What is MO99 Refrigerant?
MO99 refrigerant is a refrigerant designed and patented by the DuPont, or now Chemours, Chemical company. This refrigerant is designed to be a drop in R-22 replacement. The best thing about this type of refrigerant and the reason you hear it brought up all the time when looking for R-22 replacement is that it is the closest alternative refrigerant when it comes to capacity and efficiency. On top of that it is compatible with all of your standard lubricants as well as newer lubricants on the market.
The reason this type of refrigerant is in high demand today is that back in 2010 R-22 was banned from being used in new machines. Along with the ban there was also a restriction put on the amount of R-22 could be manufactured or imported into the United States. In 2015 this restriction got even tighter and in 2020 it will get even tighter. The idea is to slowly phase out R-22 all together.
This mandatory phaseout caused prices of R-22 to skyrocket. If we rewind back to 2010 you could get a cylinder for around two-hundred and fifty dollars… maybe three-hundred dollars. Now you’re lucky to find one under seven-hundred dollars and the price is only going up. MO99 was introduced by Chemours as an alternative to the high priced R-22. Obviously, not everyone went out and bought a new R-410A HFC air conditioner when the ban hit in 2010. These older units still need to be serviced and they still need refrigerant refills when leaks occur.
MO99 offers the consumer and HVAC tech a lower cost alternative. You may end up paying half the cost for a cylinder of MO99 then you would for R-22. Hell, the way prices are going you may even end up paying a quarter for MO99 over R-22.
Why was R-22 Phased out?
I’m sure most of you know that the reason R-22 was phased out in 2010 was due to the Chlorine that it contained. When R-22 was vented into the atmosphere this Chlorine would float up and up until it reached the O-Zone layer. Here it would gather and harm the O-Zone layer. Eventually after years of using Chlorine gases a hole began to form in the layer. Once this was discovered the Montreal Protocol was introduced. This Protocol is the reason R-12, R-22, and a host of other CFC and HCFC refrigerants have been phased out or banned across the world.
HFC refrigerants were introduced as an alternative to the damaging CFCs and HCFCs. Your common HFC refrigerants are your R-134a, R-410A, and R-404A. Well folks, come to find out though HFCs have a different way of damaging the environment. Instead of Chlorine we now have to worry about Global Warming Potential, or GWP. Now these gases are measured by how much they could contribute to Global Warming.
The best part? MO99 is an HFC refrigerant…
Retrofitting Your Unit to MO99
Now folks, I am by no means an expert when it comes to retrofitting your old R-22 unit to accept the new MO99 replacement. Instead of me fumbling my way through trying to guide you through the process I will instead link to Chemour’s official website where they have step by step instructions on how to retrofit your old unit.
- Chemour’s MO99 Main Page
- Compare MO99 to other R-22 Alternatives
- Chemour’s Official MO99 Retrofit Guide
Last but not least, if you are looking to purchase a cylinder or two of MO99 I highly recommend you check out our Amazon partner by browsing for MO99. However, if you are looking to buy a pallet or even more then please visit our bulk purchasing page and fill out quote request form.
Thanks for visiting and happy shopping!
Alec Johnson
RefrigerantHQ