Well folks it is that time of year again already. Thanksgiving is just a few days away and the temperatures outside are thirty degrees or even colder here in Kansas City. Most people are focusing on the upcoming feast on Thursday or Black Friday that comes immediately after. I on the other hand am focusing … Read more
Over the past five years or so there has been a dramatic shift when it comes to automotive refrigerants. Since the mid 1990’s the most common refrigerant you would find in automobiles was the HFC R-134a. This was still the case up until 2015. At that time the United States market began to see the … Read more
Last week I saw a few headlines surface about R-1234yf that caught my attention. The premise of these articles was that the very popular HFO R-1234yf was toxic. Now, if true, this is a huge deal. There was already a significant battle in the European Union when R-1234yf was first being rolled out about the … Read more
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
I read an article earlier this week on counterfeit 1234yf refrigerant being caught at a port in Poland. This refrigerant was no doubt bound for the Western European market. Polish authorities, in co-ordination with Honeywell, seized the counterfeit shipment and had it destroyed at the purchaser’s expense. As most of you know R-134a was phased … Read more
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
A few days back I was speaking to an acquaintance of mine. It was a relaxed setting with a few beers and good food. Sometime during the conversation the topic of refrigerant came up, mainly 1234yf. You see, he manages a service center at a Ford dealership. He has been doing this job for over … Read more
Earlier this morning it was snowing here in Kansas City. It wasn’t anything major like the weather forecasters would have you believe, but there was still enough to accumulate and to slow down traffic. Luckily, I didn’t have work today and was able to stay home anyways. As I sipped on some hot cocoa I … Read more
Hello folks and welcome to RefrigerantHQ. As I write this article today Halloween has just passed and the weather has already begun to get cold. We’re expecting snow in just a few days here in Kansas City. All of this is happening outside and here I am sitting at my desk, sipping on some hot … Read more
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
By now we all know that R-134a is on it’s way out. It has already been phased out on new vehicles in the European Union for years now. While there was a planned phase out date here in the United States of 2020 (2021 Model Year) by the EPA, it was overturned earlier this year … Read more
A reader reached out to me today and told me that I had to watch a YouTube video. I pulled it up not really knowing what to expect. It definitely surprised me. The video is a do-it-yourself guide on how to convert your vehicle’s R-1234yf system over to R-134a. Yes, you read that right. I … Read more
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
If you haven’t heard of 1234yf yet then I can assure you that you will soon. Especially if you have a newer car that’s out of warranty. You’ll really hear about it then when you get a leak in your system and you get that nice recharge bill. 1234yf is the latest and greatest when … Read more
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
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
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
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
R-1234yf, or HFO-1234yf is soon to be one of the most popular refrigerants in the world. Making it’s debut in the early 2000’s it has quickly rose to power and will soon be the dominant refrigerant in the automotive industry. Today, as I write this in October of 2017 there are approximately thirty-five million cars … Read more
Most of you in the automotive industry have already heard of the new HFO 1234YF refrigerant. Depending on where you are in the world you may have already come across 1234YF vehicles during service appointments. If you haven’t heard of it or seen it by now I can assure you that it is coming. As … Read more