Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 22:30:03 GMT
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:
Subject: R12 - R134a Retrofits
Received another mailing from Castrol today on their Icematic Retro100
ester-based oil for R12-R134a retrofits on auto A/C. This one included the
Material Safety Data Sheet I requested and some news releases on fleet
studies done with their oil.
The MSDS does not sound too frightening. Health hazards (section 6) are:
"May cause mild eye irritation. Prolonged or repeated skin contact may cause
skin irritation, defatting. Excessive inhalation of vapors may cause nasal/
respiratory irritation, dizziness. Ingestion can cause gastro-intestinal
irritation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea."
The MSDS goes on to explain first aid procedures and recommended precautions
for safe handling and use. If you are interested in the full text and data
contact Castrol for a copy of the MSDS.
Claims for Retro 100 by Castrol include:
Reduced inventory due to use of single oil (rather than many PAG oils).
Standard handling like mineral oil. SAE J1661 warns that PAG oils are
aggressive to seals, paint, and o-rings and that PAG oils are from same
family as brake fluids. Read MSDS before use.
Lower moisture absorption than PAG oils.
Compatible with both R12 and R134a, whereas SAE J1661 warns that greater than
1% R12 can cause system damage.
Miscible in mineral oils commonly used in refrigeration. PAG oils are not.
Their claims, not mine.
They also provided some summary articles about the Volvo's retro kits, which
specify ester oils and caution that PAG oils will damage their wobble plate
compressors and cause swelling/loss of some rubber parts.
Another press release covered a retrofit of 26 Chrysler vans in the airport
SuperShuttle fleets in LA, SF, and Phoenix. After about 2 million miles there
were not lubricant related failures on complaints in system performance. The
vehicles were 1988-1991 Chrysler vans with 150-500K miles on their systems
before retrofit.
Another press release covered 17 vehicles over a 2 year period that were retrofit
by Banghart Distributing in PA on Delaware and Texas vehicles starting in 1992.
BTW, Tom Banghart was the former MACS president. These were supposed worst case
retrofits without changes in o-rings, hoses, or seals. Systems had XH-7 desiccants
and were power flushed and recharged.
I'm not a rep for Castrol nor do I particularily think they have THE solution.
I have just posted these data to indicate that there are several ways to approach
the CFC-ban effects on auto A/C without resorting to "homebrew" solutions. This
retrofit problem is signifcant enough that a large number of people are working
on simple and low cost solutions. Time to wait and see, IMHO.
More Castrol info by calling... 1-800-458-5823.
Mark
================================================
Scott Sminkey email: sasminkey@eng.xyplex.com
Software Sustaining Engineering voice: 508 952-4792
Xyplex, Inc. fax: 508 952-4887
295 Foster St. (Opinions, comments, etc. are mine,
Littleton, MA 01460 not Xyplex's...)
