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What is Type I Certification?
Servicing of small appliances except motor vehicle air conditioningIncludes products manufactured, charged, and hermetically sealed in a factory with five pounds of refrigerant or less
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Define the equipment requirements for Type I.
- Recovery equipment made before 11/15/93 must be capable of removing 80%
- of refrigerants or acheive 4 inch vacuum under the ARI 740Equipment
- made after 11/15/93 must be certified by an EPA approved testing
- laboratory, be capable of recovering 90% of refrigerants if compressor
- is working and prior requirments if compressor is not workingAll equipment must be equipped with low loss fittings that close when disconnected
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What are the leak repair requirements for the EPA?
There are none for small appliances, however leaks should be repaired whenever possible
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What are some of the recovery techniques?
If a reclamation facility receives a tank of mixed refrigerant, the may refuse to process it and return it at the owners expense or substantial fee will be incurred if the facility agrees to destroy the refrigerant
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How do self contained recovery systems work?
- Capable of reaching the required recovery rates whether or not the appliance compressor is operable
- Stores refrigerant is a pressurized recovery tank
- Obtain accurate pressure readings inside cylinder to detect excessive noncondensables (air)
- Also check for oil level and refrigerant leaks daily
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Describe the specifics for a system dependent recovery.
- Captures refrigerant into a non pressurized container
- Special charcoal activated plastic 'bag' containers
- Captures refrigerant with the assistance of the appliance compressor, an external heat source, or a vacuum pump
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What special procedures are necessary for a system dependent recovery?
- If the appliance has an operating compressor, run the compressor and recover from the high side of the system
- Usually one access fitting on the high side will be sufficient to reach the required rate
- If the compressor is not operating, access to both the low and high side of the system will be required
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In order ro achieve the required recovery effciency for a non operating compressor, what should you do?
- Take measures to help release trapped refrigerant from the compressor oil, heat and tap the compressor several times and/or use a vacuum pump
- Because of this, the EPA requires technicians to have at least one self contained recovery device available, unless the technicians are working on small appliances only
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What type of fitting is useful for small appliances?
- They are equipped with a straight piece of tubing that can be used to install a piercing type access fitting
- When installing an access fitting onto a sealed system, the fitting should be leak tested before proceeding with recovery
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What type of valve should be used for a sealed system?
Recommended valve is a solderless piercing type on copper or aluminum material, however they leak over time and should not be left on an appliance as a permanent service fixture
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What if the small appliance has a defrost heater?
- Operating the heater will help to vaporize any trapped liquid refrigerant and will speed the recoery process
- If a strong odor is detected during recovery, a compressor burn out has likely occurred
- Watch for signes of contamination in the oil
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Why should refrigerators built before 1950 not use the current recovery process?
Refrigerants such as Methyl Formate, Methyl Chloride, or Sulfur Dioxide could have been used
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Why should small appliances used in campers not be used with current recovery methods?
Refrigerants such as Ammonia, Hydrogen, or Water may have been used
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What should you do with the vapor that is vented off the top of the cylinder?
When filling a graduated charging cynlinder, you must recover the refrigerant vapor
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