Freon Facts:
You may have heard much talk about Freon and new refrigerants recently. But besides knowing that it is the substance used to produce cold in your refrigerator, many of its characteristics
usually remain a mystery to most.
One really good way of getting a grasp on this subject is by reading the short story in the appendix of this book called "Refrigerators, Freon, and the End of the Ice Man". Through this story you
will learn about the historical aspects along with many of the technical characteristics of this substance. Other information that is not in this story, you will find in this article.
Some of the more common misconceptions are, that eventually, more Freon needs to be added to the refrigerator, odors in the refrigerator are caused by a leak of this gas, and if it does leak
inside the cabinet the food stored there is now contaminated. Surprizingly, none of these are true.
To answer these and any of the other questions you may have about Freon and its new replacement, the remainder of this article will take the question and answer form, so you may easily skip
over any facts you already know.
Will my refrigerator ever need to be topped up?
No, unlike automobile air conditioners, refrigerators should never need to be topped up. They never need any more refrigerant than they came with from the factory, unless they develop a hole.
Holes can be a result of mechanical damage, or from a defect that shows up later in the refrigerator's life because of unanticipated design faults in the refrigerator. Small holes can exist right
from when the refrigerator was new and take from one to six years to show their symptoms. In the past, these refrigerators were merely topped up by technicians. The refrigerator could work
normally, while leaking out refrigerant gradually. Nowadays however, topping up is no longer an acceptable practice. The hole must be found and repaired, or the refrigerant must be
immediately removed before any more Freon escapes.
I seem to always have a gassy smell in my refrigerator. Does this mean it has a small leak?
No, the only time odor is caused by the substances in the hermetic system, is during a large hole situation. In this case, all the refrigerant leaks out and air enters the system. If the compressor
is then allowed to stay running, a few hours or perhaps overnight, a pungent oily odor will occur.
What happens is that the electric motor of the compressor is not designed to cut itself out at temperatures above which it will burn the varnish off its windings in an oxygen atmosphere. The
mineral based oil that is present in the hermetic system with the refrigerant also darkens and develops an odor when subjected to high heat and oxygen.
So by the time a hermetic system gives off this kind of odor, your refrigerator would no longer be functioning, not even a little bit. The gassy smell you are noticing is coming from a different
source.
In my existing refrigerator, can I have the Freon removed and replaced with new ozone friendly refrigerants?
Yes, currently there are many drop-in replacements that can be substituted in either R12 systems or 134a systems. The most common ones presently used are SP34e and R414. There are
also two blended refrigerants R406 and R409 that can be used as direct replacements. The new refrigerants will work in your present refrigerator but can't be mixed with other refrigerants. At
this time many technicians are using cross compatible refrigerants such as SP34e and R414 but if enough can be recovered and if your system is still clean and none has escaped or been
contaminated by air or moisture, the original R12 or 134a can be put back in if the technician has a bit more to make up the difference in what could be recovered. (no recovery can be 100%). If
the company has the right equipment they can remove your existing refrigerant, filter it, then return it into your system after a repair, such as a compressor replacement, is complete. At this time
new R12 is no longer available and all new refrigerators use 134a.
134a can't be used in an R12 system . This is because the oil used with 134a is incompatible with the oil used in R12 systems. One of the properties of the oil in a vapor compression system is
that it atomizes within the refrigerant and circulates with it. Because of the new cross compatible refrigerants, retrofitting an existing system no matter which refrigerant it used is quite a simple
matter.
Is Freon or any of the new replacement gasses flammable or explosive?
Freon or 134a is not, but R406, in certain very remote circumstances, could be. R406 is a blended gas that is made from three separate substances HCFC-22=55%, HCFC-142b=41%, and
Isobutane=4%. The small portion of Isobutane can cause this replacement to be weakly flammable during leakage. Because of this and the fact also that HCFC-142b has one of the highest
ODP's of the HCFCs, a different blend, R409 is becoming more favorable. It is made of the three substances HCFC-22=60% , HCFC-124=25% , and HCFC- 142b=15% . Notice HCFC-142b is
a component of R409 but only 15% and it uses no Isobutane.
