New refrigerants Epa 608

I've got a universal and no supply house here in the Detroit area has mentioned anything. They just want something on file for your account. 454B here is still in short supply. I paid dearly for a jug just to finish a job. Got one unit with no refrigerant in it when I picked it up. Luckily the supply house just had me bring back the unit and exchange it. Luckily I've got a nice boiler job lined up for a renovation and can take a break from the madness from the new units for a few weeks.

Unfortunately the r290 equipment hasnt gotten better. Used to recommend "name brands" like true and bevair, but they fail the same rate as rebranded offshore. Only advantage is we can get the replacement parts with name brand. Lol.

Talking to manufacturer techs, compressors are an issue and evaporators are leaking. Ive done A LOT of evaporators on 1-2 year old equipment. I wonder if it is a refrigerant issue with the copper or a quality issue with the evaporator. As to compressors, the manufacturers are forcing customers to buy new units as compressors are quoted in months, not days; and not cheap either.

Great for the environment, dont build a 30 year cooler, dont fix your 1-5 year old cooler; toss it into the landfill and buy an new cooler that you can replace in 2-3 years. Because the environment and efficiency and #we care.

Should be even more fun coming, hoshizaki says all their small to mid sized ice machines will be r290 in a year or so. Claim its mandated by Uncle Sam. Might as well hook the r290 can to them and change the can every week. 🤷

Unofficial, i hear 134a works well in r290 equipment. 🤦

Not to mention 134a barely "works well" in 134a equipment.

Yes, your old card is good. But as you might recall when you took your EPA608 test, they mentioned that it would be your responsibility to keep current with new regulations. So, as another responder mentioned, you should study and get familiar with the new refrigerants that are now required as of January 2025. And there no doubt may be newer requirements that come in the future.

my ~20 year old refrigerator seems to be doing just fine. except for the broken drawers, but that if from me trying to shove too much in them.

Unless you've worked on the equipment you wouldn't understand what I meant.

I'm sure you've experienced what happens in a car with a 134A system when you're stuck in traffic and there's not a ton of airflow through the condenser? R12 systems behaved better under the same conditions.

What kinda unreliable old garbage are you driving? 😉

If you have your EPA608 type 2 or universal you can work with the new A2L refrigerants. Most manufacturers and wholesalers are doing updates so contractors know the specifics they need to before they get to the jobsite. If you want an official A2L certification and you already have the Type 2 or universal 608 card you can take an open book test and get certified for about $25, you do not need this to work with the new stuff, your EPA608 card is enough

2001 325i but as far as i know the output of any automotive alternator plummets at low engine speeds. Might be a 150a alternator at 2000 rpm of the crankshaft but outputs say 30a at idle. You could change the ratio of the sheaves to turn the alternator faster but that causes a number of other problems.