Tuesday, August 27, 2013

End Of The Season Reduction Sale

End Of The Season Reduction Sale

Available for immediate shipment. Special pricing in place on a ½ pallet minimum of R134a, R404A, R407C and R410A.

Stock up for the 2014 season with the reduced cost of R134a, R404A, R407C and R410A. This pricing will not last long with shipping cost included. Contact A-Gas RemTec Today For the Special Pricing 1-888-873-6832.

A-Gas RemTec also reclaims used refrigerants; our specialized equipment and expertise allow us to offer a complete reclamation and product stewardship package for refrigerant users.

We purchased used R-11, R-12, R-13, R-22, R-113, R-114, R13b1, R-400, R-500, R-502, R-503

Depending on your needs, our Refrigerant Program features
·        Pickup of recovered refrigerants within 24 hours
·        Acceptance of follow-purity R-22 to 90%
·        Free disposal of mixed and unusable refrigerants
·        All freight arrangements paid by A-GAS RemTec
·        Documentation is provided for your EPA record keeping
·        Recovery tank refurbishment & certification to DOT standards
·        Refrigerant banking and storage service

A-GAS RemTec is an EPA certified reclamation facility

Contact A-Gas RemTec Today for all of your refrigerant needs.
1-800-372-1301
419-867-3279/fax

Monday, August 26, 2013

Stopped Cold: Mercedes Sales Blocked in France

BERLIN — Even as showrooms in Europe prepare for the arrival of 2014 vehicles, authorities in France have sparked controversy with a drastic action: blocking the registration — effectively shutting down sales — of some popular new Mercedes-Benz cars, including the A-Class, B-Class, CLA and SL models.

The French environment ministry ordered the ban in response to the German carmaker’s defiance of a European Union regulation on the refrigerants permitted in automotive air-conditioning systems, and the ministry says that it won’t back down until Daimler, the parent of Mercedes, complies. The European Union, though supportive of France’s position, has agreed to step in and referee to keep the squabble from spreading.
      
Why such an uproar over a matter as arcane as an air-conditioning refrigerant?
The ban on registrations was put in place after Mercedes refused to switch to a refrigerant compound that is considerably more climate-friendly than the one currently used in almost all car air-conditioning systems. Mercedes contends that in its crash tests and other independent safety research, the replacement material was flammable in cases where it leaked onto hot engine parts, and that it produced a dangerous gas when burned — increasing the potential harm to passengers in an accident.
European regulators have agreed to review the German test results as part of the process of resolving the tiff. Because of the safety concerns, Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority approved the new models for sale with the current refrigerant, a position that escalated the matter from a disagreement over technology to a political dispute.
      
The issue is of interest to American automakers, as regulators in the United States are likely to consider the new European rules. Naturally, it would benefit the global auto industry to select one common refrigerant for all markets, making it possible to build a single air-conditioning system for domestic and export models.
      
The imbroglio heated up in the 1970s, when the refrigerant compound known as R-12, a chlorofluorocarbon, was deemed a threat to the earth’s protective ozone layer. Like other fluorocarbons, it was outlawed and replaced with supposedly benign alternatives. In the case of vehicles, an ozone-friendly compound known as R-134a took its place. The move is generally regarded to have been effective: since the worldwide shift away from fluorocarbons, the ozone hole has not only stopped growing, it has actually contracted.
       
But R-134a was found to have its own warts, namely that when leaked, the fluid serves as a potent greenhouse gas, packing a punch 1,400 times as great as carbon dioxide, the Environmental Protection Agency says. When that property came to the attention of the European Union, it mandated that as of 2011 any refrigerant with a global warming potential more than 150 times that of carbon dioxide would be forbidden in all newly engineered models. By 2017, this ban would apply to all new vehicles sold.
      
In the search for substitute compounds for R-134a, nonflammable carbon dioxide was championed as a viable alternative, and Mercedes announced this month that it would continue to develop CO2-based systems. Carbon dioxide is commonly used as an industrial refrigerant — worldwide by the Coca-Cola Company, for instance — and is cheap and abundant.
      
But converting to carbon dioxide-based climate control systems, which require high operating pressures, would entail hardware modifications costing around $130 per vehicle, according to Jürgen Resch, director of the watchdog group German Environmental Aid, based in Berlin. 
      
In Europe, automakers chose a new refrigerant developed by Honeywell International and DuPont, called R-1234yf, that has a far lower global warming potential than R-134a (only four times that of carbon dioxide, according to the E.P.A.) and can replace it without any changes to the hardware under the hood. Honeywell and DuPont control the global supply of R-1234yf, and the companies are forecast to reap billions of dollars in sales.
      
