r-410 and r-22

TJ_5

Question to Mastercool:

I purchased a Mastercool 99661 test setup. We are now working more and more with
R-410. The supply house that I bought unit from said it was safe to
just have a second set of hoses for R-410, I am a little concerned about
cross contamination, what is your stand on this. I hate to spend the
extra cash out of my pocket to have to buy a complete set-up for each
refrigerant. any assistance would be appreciated

Their reply:

The supply house has most experience in this area. They can give you the
best advice. Thank you, Customer Service.

Any input

clammy

personally

TJ personally i have at least 4 set of gauges 2 good r 22 gauges and 1 set for recliming and a 2sets of 410 a gauges ,i have a set of each just for reclaiming and they are never used for charging new systems ,the 410 gauges hoses are as you know rated for much higher pressure ,i myself would not use 410 gauges on r 22 system and vise versa just a good practice and helps keep any cross contaimation from happening from either refregerant or oil peace and good luck clammy

bill_71

cross contamination of the oils is never a good thing. what clammy said is a VERY good practice....of course here is a mind blower, why do they make guages with the p/t conversion on them for r-22 AND 410a, that just screams out "use the same manifold and hoses for either refrigerant"

lee_7

I've never seen guages with 22 and 410. Have seen 22 with 2 other refrigerants, but I always assumes they had similiar oils so cross contamination was not a problem. I have sets for each of the refrigerants that we work on, and they never have more then 1 type in them. Never thought it was worth the risk of messing a system up.

lee_7

sorry double post

paul zeszotarski

buy 2 sets

it is worth spending the money now for the gauges now instead of any chance of crossing refrigerant/oil into the system. buy one for servicing and one just for recovery

Constantin

Agree

Polyol ester oils used in R410a systems are not compatible with the mineral oils used in R22. A line set used for recovery may become contaminated with other gunk related to compressor burnouts, etc. So, having one set per refrigerant oil type (recovery and charging) seems like a great idea.

That said, there are split R410a systems out there ($$$) that can be retrofit onto R22 line sets (i.e. recover existing refrigerant, cut the outside and inside R22 unit, put in R410a equipment). These systems can purge the mineral oil out of the line sets on their own (over time) and also drop the R410a pressure to the point where the R22-compatible line sets can work with R410a. Impressive stuff, commercial application only, probably quite expensive, but apparently worth it in commercial applications where downtime is very expensive.

Techman

Cross contimination

I carry mp-39,hp80, r409,r134a,r-22,r410a,r502,r404 on the truck and r23 in the shop