Transferring Refrigerant Using A Supercooled Recycling Bottle

Information 

• Sealed and generally already evacuated recycling bottles are available from your gas supplier.
• If the recycling bottle is not evacuated, evacuate it using a vacuum pump or air conditioning servicing equipment if necessary.
• Recycling bottles are clearly marked as such - unlike refrigerant supply bottles, they have no check valve and can therefore be filled.
• If an absolute pressure greater than 100 mbar but less than 900 mbar is measured in the recycling bottle, evacuate the recycling bottle using a vacuum pump (or air conditioning servicing equipment) (residual pressure less than 50 mbar).

If an absolute pressure greater than 900 mbar is measured in the recycling bottle, there can be a number of different reasons for this:

• The manual shut-off valve was opened and not closed again correctly. The recycling bottle is leaking (return the recycling bottle to the supplier).
• The recycling bottle was already used for interim storage of refrigerant and was not evacuated correctly afterwards (evacuate recycling bottle).
• The recycling bottle is leaking (return the recycling bottle to the supplier).

Information 

• Recycling bottles are already pre-evacuated by the gas supplier, but it is not always possible to ensure that the vacuum will be maintained during storage. 
• In order to get a clear indication of the type and extent of contamination of the transferred refrigerant when analysing the contaminated refrigerant, the recycling bottle must be evacuated to a residual pressure of less than 50 mbar before starting to transfer the refrigerant. 

Information 

• Since contaminated refrigerant is only filled from one vehicle into a recycling bottle in the next step, we can rule out the possibility of overfilling a recycling bottle with a filling capacity of more than 3.0 kg. 
• If contaminated refrigerant is filled from the air conditioning servicing equipment into a recycling bottle, for example, the amount of refrigerant transferred is generally higher and it is important therefore to ensure that the recycling bottle is not overfilled. A recycling bottle with a sufficiently high permissible filling capacity should be used and it is necessary to ensure that the maximum permissible filling capacity is not exceeded by weighing it during the transfer process. 

Information 

• Chemical reactions are possible when mixing gases of unknown composition. 
• Gases of unknown composition (contaminated refrigerant) must never be mixed. 
• Only use sealed and thus empty recycling bottles. 
• Only use recycling bottles that are approved for use at low temperatures. 
• Do not mix contaminated refrigerant from different sources. 
• Always fill contaminated refrigerant from one vehicle (one air conditioning servicing equipment) into a separate recycling bottle. 
• After filling the recycling bottle, complete the transfer form and store the recycling bottle in a suitable place until it is returned to the gas treatment/disposal company. 

Information 

• Recycling bottles that are cooled to -78°C can be sensitive to impact and can therefore be damaged if not handled correctly. 
• After transferring refrigerant, recycling bottles should only be removed from the insulated container when all the dry ice has evaporated and the recycling bottle is at ambient temperature again. 
• Evaporating the contaminated refrigerant fully from the refrigerant circuit takes a certain amount of time. After 60 minutes, you can assume that all the refrigerant has evaporated. 

Information 

• You can use a separate pressure gauge or the pressure display on the air conditioning servicing equipment, for example, when draining a refrigerant circuit. 
• If the displayed pressure is less than 0.3 bar after about 60 minutes, you can assume that all the refrigerant in the recycling bottle has liquefied. 

Information 

• You can get all the information and documents you need for the analysis and treatment (or disposal) from your gas treatment/disposal company. 
• If it is not possible to weigh the recycling bottle before and after filling it with contaminated refrigerant, the filling capacity for refrigerant prescribed for the affected vehicle can be specified as the amount of refrigerant that was filled into the recycling bottle. This is acceptable because only the refrigerant for one vehicle is filled into a recycling bottle.