Is Freon or any of the new replacement gasses toxic?
No, in fact until recently Freon was, and still is in some instances, used to propel medicine directly into the lungs of asthma sufferers. In 1931 the inventor of Freon, Thomas Midgley made a
public demonstration that it was harmless by filling his lungs with the gas then blowing out a candle.
If Freon is so non toxic, why is it being banned?
The current scientific theory states that it is because of Freon's eventual effect on the ozone, high up in the earth's atmosphere. The family of Freon type gasses work their way higher and
higher into the atmosphere due to kinetic reaction with the other molecules in the air. When released to the atmosphere Freon gradually rises up, even higher then the ozone layer. Once it is
higher than the ozone layer it is no longer protected from ultra violet light. Ultraviolet light acts on Freon by breaking it down to its original components. One of these components is chlorine. The
liberated chlorine then starts falling back down through the ozone layer changing ozone molecules back to oxygen. Worse yet, what happens on this molecular level is that just one chlorine
molecule can destroy millions of ozone molecules on it's way through.
Why is ozone necessary in our atmosphere?
Ozone, in chemical notation as O3, is merely oxygen with three molecules instead of two. It acts like a filter and prevents harmful infrared and ultraviolet rays from entering the lower
atmosphere. This is the spectrum of light that is harmful to life on earth. What happens actually is this light causes DNA. strands, present in all living cells, to tangle. In larger organisms, such as
a human being, the effect can cause cancer. The organisms most vulnerable to these harmful rays would be the photo plankton that grow on the surface of our oceans. If they were to be
destroyed, the entire food chain would be disrupted. This would catastrophically affect all life as we know it. The entire ecosystem could die, and of course we would go with it.
So releasing Freon into our atmosphere has very serious consequences, so serious that the scientists have set limits on virgin production of tapering off to zero. There are also laws being
established to make it a criminal offense for anyone who releases, or causes to be released, any ozone depleting substance including Freon. This is why you should never tamper with your
hermetic system. Only professional technicians have the appropriate qualifications and equipment to do this work.
Can hermetic system repairs be performed by refrigerator technicians without releasing Freon to the atmosphere?
Certainly, the equipment for containment or recycling can be brought right into your home.
Does this mean I'll eventually have to get rid of my refrigerator because it uses Freon?
At this point the chances of that happening are highly unlikely. Refrigerators use very little Freon usually between 4 and 8 ounces. The chance of them starting to leak during normal operating
conditions is quite slight. And unlike an automobile's air conditioner, they never need to be recharged and, for that matter, very seldom get into collisions. :>)
The meaning of the term hermetic means the system is sealed to the atmosphere. On a typical refrigerator compressor , its electric motor runs right in the Freon gas, the only connection to the
outside is the three electrical terminals. Another factor in your refrigerator's favor is that there are just so many of them. The new blended drop in replacements for R12, R406 and R409 will
currently be available until the year 2020.
How should I get rid of an unwanted refrigerator or freezer?
If you are planning to discard any refrigerating appliance that contains Freon, you should have a qualified technician remove and recycle the Freon. Check on this first though, some landfill sites
in larger cities are now providing this service.
There may be an easier way though. If you live in a larger center, chances are there are companies that will come to your home free of charge, or pay you a nominal sum to take your used
appliance for parts or resale. Failing this, you could haul it into a larger center and drop it off at an appliance recycling or repair shop on your next shopping trip. Be sure to phone ahead and
make arrangements with them first.
Is it environmentally prudent to repair my Freon type refrigerator?
Yes, in fact continuing to use it at this time instead of discarding it and buying a new one, is still kinder to the environment, however this is only my opinion. Of course stores selling new
refrigerators may have a different one.
Manufacturers are now finally having to comply with new regulations regarding energy consumption. This could have been done a long time ago but there was no motive. Because of this
redesigning though, many "bugs" are present that have to be worked out and sometimes the consumer ends up paying for them. On the large scale across the entire nation, the difference in
energy consumption is significant, but on an individual basis it likely won't make that much difference to your power bill if you have a 70's or a 90's design.
What would be nice to see, is regulations on new appliances regarding durability and longevity.