Little know (or hidden) facts about r410-a, the environmentalist freon

The freon that we are all being forced to use as they deny us r22, is a disaster. My 1 1/2 ton central system holds 13 lbs of this freon. It was low by only 1/2 a lb. It's cooling capacity was off 80%. It's electrical consumption was still 100% if not higher than when it is fully charged. But to have the 5% reduction in coolant result and so much energy waste and non-cooling is a flaw and should be a crime -- nobody's talking about it. The hvac tech also could not find a leak after using a sniffer tool. He says there are characteristics about this 410 freon that will cause this degradation over time without any leaks at all. It was last checked by his firm 2 years ago. He is now saying the industry is pushing for 'freon checkups' every six months with r410-a. What the hell are we are heading for ???

http://techtips.remichel.com/ShowServiceTip.asp?ServiceItemID=85 Sounds pretty gloomy for our future ... Should R-410A Systems Be �Topped Off� Upon Discovery of a Leak? We need to understand that R-410A is a binary near azeotropic mixture and has potential for fractionation. Research has determined that fractionation will only occur at points in the refrigeration system where the mixture is in partially saturated state. The polyolester lubricant (POE) for used with R-410A is extremely hydroscopic, much more so than mineral oil, or alkylbenzene. Knowing the above, service practices would lead one to simply �pump down� a system, or recover the refrigerant for recharge, where a leak is determined not to be in a part of the system that fractionation would occur. This due to the assumption that the remaining mixture has suffered minimal, to no fractionation. However, it has been my experience that the location of a leak lures even an experienced serviceman into assuming that they have found the problem. Service personnel proceed to determine whether the location is in an area that fractionation would occur, and if not, proceed to �pump down�, or recover for reuse, leak repair, evacuate, and recharge. If this is the only leak, the problem may be solved. But, was the leak in an area that is not subject to fractionation during operation, and is subject for a time during shut down? Was the discovered leak the only leak? Systems extremely low on charge will cause non-condensables to be drawn into the system with catastrophic failure consequences. Even opening the system to repair a leak allows moisture to enter the system and be absorbed by the POE lubricant. This moisture cannot be removed during normal evacuation, even at 500 micron levels. The proper method for moisture removal is thru the use of driers. Normal service practice on any system, not excluding R-410A, is to replace the drier any time a system is opened. Since the OEM drier is normally in the outdoor section, it cannot be replaced unless the outdoor section is opened. Unless service personnel can determine a leak has not caused fractionation to a point that it will affect system operation, I would always recommend system refrigerant recovery, OEM drier replacement, evacuation and recharge with virgin refrigerant.

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