022
As mentioned in last week's article, the first thing I did with the machine was check the pressure of the refrigerant in the tank. It was extremely high (well over 400 PSI) indicating there was a refrigerant contamination problem.Read Article >
Sometimes it is user error
February 8, 2022
I encountered a situation in the early days of recovery/recycling machines when they had just been introduced. I had set up a machine about four months earlier when the customer purchased it. I went to great lengths to cover proper operation of the unit and the shop owner even attended a certification clinic I conducted.Read Article >
Air contamination in an A/C system can ruin your day
February 2, 2022
I had a memorable encounter with air contamination in the mid 1990s. I was conducting a lot of retrofit clinics at the time and had recently acquired a demo refrigerant identifier which I took to those clinics. At one clinic, there was a technician who was extremely interested in the refrigerant identifier.Read Article >
