Product Review: Robinair (RG3) Portable Refrigerant Recovery Machine
Hello ladies and gentlemen! Today we’re going to be taking the time to look at the Robinair Portable Recovery Machine. Before I dive into the facts on this particular unit I wanted to express to you the reader that I am a researcher. Before I write an article for RefrigerantHQ, especially a review, I take the time to research the product from all different sources across the web. The reason that I do this is that I may not know everything about the product when I start writing but as time drags on and I read article after article on a particular topic or product I slowly become more and more of an expert on it. It’s all about taking the time to do the research and taking the time to find a quality product. I do NOT review any product on this site that I would not be comfortable buying myself. If the product is reviewed on this site then rest assured that it is a quality buy.
Ok, now that I ‘ve got that out of the way it’s onwards toward my research on this product and onto the details of this recovery machine.
Robinair (RG3) Portable Refrigerant Recovery Machine
The Robinair Portable Refrigerant Recovery Machine is one of the best recovery machines out there for the HVAC contractor on a budget. This unit is much cheaper than other units that you can typically find at HVAC suppliers, JohnStone Supply, Amazon, or E-Bay. That being said it’s a great portable unit that is as light as eighteen pounds yet features a tough and durable outer case. This unit can be bought on Amazon.
The Robinair RG3 is also extremely versatile when it comes to what types of refrigerants it can recover. It covers all of the basics including CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCS. These include R-12, R-22, R-134a, R-401a, R-401b, R-401c, R-402a, R-404a, R-406a, R-407a, R-407b, R-407c, R407d, R-408a, R-409a, R-410a, R-411a, R-411b, R-412a, R500, R-502, R-507, R-509. This unit should get you through most any job. That being said, the RG3 is the little brother of the R6 version. If you’re wanting to pay top dollar and get a faster recovery time than I would recommend the R6 version.
Overall the reviews on this product have all been positive. On Amazon.com there is an aggregate of forty-four separate customer reviews. Out of all of these reviews there is an overall four out of five rating. Sixty-two percent at five stars and another nineteen percent at four stars. There have been a few negative reviews here and there that stated that after about a year of repeated use the unit did eventually give out and they had to buy the more expensive RG6 unit. I believe these were isolated cases as I was not able to find many instances of this but I have lowered the dependability of this unit down to reflect this anomaly. It is worth mentioning that there is a one year warranty on this product through Robinair’s warranty process. Their official warranty document can be found by clicking here. If you are unlucky enough to get a fault unit you have that one year window to get it returned and get a new replacement.
The RG3 is capable of extracting both liquid refrigerant as well as gas refrigerant. The recovery speed on the gas side takes longer than I would like but it gets the job done without any issues. The RG3 is a piece of cake to use and the gauges are easy to read and interpret. A few other features worth mentioning is the high pressure safety shut off switch. If pressure exceeds more than five-hundred and fifty pounds per square inch than the machine will automatically shut off. This is a great safety feature and helps to put your mind at ease. It also comes with a high efficiency cross flow design which includes having the layout of the fan and the condenser maximized for shorter cycle times.
Overall, I would recommend this product if you are a smaller HVAC contractor, a do-it-yourselfer, or a technician looking for a new unit. It is a good buy for the money. However, if you are going to be using this unit constantly day in and day out it may make more sense for you to go the R6 model rather than the R3. You’ll see much faster recovery rates with the R6 and overall more efficiency.