Is 410a here to stay?

[Spanky McCranky]

Just wondering, has anyone heard any rumors about 410a being replaced? I know Wikipedia is not reliable but I saw this quote on there today under the 410a entry:
"Update May 29, 2011 Because of the much higher operating pressures, units over 5 years old are sustaining catastrophic failures due to metal fatigue of the condenser. Service personnel injuries and property damage have resulted. Several commercial insurance companies are prohibiting the servicing of these units due to the likelihood of injury or death.

The US EPA is now allowing the production of R22 units and refrigerant to resume until a suitable substitute for R410a can be found."

Anybody know if there is any truth to this? Has any contractor had their insurance company tell them to stop servicing 410a units? Or, is this BS? Please comment if you've heard one way or the other.

[snewman24]

Just wondering, has anyone heard any rumors about 410a being replaced? I know Wikipedia is not reliable but I saw this quote on there today under the 410a entry:
"Update May 29, 2011 Because of the much higher operating pressures, units over 5 years old are sustaining catastrophic failures due to metal fatigue of the condenser. Service personnel injuries and property damage have resulted. Several commercial insurance companies are prohibiting the servicing of these units due to the likelihood of injury or death.

The US EPA is now allowing the production of R22 units and refrigerant to resume until a suitable substitute for R410a can be found."

Anybody know if there is any truth to this? Has any contractor had their insurance company tell them to stop servicing 410a units? Or, is this BS? Please comment if you've heard one way or the other.

As far as I can tell, it's all BS........the Wikipedia revision shows no credible footnote referencing, so I edited it back to the previous edition (you could do this too). We'll see if it stays that way.

[amd]

If that was true, manufacturers of 410a units would have a class action lawsuit on their hands.

[karsthuntr]

Carrier has been doing R410a for a number of years with no issues.

[SoFlaDave]

^ this, since 1996.

[Texas-Tech]

There is a new refer on the way gentleman, here is the link.

://contractingbusiness.com/refrigeration/Comstar_R441a_compressors_manufacturing_0519/

[snewman24]

There is a new refer on the way gentleman, here is the link.
://contractingbusiness.com/refrigeration/Comstar_R441a_compressors_manufacturing_0519/

It's a hydrocarbon blend for small systems.

http://contractingbusiness.com/refri...519/index.html

"While R441a is flammable, sources say the very small amount of refrigerant required in appliances or automotive cooling systems makes the risk assessment a non-factor. "

[jmac00]

The Federal laws that are procedurally banning hydroflurocarbons like HFC-134a in the United States are necessitating innovation in Air Conditioner design. The next HFC you’ll find in your Daikin air conditioning may well be R441a, an unassuming compound that is made of ethane, propane, butane an isobutene. It is touted as the first ‘zero rated’ compound: meaning that there is zero chance of it contributing to either Global Warming or Ozone depletion, two negative effects commonly attributed to Air Conditioners.
The overall carbon footprint of this refrigerant is also reduced. You’ll find up to a 48 per cent decrease in power consumption due to using R441a. One of the few drawbacks is that R441a is flammable, though in testing thus far, so little of it is required that there seems to be no danger of this being an issue. Produced in South Texas, R441a hasn’t yet been put into massive quantities: though if its promises are true, perhaps it should be!

flammable? Derp

[cuchulain]

flammable? Derp

I was reading in one of the trade mags recently and they were talking about using propane as a refrigerant. It's actually used in europe already quite regularly. The only reason it's not used here is due to the flammability concerns.

[Texas-Tech]

Once the greenies see it's 0 gwp it will be a shoe in, no matter how flammable it is. Wonder how it will react to a leak detector with a heated diode.

[RoBoTeq]

The Wiki article is BS, but R410a will not survive the wrath of the environmentalists. R410a is getting a pass at the moment because we are more concerned with just keeping comfortable during bad economic times. Once the economy is not a concern, the environment will once again become headline news and R410a is on the list of things to get rid of.

[chaard]

Ban 134a? Seriously?

[heaterman]

It's been and still is my opinion that 410a will be short lived.