REFRIGERANT ANALYSIS
Manage the risk of contamination
With the objective of improved environmental protection, the Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 establishes the reduction of refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP). Since January 1, 2017, vehicle A/C systems in many countries around the world must use refrigerants with GWP < 150. HFO1234yf gas is the most widely used solution with a GWP 350 times lower than its predecessor R134a. Controls and limitations on the production, import and sale of R134a gas have been introduced. The graph shows the maximum allowed percentage of R134a and the price expectations of the two refrigerants. The price difference and supply difficulties can cause misuse of refrigerants and lead to contamination of the station. Ensuring the purity of the refrigerant is critical to the proper management of Warranties, to avoid station decontamination and A/C system repair costs and to ensure the disposal of contaminated gas. In the majority of Ecotechnics stations, a gas analyser can be installed. The Gas Analyser represents a highly efficient solution with notable and distinctive advantages: the unit fits inside the station and does not take up external space, uses an external gas sample hose to exclude possible contamination of service hoses, detects the percentages of the different refrigerant components and is very easy to be installed in less than 20 minutes.
