R12 vs R134

[Steve Sherman]

Kneale:

As I recall (this was a year or two ago) this point was raised.  The answers
that I recall are:

1. A mix like this has been used in south & central america for years with
little no statistics/reports of problems.

2.  It is no worse than that tank of gas and the pressurizwed FI lines.

3.  R12 and R134 are flammable too, and one of them gives off poisonous
by-products when it burns...

So yeah, it is a risk, but not one that I was very concerned about, but
everyone should decide for themselves.  I suspect that keeping R134 as the sole
automotive refrigerant had alot more to do with it than safety...



Kneale Brownson wrote:

> At 08:01 PM 05/12/2001 -0600, Steve Sherman wrote:
>
> >Although it has been a year or two since I looked into this, I recall a
> >company that was selling an R12 compatible replacement.  It was a
> >mixture of propane and butane and some other unspecified gases.  There
> >were several supposed advantages over the 134.
>
> Sounds sort of explosive, eh?  Propane and Butane under pressure in a hot
> environment subject to sudden impact (in a crash).  Probably the reason the
> mixture was approved only for stationary systems like refrigerators.