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Originally Posted by 15289577
Just so you know...R-12 is no longer available on the open market. Good luck finding some.
R-134 may not be quite as good as R-12, but it doesn't destroy the environment the same way R-12 does and it's extremely cheap by comparison (mostly because it's still being made). Also, anywhere you can (leagally) buy R-12 from require that you have an A/C service license. Even then it's still $100/lb or more.
There is an R-12 substitute on the market that advertises itself as a form of R-12. Don't be fooled, it's not actually R-12. It does work a slight bit better than R-134, but it's still quite a bit more expensive.
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The license to buy it is easy to get, and costs very little. There's little reason for someone who owns an old car to not have it.
The stuff certainly does not cost $100/lb. Nowhere close, although the prices is going up by 50 cents a year per pound due to taxes. There isn't really a scarcity of it, since most older cars have been converted or scrapped.
However, if you do have a system that was converted to 134a, it is legal (in many states) to install a hydrocarbon refrigerant (it's not legal to install it in an unconverted system). That is a mix, so small leaks will cause you headaches, but that stuff is very cheap and works well.
The things you're talking about are refrigerant blends, and suffer from the same problems in the presence of leaks. The different constituent gases leak at different rates, and throw the mixture off.