Refrigerant recovery unit -- vacuum pump?
 

"Ignoramus13653" wrote in message
.. .
I won a Sun "refrigerant recovery unit" in a military auction for
$55. I have not picked it up yet, but it looks to have been used very
lightly, if at all (I'll see, it is rated A4). As I learned after I
won it, it is for "old style R12" systems, whatever that is. So it is
not that valuable.

My issue is that I need a vacuum pump. Are vacuum pumps in these
machines any good and can they be ripped out and outfitted with
regular 1/4" NPT fittings.

Thanks

i


R12 is a refrigerant that is/was commonly used. It is gawd awful expensive
these days. Small amounts can be recovered from refrigerator freezers and
old working auto air conditioning units. But it will have contaminants in
it, and the processing equipment to clean it up can be costly. Also, you
will need a tester to identify the refrigerant you are working with to keep
from mixing them, which makes them nearly worthless. The fractional
distiller to separate mixes is very expensive. Also, you will need
licensing and accreditation to legally be messing with this stuff. I know
you need a license to buy it, but am not sure what you will need to sell it.
Perhaps you will just keep it back for your own use. Not a bad idea if you
have been to a car shop lately and priced AC work. Other common
refrigerants are less expensive, but you would have to read the manual, or
find out if you can do various refrigerants in YOUR apparatus.

HTH, and good luck.

Steve

Refrigerant recovery unit -- vacuum pump?
 

licensing and accreditation to legally be messing with this stuff. I know
you need a license to buy it, but am not sure what you will need to sell it.
Perhaps you will just keep it back for your own use. Not a bad idea if you
have been to a car shop lately and priced AC work. Other common
refrigerants are less expensive, but you would have to read the manual, or
find out if you can do various refrigerants in YOUR apparatus.

Yes, you do need a license to buy the stuff, but that's a relatively
moot point. You can get a certificate for about $20. There is an
online test that you take to get the cert. I don't have the link off
hand, but it's a pretty basic test. If you can't answer the questions,
you shouldn't be messing with A/C anyways.

It isn't that big of deal to convert most R-12 systems to R-134. And
R-134 is off the shelf. At least in Minnesota. Biggest thing is
flushing the system of the old oil and using R134 compatible ester oil.

JW

Refrigerant recovery unit -- vacuum pump?
 

"Steve B" wrote: (clip) you would have to read the manual, or find out if
you can do various refrigerants in YOUR apparatus.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I got the impression from what the OP wrote that he wants to use this thing
as a vacuum pump, not as a part of a refrigeration system. Lots of my
friends use the pumps out of refrigerators and ice machines for pulling a
vacuum--specifically, vacuum chucking on wood lathes. They work fine.

Refrigerant recovery unit -- vacuum pump?
 

That's why its hard to answer your question. I have a couple of lab
vacuum pumps that pull a much better vacuum than a refrigerator type
compressor used as a vacuum pump. But yours might be suitable for
what you want to do.

Ignoramus13653 wrote:

Yes, I am not really looking to get into the "refrigerant recovery"
business. I was thinking about ripping out a vacuum pump from that
unit and using it as a vacuum pump for general purposes.

i

Refrigerant recovery unit -- vacuum pump?
 

for the $20 certificate, see http://www.macsw.org/imaca.php

"jw" wrote in message
oups.com...
licensing and accreditation to legally be messing with this stuff. I
know
you need a license to buy it, but am not sure what you will need to sell
it.
Perhaps you will just keep it back for your own use. Not a bad idea if
you
have been to a car shop lately and priced AC work. Other common
refrigerants are less expensive, but you would have to read the manual,
or
find out if you can do various refrigerants in YOUR apparatus.

Yes, you do need a license to buy the stuff, but that's a relatively
moot point. You can get a certificate for about $20. There is an
online test that you take to get the cert. I don't have the link off
hand, but it's a pretty basic test. If you can't answer the questions,
you shouldn't be messing with A/C anyways.

It isn't that big of deal to convert most R-12 systems to R-134. And
R-134 is off the shelf. At least in Minnesota. Biggest thing is
flushing the system of the old oil and using R134 compatible ester oil.

JW