Mercedes originally complied with the refrigerant directive, but its safety tests showed R-1234yf to be flammable, a finding that watchdog groups agreed with.
“The Daimler tests weren’t the first that showed R-1234yf to be extremely dangerous,” Mr. Resch said. “Four years ago, independent testing came to these conclusions, but at the time the likes of Daimler didn’t want to listen. We were surprised but pleased to see they eventually came to the same conclusion.”
      
Late last year, Mercedes recalled cars fitted with R-1234yf-based cooling systems, saying the company would return to R-134a until a better substitute was found.
      
France says it will remain steadfast. The registrations of noncompliant Mercedes models “will remain forbidden in France as long as the company does not to conform to European regulations,” the environment ministry told Reuters.
      
The blocked models account for most of Daimler’s French business and 2 percent of its global sales. Daimler is contesting the ban in court, and a hearing was scheduled for Aug. 23.
The tussle might lead to a better solution for all parties, including American carmakers. Proponents of carbon dioxide, water and air-based air-conditioning systems say that Honeywell and DuPont squeezed them out of the competition before they could get a fair hearing.
      
The German automakers, at least, are ready to look again. According to Der Spiegel, the German weekly, an air-cooled air-conditioner is nearly ready for market and would already be on the road had the playing field for a replacement system been level.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

A-Gas RemTec's Refrigerant Consignment Program

Refrigerant Consignment Program:

A-Gas RemTec’s Refrigerant Consignment Program has been developed to save you time and money.  We will put refrigerants at your site and you use when needed. This eliminates the time and cost of running to the wholesale house to pick up what you need.

The product will be sent to your location at no cost to you and A-Gas RemTec will bill you for only what you have used for that month. There are no service fees or hidden charges. We supply you with what you need for when you need it.

Call today for more information about A-Gas RemTec’s Refrigerant Consignment Program!

1-888-873-6832


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

R134a Refrigerant

Do you use R-134a refrigerant?

A-Gas RemTec can provide you with R-134a in 30lb, 145lb, 1,000lb, 2,000lb, ISO Truck Tank and 30lb pallet quantities.

The R-134a meets AHRI 700-2006 Specification and we provide a certificate of analysis for every shipment.

Are any of your cylinders out of test date?

A-Gas RemTec is a certified Department of Transportation (DOT) hydrostatic testing facility.
We'll internally wash, hydrostatically test and recertify your tanks.

Other required services (based on cylinder size) and optional services are available.

Do you recover R-22?

A-Gas RemTec will pay you for it if it meets 98% purity.


We'll pay the freight both ways, if you can provide us with our minimum net weight requirement of R-22.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

German KBA Authority Offers New Report on AC Refrigerant Soap Opera

If the Daimler AG versus France air-conditioning refrigerant saga would be a book, this new information would be the chapter when the plot suddenly thickens.

As you all probably know by now, France has banned the sale of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, B-Class and the CLA on their territory over the models' use of the R134a AC coolant, which will be outlawed by the European Union from 2017 for environmental reasons.

Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recently issued a report of its findings following the subsequent testing of a number of cars that use the new R1234yf air conditioning coolant, which is set to replace the old R134a.

Their conclusion? The new refrigerant - which has been ostracized by Daimler AG following over 100 in-house test that proved it possesses an increased fire risk during certain types of head-collisions – is more hazardous than the old one, but it doesn't comprise a serious danger.

“Due to the comparisons with the previous refrigerant 134a in Stage 3, one can ascertain that the safety level of cars tends to deteriorate when 1234yf is used,” the KBA report mentioned.

Although the report is kind of in line with France's stance in the matter, looking deeper in the details given it also appears that Daimler AG is not exactly the boy who cried wolf when there wasn't any wolf in sight.

Of the four cars tested by the KBA (A Mercedes-Benz B-Class, A Hyundai i30, Subaru Impreza and an Opel Mokka) one of them burst into flames and also emitted a pretty considerable amount of the highly toxic hydrogen fluoride gas.

According to the report, quoted by Reuters, “non-negligible” amounts of the gas were detected in two of the other cars being crash tested, but the coolant itself only ignited in one test. In other words, for the time being, everyone is right about the matter. A more comprehensive final report will be released in mid-september, while the EU officials will obviously have the final word. Our say? Why don't you check out our editorial to find out a more personal opinion.