Aftermarket May 2022

C ommenting on the air-con gas situation, which has been in flux in recent years, Simon Ravenscroft, Northern Regional Sales Manager at National Refrigerants, observed: “R-134a was banned in all new vehicles produced in Europe from January 2017. This was replaced by HFO R- 1234yf, which at the end of 2020 was contained in over 120 million cars worldwide, with 65 million cars on the road in Europe using this fluid.” It is not the only gas in town though. Simon explained: “R-744 (C02) is available for an optional charge in some German-made vehicles. Volkswagen’s ID3 and ID4 are fitted with R1234yf as standard. However, if you select a heat pump as an option, then the fluid fitted is R-744. “A heat pump acts as an A/C unit in reverse. As an air conditioner uses refrigerant to trap heat inside an area and cool it off before moving it outside, the heat pump has a reversing valve that reverses the refrigerant flow, thus the heat pump disperses heat instead of cold air. Heat pump technology is common now in EVs, including TESLA and Jaguar models, however only VW are offering it fitted with R-744. Rest assured, National Refrigerants can meet all your cooling requirements via your local supplier; R-134a to service older vehicles, and both R-1234yf and R-744 for newer cars.” Strict regulation While the issue of which gas to use has been a question for garages to mull over recent years, the rules surrounding 42 AFTERMARKET MAY 2022 AIR CONDITIONING www.aftermarketonline.net After a couple of years of on-off use, vehicle air con systems are going to need some care and attention dealing with air con gas are quite clear. Bob Wiffen, Workshop Solutions Director at LKQ Euro Car Parts, explained: “The handling of refrigerants is subject to strict regulation, and it’s critical that technicians keep up to date. In particular, garages must make sure that they are F-gas certified, which proves they are qualified to handle the refrigerant R-134a ‘old gas’, or the more environmentally- friendly R-1234yf ‘new gas’. “We recently announced that we’ll only sell ‘old gas’ to those customers that can submit their F-gas qualification details via an online form, this is requirement for the sale of R134a to be permitted on their accounts as it’s a sign that they can complete their work safely, and to the highest possible standard. Anyone who is not yet qualified can complete their training via the LKQ Academy the local ECP branch can support with further information.” What might be assumed to be an A/C problem might often be something else. Bob said: “Before any servicing is undertaken, technicians must make sure to carry out basic checks and diagnostics across the whole vehicle to make sure they get to the root cause of the problem. It’s very easy to assume that the air con unit itself is faulty if it has become unresponsive, but the vehicle might be telling you that it’s actually the battery needing attention.” Refrigerant availability Another issue is the gradually decreasing availability of R- 134a. Bob observed: “Now it is banned in new cars, and used only in models from pre-2017, less is being produced SPRING AND SUMMER AIR Above: The condenser is typically attached to other heat exchangers in the engine compartment