Refrigerant Reclamation

I am shy about recovering refrigerant from a system into a recovery cylinder (which is swapped with the parts house for reclamation with any type or condition of refrigerant throughout its life/use), performing a repair, such as a compressor or evap changeout, then reintroducing the recovered refrigerant back into the system.

In many instances, I may not be sure of the integrity of the original refrigerant charge (in the case of a first visit for instance), and certainly cannot be certain of the clenaliness of the bottle which I had contained the refrigerant into (oils, acids, what-not), and how certain can I be, through the process of operating the recovery machinery of no introduction of air, moist or not, into the container?

In the case of say an ice machine with up to 15# refrigerant charge, I particularly like to get off to a fresh start with some spankin' new gas. :)

Hello fishman,

One of the first rules I was taught by my pop was "whenever you do an evap change or comp change, always use new gas" it gives the system a shot in the arm :)

Hey Fish

Got to agree. The only time that we recharge with the original gas is if we have previously been to the unit and put that charge in ourselves!!

Otherwise, as you say, you just don't know what is in there!

Frank

On larger systems, depending on the condition of the refrigerant, the amount of refrigerant, and the price of the refrigerant, it often makes more sense, economically, to clean up the refrigerant than to replace it.

So the answer is the one that everyone loves to hate. "It depends."

Hi Herefishy,

Don't take any change, I have seems an empty recharge receiver coming back from a distributor full of oil and dirt, which he used to recover and reused. He did cause a lot of problem to the system and to the contractor.

best regards

Thanks for reinforcing my view in providing quality service. ;)

Over here in the U.K, you can get 'reciever cylinders' from the usual suppliers, which are guaranteed to be spotless inside. They cost somewhat more than recalaim cylinders, but at least you know they're as safe as possible.
I have known stuff to come from the factory with moisture, low charge, wrong blend, and even entirely the wrong refrigerant before. Nobody's perfect, I guess.
My personal choice would be to always use fresh refrigerant whenever possible.