[Vwdiesel] AC with propane

Sat Jun 6 10:00:51 PDT 2009

Just for a point in case, we have used propane to cool CPUs in some of the
projects I have worked on, its a cheap and simple solution, and as was said
earlier, when a leak develops it usually either just evaporates really
quickly or leaks so slowly nothing can really happen

On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 11:53 AM, James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net> wrote:

> I've been curious about propane as a refrigerant for quite some time, used
> to think that filing the a/c with flammable stuff was not the wisest thing,
> BUT, as Loren pointed out, the stoichiometric requirements of propane are
> very narrow, you have to have the air/propane pretty much bang on for it to
> go err... bang.  A leak can't accomplish that.  There has been one case that
> I was able to find about a john deere tractor owner that was singed when his
> a/c leaked after he filled it up with propane- Every time he went to the
> field.  The evaporator was leaking bad, apparently it got worse, and when he
> topped it up, got in the cab, and lit a smoke... mayhem ensued.
> Aside from not doing stupid things, there is no reason why you CAN'T use
> propane, aside from having the technical knowledge of how to charge an air
> conditioning system in the first place, how to do it correctly, and how not
> to fix it so much, it gets broken more.  There are currently a few
> hydrocarbon based R-12 "replacements" on the market, such as red-tec and
> duracool, which I believe are butane based.  They are flammable, I've
> checked.  They are also little baby bottles of stuff that is comparatively
> very expensive.  I'm sure any of the smarter and better looking should be
> able to figure out a way to get propane from a barbecue tank into an air
> conditioner. (hint: hose barb)
> But, use gauges, know how, use waaay less propane (it's a much more
> efficient refrigerant) and enjoy.
> Hey to me the funniest part of the fast and the furious movie was when Vin
> Diesel goes running away from the tunermobile that was riddled with bullets
> yelling "NOS!" inferring the non-combustible gas was about to explode... so
> now if you get in an accident you could run from the car yelling "air
> conditioner!", but somehow I don't think it would turn out the same.
> -james
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com]
> > On Behalf Of LBaird119 at aol.com
> > Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 10:02 AM
> > To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] AC with propane
> >
> > In a message dated 6/5/2009 8:56:58 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> > toensing at wildblue.net writes:
> >
> > > started phase out R-12 freon because the experts said it was causing
> > a
> > > growing hole in the ozone over Antarctica &Australia
> >
> >
> >   Anybody notice since the new "religion" became "global warming"
> > which is now being renamed "climate change" due to the lack of
> > warming temps for several years now, that there's been NO mention
> > of the "ozone hole"??  Of course nobody seems to remember that
> > about 15 years ago we had to stop using CFC produced styrofoam
> > and aerosol cans because it was causing global cooling!
> >   Ozone (O3)is unstable and self destructs. It's created when high
> > energy particles (sunlight) strike the atmosphere.  The "hole" was
> > always in panic size every antarctic Spring, which just happens to
> > be after several months of very little sunshine... coincidence I guess.
> > ;-)
> >
> >   I talked to an engineer (not sure in which field) several years ago
> > about propane refrigerant.  The characteristics are very close to
> > R-12 for temps and pressures.  As for fire hazard, most people are
> > running around with a dozen or more gallons of gasoline and think
> > nothing of it but freak out at the thought of a pound of propane
> > in the A/C!  There's NO air in the system unlike a gas tank.  This
> > guy said the Stoichiometric requirements of propane are MUCH more
> > narrow than with gas.  As he put it, if you do spring a leak, the odds
> > are much more in your favor it'll just leak out.  Too fast and it'll
> > be too rich to burn, leak too slow and it'll be too lean.  Just right
> > and you'll have a short term blow torch but those odds are really
> > small.  Much better odds your fuel line will already be burning.  Get
> > a leak inside and you'll know it unlike with R-12.
> >      Loren
> >
> >
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