What is it & where could I find it?

[Peter Croxall]

Hi folks,
I was asked to look at a small fridge unit on one of those chocolate dispenser machines the other day.

The fan was catching on the condenser shroud....not much of a job...but I noticed that the refrigerant used was R142a. Not being familiar with this beast, Just for my own peace of mind, I looked for any information I could find on the internet.

Hmmmmmm.....suprise, suprise, nary a thing.....a little on R142b, used in foam insulation, it said.......but R142a..mainly used in blends and that was that, not even what blends.

The thing is, where can I find info on it and where in the U.K. could I find it if I needed it ?????????????

[herefishy]

http://www.quuxuum.org/~joekor/r142/ R-142A train? LOL!!


http://www.polarrefrigerant.com/ .. this proves it DOES exist... and you can procure it from them according to their advertising.

http://walden.mo.net/~aschoen/refchart.pdf data listing the R-142A .....


http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...142a&RS=r-142a this is the US patent for R-142a issued to "Tieken" (I Assume Jim Tieken), who is the president of ICOR International, but ICOR doesn't advertise R-142a on their site.

I called ICOR Int'l., the fellow I talked to couldn't find any information on 142a.

I went ahead and called Polar Refrigerant, and they've got some on their floor. the fellow wasn't sure if it was already sold or what have you.

I haven't been able to find out who manufactures/produces the stuff, though.

[Prof Sporlan]

walden.mo.net/~aschoen/refchart.pdf data listing the R-142A .....

The Prof is impressed with herefishy's efforts... as he has stumbed onto the Prof's personal web site...

The Prof can't imagine why R-142a would be used as a refrigerant, considering R-142b is more available. R-142a and R-142b are isomers of R-142, and all should have similar thermodynamic characteristics. R-142b P-T data is published in the ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook, and numerous other places, and it should be satisfactory for the purposes of servicing this system.

[Peter Croxall]

Thanks Prof and Herefishy,
I'm impressed with your efforts............

I was only looking at google and there wasn't much info at all.

I'll be looking at the links you gave me with interest.

As for where it is available in the U.K. God only knows

"Thinks" "life was much easier in the old days"

[herefishy]

he has stumbed onto the Prof's personal web site.

The chart was a stumble in my research (referred by a search engine) but I recognized it when the link appeared not only due to the address, but the Prof. has posted it on this forumn before. However The Fish has a shortcut on his desktop to the Prof.'s site, and that was a deliberate procurement ! Very craftily acquired, if I might say so, myself.

I only wish that I had a greater understanding of psychrometrics to properly manipulate the Prof.'s very impressive programs that he has written. Perhaps if I would take a moment and work at it, I might be able to utilize it in my activities, or at least make those pretty colored lines mean something to me !!! LOL!

[Peter Croxall]

I only wish that I had a greater understanding of psychrometrics to properly manipulate the Prof.'s very impressive programs that he has written

I quite agree, the prof is very impressive, with all those formulae at his fingertips........"it sure makes yer head spin" LOL


WHOE THERE... we may be in danger of starting a mutual admiration society

It's just a thought......and I'm sure that it's been mentioned before.............If there is a Prof SPORLAN, why is there no Prof DANFOS, TRANE or CARRIER, etc, I wonder???????

[Peter Croxall]

Just an up-date on the R142a........

On closer inspection of the unit in the vending machine, I just had to go back to see if I wasn't imagining things.............( my eyes ain't wot they usta be )

The whole unit is very compact and the evaporator and condenser can be removed as one unit from the vending machine.

Suprise, Suprise, The compressor is a Tecumseh (AE635JR717 A6), clearly marked up as R134a........The evaporator, also marked up as R134a, (No expansion valve, just a cap tube).............................BUT THE VENDING MACHINE HAS BEEN STAMPED R142a

I guess the next step is to contact WESTOMATIC to see if the unit is running on R142a or NOT