i hate the a/c business

[68 Suburban]

so ebfabman, have you ever studied A/C repair? lol

[treefrog]

I guess the question then is simply do we try to go with the old type refrigerant, or convert to the new? My AC is down anyway, I'm going to get it fixed, so which way do I use? TF

[Michael A. K. G]

Originally posted by 68 Suburban
so ebfabman, have you ever studied A/C repair? lol

Actually, there are some mistakes in the details. For instance, chemical reactions are not necessary for the operations of an air conditioner, though they may be a byproduct. The essential behavior in air conditioners is the property that compressed gasses get hot, and expanded gasses get cold, reversibly. Many refrigerants (like both R-12 and R-134a) take advantage of energy required to turn gasses to liquids and vice-versa, also, to increase their heat transfer. Simplified, an air conditioner compresses the gas to high pressure, making it hot, exposes it to outside air in the condenser, expand it through the orifice tube at much lower pressure into the evaporator (making it much colder), and then compress it back again. In a very real sense, the A/C pumps heat from the evaporator on the firewall to the condenser in front of the radiator (BTW, this is why you can't cool a house by leaving the refrigerator door open -- both the evaporator and condenser are in the same space, then).

R-12 is also a remarkably STABLE compound, at least in low-altitude atmospheric conditions. That is precisely why it's chemistry is a problem for the ozone layer; it takes a hit from a high energy stratospheric UV photon to rip it apart. If R-12 were unstable, it would never make it to the stratosphere. Instead, it is very long lived, even once it gets there. Furthermore, the liberated chlorine atoms from such a UV hit form chlorine oxides, which are a catalyst (that means they aren't consumed) for conversion of ozone to molecular oxygen.

[ebfabman]

68 Suburban, no I have not studied A/C in detail, just read about it with interest.

Michael A. K. G, my explaination is a general overview. However you are right in that a chemical reaction does not take place in the refrigeration cycle, but a change in chemical properties. (sorry used the wrong terminology)
I sure wasn't trying to give a chemistry lesson, thanks for your input....eb

[69sixpackbee]

I know alot of you guys talk about the Vintage Air units. I have a unit from Old Air...are the Vintage ones better?