The Subtle Phase Out of R-134a Refrigerant

R-134a Refrigerant

One of my most visited articles this year was on the topic of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed phase down and eventual phase out of the HFC R-134a. This article is a few years old now and it was referencing the EPA’s SNAP Rule 20 and 21. These rules, which were issued in 2015, stated … Read more

Chemours Begins Producing 1234yf in Texas

It was announced today via press release from the Chemours company that their new plant located in Ingleside, Texas (Outside of Corpus Christi) is now manufacturing R-1234yf refrigerant. This factory is by far one of the largest and now that it is live the capacity of HFO-1234yf being produced in the world has tripled. Today … Read more

1234yf Counterfeits in Europe

EU Phasing out HFC

Over the last few years the European Union has experienced a rash of illegal refrigerants, refrigerant thefts, smuggling, and counterfeit refrigerants. Most of the time the refrigerants affected were R-22 or HFCs such as R-134a or R-404A. This time though things are a bit different. Last month Honeywell worked directly with the Czech Republic’s Customs … Read more

Daimler Goes It Alone on R-744 For Automobiles

While all of the other car manufacturers around the world are scurrying towards the latest and newest fad of HFO refrigerants Daimler is stepping away from the pack and creating their own alternative refrigerant method for automotive air conditioning. If we look at the automotive market today we can see one primary refrigerant known as … Read more

Servicing 1234yf Refrigerant

Let me start this off with saying that a 1234yf system is VERY similar to an R-134a system. If you are familiar with 134a repairs then you should be just fine with YF repairs as well. That being said there are a few points that I want to make: Just like before in order to … Read more

HFO-1234yf Refrigerant History

To understand the history of 1234yf and the other HFO refrigerants we first have to go back in time to the 1980’s. Back then all automotive applications were using the CFC R-12 refrigerant for their air conditioning. R-12 was the original mainstream refrigerant that came from the 1930’s. Ever since then it and R-22 had … Read more

HFO-1234YF Refrigerant Frequently Asked Questions

There are dozens of car manufacturers using 1234YF as their refrigerant in newer models not only here in the United States but also across the world. In fact the common automotive HFC refrigerant known as R-134a is already banned across the entire European Union on new models. To add fuel to the fire the same … Read more

HFO-1234YF Tools Buyer’s Guide

R-1234yf

1234yf is coming. If you haven’t come across a 1234yf unit either in your garage, your shop, or your neighbors garage then I can assure you that the time will come shortly. The number of vehicles using YF refrigerant is expanding rapidly. As I write this article in October of 2017 there are an estimated … Read more

HFO-1234YF Refrigerant is Now Available!

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Hello everyone! It’s been a long time for me here at RefrigerantHQ. Life has been crazy as I’ve started a new job, written a few books, and I’ve started a new website as well dedicated to the tool industry. It can be found at ToughAssTools.com. But hey that’s enough about me. Let’s move on to … Read more

2017 Refrigerant Pricing Predictions

Well ladies and gentlemen it’s that time of year again. The time of year when a cold wind blows, the temperature doesn’t rise above thirty degrees, and snow flurries fall from the sky. What better time than now than to talk about refrigerant? It’s the slowest point in the season and it seems that when … Read more