R123 carbon purge tanks

[R123]

Is there any reason you couldn't just wrap a heater around the purifier collection tank and put whatever refrigerant is in the tank right back into the chiller?

I tried that with no luck.

[klove]

Note: Trane recommends the tanks to be changed every 3 years or 4000 purge minutes from date of installation. Not changing the tanks as recommended, will result in unlawful refrigerant venting. Tanks should not be sitting around they need to be returned to Trane Parts for recycling.

How is that statement true when you can install that same purge without a tank on it and it's perfectly legal?

[R123]

Not true, The carbon tanks can be returned to any Trane Parts Store and Trane Parts will accept them.

Note: Trane recommends the tanks to be changed every 3 years or 4000 purge minutes from date of installation. Not changing the tanks as recommended, will result in unlawful refrigerant venting. Tanks should not be sitting around they need to be returned to Trane Parts for recycling.

There is no EPA requirement for the purge having the carbon tank on it. Trane put them on so they could say they are a zero emissions purge.

This is straight from the EPA website.

The Prohibition on Venting

Effective July 1, 1992, Section 608 of the Act prohibits individuals from intentionally venting ozone-depleting substances used as refrigerants (generally CFCs and HCFCs) into the atmosphere while maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of air-conditioning or refrigeration equipment (appliances). Only four types of releases are permitted under the prohibition:

"De minimis" quantities of refrigerant released in the course of making good faith attempts to recapture and recycle or safely dispose of refrigerant.

Refrigerants emitted in the course of normal operation of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment (as opposed to during the maintenance, servicing, repair, or disposal of this equipment) such as from mechanical purging and leaks. However, EPA requires the repair of leaks above a certain size in large equipment (see Refrigerant Leaks).

Releases of CFCs or HCFCs that are not used as refrigerants. For instance, mixtures of nitrogen and R-22 that are used as holding charges or as leak test gases may be released.

Small releases of refrigerant that result from purging hoses or from connecting or disconnecting hoses to charge or service appliances will not be considered violations of the prohibition on venting. However, recovery and recycling equipment manufactured after November 15, 1993, must be equipped with low-loss fittings.

[Tech Rob]

I tried that with no luck.

I have never tried putting it directly back into the chiller from the collection canister, but what I have done is migrated it from the collection canister to a recovery cylinder by putting one tank in a cold place and the other one in a hot place and connecting them with hoses. That way transferred about 25 lbs. of liquid pretty quick.

[lunchbox]

The new earthwise purges do heat up the carbon tank and put it back in the chiller. But they heat up the carbon to about 240 degrees F in order to get the refrigerant out of the carbon.

[acjourneyman]

They don't require replacement by date but by weight, when it exceeds 10# of the weight listed on the bottom of the tank then its time to replace.

[Gear-Drive Guru]

Being from down under,Trane never took back the tanks as there was nowhere, where the gas could be recovered....... Until service first released a regeneration kit where the cylinder is heated to over 60 deg c and the vapor is recovered back into a tank or a chiller. Will look into my library and see if I can find this reference, if wanted?