However, you need calibrated gauges for R410A. Certainly no one selling cans of R12 on Craigslist is asking for your EPA 609 card. Best for varieties of operating conditions: Its boiling point is -21.6 Celsius. You can find many videos and web forum posts where people retrofit R152a into cars that originally had R12 and profess excellent results, but it is not approved by the EPA for retrofit applications, only new car applications. That makes it safe in terms of safety to use. Before landing on the debate of R134 vs R12 you should know that both R134a and R12 are AC refrigerants types used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Before R12 was replaced with R134a in 1995, it was mostly used in trucks and cars. Carbon dioxide is deemed to have a value of 1, so the higher the compounds factor, the greater its effect on global warming. When you add fluorescent tracer dye to with the refrigerant oil it helps to track down leaks that push oil out of the system. R-134a entirely dominated the automotive market by 1994. Do a pre-inspection and then Evacuate (vacuum down) the system, the longer the evacuation the better but there is a point of diminishing return, 2-3 hours is generally very good. R134a was developed to replace R12, so it works over the same range of applications. All refrigeration plants use compressors to compress the gas returning from collecting heat, raise its temperature further, and compress it to facilitate cooling. We mention using ester type refrigerant oil. When R12s effects on the ozone layer became known and it was superseded by R134a, EPA came down hard with large fines on both professionals and DIY-ers. 21, 1439 AH. Lastly, there are the flammable organic refrigerants (propane and its blends). R12s GWP is 10,910. I have never see the other way around. R134a is called tetrafluoroethane (HFC). R12 is CFC: Even though R12 is one of the most commonly used refrigerants, it is CFC. R12 has a global warming potential factor of 2400. With R134a you do not rely on the site glass. In addition to the low boiling point, there are two other de facto requirements for refrigerant: It shouldnt be poisonous, and it shouldnt be flammable. Air-conditioning dos and don'ts: Refrigerants and the law R12 has an ODP of 1, meaning that it has the highest potential to destroy the ozone layer. Lets have a closer look at these similarities and differences. Theres a lot of misinformation surrounding R12. R134a wont damage the earths ozone layer. The Internet is a large and often-strange place, and if you want to search for sites that claim that R12 isnt harmful to the ozone layer, and that the whole thing was a conspiracy by DuPont because its patent on R12 was about to expire, youll find them. Converting them is extremely expensive, and in many cases, replacement is the only option available.