Just thought I post this for the "ironic-ness" of it... I was in a corner hardware store here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. On the shelf were 1kg cans of R12, R134, R22, and some other refrigerant that I don't recall. A one kilo (2.2 lbs) can of R12 was 265 Pesos - about 21 dollars; no "certificate" required! 2.2lbs is the fill for a Ferrari 328 per the owner's manual.
There have been reports of pseudo R12 from Mexico. Buyer beware. The last legitimate R12 I bought was $10/# (1995) and that's what you report...worth taking a chance on. Wish there was a way to test it.
last time we drove down to mexico i brought back ten of the small cans of 12 hid them in the cooler with the soda cans. at the border the guard asked what was in the cooler so we opened it reached in and offered him a soda. he waved us through.
Back when the word 1st got out that R12 was being pulled, I bought 2 cases and used them as needed for several years. Im down to my last 2 cans!
R134A is in no way as efficient as R12, unless, it is used in a system designed for it. This is the crap that the "tree huggers" force upon us all the time, mandating the use of new, politically correct, products, even though they do not work as well as the previous ones. This forces the subterfuge.
I still have 20# left in a 30# tank. Some day it will be dumped by the can rusting away. I'm on 134a with all of my cars so I don't use it. I bought 2 30# tanks from a gas station when NYS law changed years back. Got them for $100 each. I'll ask one of my AC guys if they'll buy it back.
Oxygen is extremely corrosive; I guess we should be trying to get that stuff out of the atmosphere too...
R12 is hole in the atmosphere stuff but preferable to the safer R134 because its more efficient? Anyone notice a change in their climate lately? Nope, us Ostriches know what we are talking about!
When the dinosaurs were here the earth was a LOT warmer than it is now and half of the US was under water. Who are we blaming for THAT edition of "global warming?" I found it really interesting when one article stated "The earth is the warmest it's been in 350,000 years!" Hmmm, so who warmed it up back then? It's the earth doing what the earth does. But that's not much of a media story...
You are an ostrich if you think the R12 in my 8 cars is burning a hole in the atmosphere. If it WERE up there floating around why is it keeping me cool and comfortable down here? BTW, 134 is about as useful as tits on a boar hog in a car set up for R12. I don't care how many trees die as long as I stay cool in my 1980 VW Scirocco. I don't give two teeny tiny ****s what anyone thinks about that either.
After forcing the change, the tree huggers discovered that R134 isn't any better for the environment than R12. Plus the less efficient system requires more fuel to operate, the components wear out faster, requiring yet more energy in the production of replacement parts, etc. But, to bureaucrats, "oops" is one of those "four letter words". Laws are about intent, not results. For a while, they were pushing the notion of using propane as a refrigerant. Brilliant, when combined with banning Halon. Researchers tend to issue sensationalized preliminary reports to drum up more funding to complete the research. When people pass laws based on those "sky is falling" reports, we get burned. Literally, in some cases.
