Recovery Equipment

EPA 608 Type 1 Chapter 8 (Take full course for free)

In this module, we will take a look at pieces of equipment that are commonly used when recovering Type I small appliances. We will discuss the EPA’s Section 608 regulations for these pieces of equipment. Skip to quiz!

1. Assess Fittings

There are many systems that are “sealed”, meaning they are essentially closed systems where the refrigerant inside is not accessible. These appliances do not come with ports installed for testing, recovery, charging, or evacuation.

Recall that hermetic systems are sealed systems, so this is a characteristic of Type I small appliances. Examples of these closed or sealed systems include window AC units and refrigerators.

In order to access these systems for servicing, we need to first look for process tubes. If there are no process tubes for us to access the refrigerant through, we can create an opening by installing an access fitting. We install access fittings into the sealed system to gain access to the refrigerant.

Make sure you have a good reason for opening up any sealed system! Access fittings must be leak tested before using them to recover refrigerant to make sure we are not venting refrigerant.

2. Piercing Valve

Piercing valves are used to access refrigerant from the process stub on small appliances. We can use both solder and solderless piercing valves.

Let’s say we have installed and opened a piercing access valve. If we find that the pressure of the appliance is 0 psig, this means there has been a leak. And the fact that the pressure is 0 psig indicates that there is basically no more refrigerant left in the system.

If the appliance is expected to leak often, we will generally use solder type piercing valves. This is because they are more durable and tend to hold up better over time.

Solderless piercing valves tend to leak over time, so they should not remain on the system after completion of service.

3. Low Loss Fittings

There are two main kinds of low loss fittings - automatic and manual. In this video, the fitting attached to the red hose is automatic, and the fitting attached to the yellow hose is manual. They both work by obstructing and preventing the flow of refrigerant from leaving the hose, which prevents the venting of refrigerants.

Low loss fittings are required for servicing systems containing CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs to prevent from venting them. This is to comply with the Venting Prohibition, which applies to all ODS and their non-exempt substitutes.

For these systems, low loss fittings are required whenever refrigerant hoses are used in your service including when

• Recovering refrigerant, and

• Measuring system pressure

When we connect our hoses to measure the system pressure or to recover refrigerant there is a risk of releasing refrigerant. That’s why low loss fittings are necessary.

Low loss fittings work just like your standard garden hose. If you just use a garden hose without a nozzle, you’ll see that even when you turn off the water, water still comes out of the hose.

If you have a nozzle on the other end of the hose, you can better control when the water stops flowing. This is basically the low loss fitting’s job.

4. Conclusion

In this module, we discussed the use of access fittings, piercing valves, and low loss fittings in our recovery procedures.

The EPA requires the following:

• Access fittings must be leak tested before use

• Solderless piercing valves cannot stay on equipment after servicing, and

• Low loss fittings must be used whenever connecting refrigerant hoses with CFCs, HCFCs, and their substitutes.

Question #1: Access fittings

1. Need to be leak tested before recovering refrigerant

2. Are used to gain access to closed systems

3. Are used with window AC units

4. All of these

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All of these

These are all true.

Question #2: We generally want to leak test access fittings after a service to make sure it does not have leaks for the next service. This is to save us time from leak testing the access fitting the next time around.

1. True

2. False

Scroll down for the answer...

False!

This is false.

We need to leak test access fittings before recovering refrigerant, not after a service. We need to leak test it immediately before so we know it won’t leak during recovery.

Question #3: If the pressure of the system is found to be 0 psig, can we recover refrigerant from the system?

1. Yes

2. No

3. It depends on how much refrigerant is left

4. It depends on the type of refrigerant

Scroll down for the answer...

No

If the pressure of an appliance is found to be 0 psig, there is no more refrigerant left for us to recover.

This also indicates that there has been a leak.

Question #4: Solderless piercing valves

1. Tend to leak over time

2. Are for permanent use

3. Should not be left on the appliance after service

4. Both (a) and (c)

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Both (a) and (c)

Solderless piercing valves are generally used to access refrigerant during service and should not be left on the appliance afterwards. This is because they tend to leak over time.

If we expect to leave the piercing valve on the appliance, we should use a solder-type piercing valve instead because they hold up better over time.

Question #5: Low loss fittings are required for servicing appliances containing CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs because of the Venting Prohibition.

1. True

2. False

Scroll down for the answer...

True!

This is true.

Low loss fittings prevent us from accidentally releasing releasing ODS and their substitutes into the atmosphere. This is required because of the Venting Prohibition, which makes it illegal to release those substances into the air.

Question #6: Which of the following are types of low loss fittings? (Select all that apply)

1. Solder type low loss fittings

2. Manual low loss fittings

3. Automatic low loss fittings

4. Hybrid low loss fittings

Scroll down for the answer...

Manual low loss fittings

Automatic low loss fittings

There are two types of low loss fittings:

• Manual low loss fittings

• Automatic low loss fittings

Question #7: Low loss fittings are only needed when recovering from appliances containing ODS and their substitutes.

1. True

2. False

Scroll down for the answer...

False!

Loss loss fittings are required for recovering from appliances containing ODS and substitutes, but this is not the only case where they are required.

Low loss fittings are required whenever we connect refrigerant hoses to a system containing ODS and their substitutes, including when checking pressure.