It’s not just DIY’ers and careless air-conditioning service providers that you need to watch out for when it comes to refrigerant contamination.  Now, even the new 134a refrigerant you buy may not be what you think it is.  Many reports have already surfaced in 2006 about brand new R134a refrigerant bottles containing very little, if any, R134a.  If your shop uses this “new” refrigerant on your recovery recycling/recharge machine, you’ll be contaminating every car you service with this refrigerant. Imagine that potential liability!

Here are the four simple steps you can take to keep your shop 100% clean from refrigerant contamination:

• Purchase a refrigerant identifier like the Robinair 16900 or 16910.
• Immediately check the refrigerant bottles on your refrigerant recovery machine and make sure the refrigerant is 100% R134a and has less than 2% air.  This will ensure you have a clean shop to begin with.
• Institute a simple new procedure for all A/C service jobs and any other service that would mandate the technician to access the A/C system:
• Identify the car’s refrigerant before ever working on the car.  Be sure you are inheriting a clean R134a vehicle before service begins.
• Check EVERY new bottle of refrigerant you buy and make sure the identifier says it is 100% pure R134a and less than 2% air.