Typical fridges have about a pound. Older side by sides can have up to 2lbs.

What is burnout?

Hmm. all the commercial equipment I work on has very little factory charge. those tall glass door/wall beverage coolers in subway hold 5oz... and that's a cooler, with a large evaporator for commercial public CONSTANT door opening... of course, it's R134 also... I've not worked on R12 fridges in 20 years... and then they were Ice Cream dipper boxes... not really applicable to home fridge stuff.

Hi Guys

I see some A/C knowledge here

I have an R22 central air system at home, and it performance is terrible. I recharge my Mercedes with 134a real easy like, has anyone seen similar "can plus hose" kits for home system? Do I need anything special?

Home unit is same thing, just different to set up and different refrigerant.

The best thing you can do with an existing home unit that is cooling is to clean the evaporator and condenser real good. Get all the leaves and trash out/off of the outside unit. Try to have shade over it too.

Speaking of appliances like refrigerators, my R134a tank is set up for stationary units with the 1/4 inch fitting and got me thinking, I assume the appliance industry will also switch from R134a to HFO-1234yf once this becomes widely acceptable in the automotive field.


.

You need to be EPA certified to purchase R22. So home kits are basically non-existent. Basically do what Jim suggested clean the condensor and if you can get to it, the evap. Make sure air flow is not restricted and keep with fresh filters.



.

I doubt it.

most refrigerators are using 407 and 404 and other blend refrigerants. having an electrical motor fail inside a pressurized tank of propane inside a restaurant sounds kinda scary...

Home a/c is a huge industry ( I'm a member...) and the repair and maintenance is fairly guarded.
PM me with info on your home system, and I'll help if I can.

That....is...ridiculous.

I also really need to hit up big lots for 134a. It was $6 a can last year, hope it hasn't gone up

likely it will be a dealer item only for the first 3 years or so...

You are correct.

We had an A/C problem recently where the level dropped and iced the suction line. My neighbor works for an A/C place and he offered to look at the system for a couple hundred bucks on the side.

I noticed a leak from a coupler, which was loose. I tightened it and realized that I needed 410 refrigerant. I drove down to the local HVAC place and asked to buy an 11.2 lb cylinder of R410.

The clerk advised me I had to have an EPA 608 Type II or Universal certification license to buy the refrigerant.

I politely replied that according to relevant statute, no license of any kind is required to purchase R410, which is contained in the language of the statute. After some head scratching, and a conversation with the manager, I walked out with a pretty, pink 11.2 lbs cylinder of R410a for $79.95 not including our progressive local tax.

So, not only did I fix our HVAC unit, I have enough R410a on hand for any future work I may be required to perform.

Funny, not too long ago I tried to buy a Trane K55HXDJM Blower Motor for an HVAC unit on one of our unoccupied rentals, and the local shop told me they would not sell it to me, but would be happy to install it. When asked to explain their rationale, they said "only qualified factory trained technicians are permitted t work on HVACS."

I laughed, because the car dealers try to sell you the same thing when most techs only have generalized ASE knowledge/theory training and no marque-specific, factory proctered training, like Rolls-Royce and a few others still conduct.

I drove two blocks, bought the blower for 1/2 of the price they quoted me and had the system running by nightfall.

These are the only good things to come out of a lifetime of working with cars...;)

yup, 410 has no EPA certification requirements, but most dealers restrict it's sale to customers that have completed THEIR in house training on the dangers and hazzards of the use and installation of the refrigerant. however, I think that training is only on the sale of equipment, not the refrigerant itself.

And you can buy any refrigerant in Mexico apparently. My Dad bought an unopened cylinder of R22 from a neighbor for $100.00.....

And Mexican refrigerant is about the same hit and miss quality as Chinese refrigerant.




.