Retrofitting Agricultural Air-Conditioning Systems From CFC 12 to HFC 134a

This paper details a cost effective method of retrofitting agricultural and other off-highway vehicle air-conditioning systems currently operating on CFC 12. The process described has been evolved over the past four years, based on experience gained in all sectors of the refrigeration market. Over two years of operation, retrofitted systems have proved to be as reliable as their CFC 12 counterparts. ACRE currently have over one hundred vehicles, ranging from pedestrian precinct sweepers to combine harvesters, from a variety of manufacturers, mid way through the process of retrofitting. The procedure outlined has a number of benefits when instigated as part of a planned maintenance system. It allows the service company the chance to build up stocks of reclaimed CFC 12 from systems they have already retrofitted whilst spreading the workload and cost to the operator, over a period of time. Adopting this process requires no additional equipment other than that currently required to service existing CFC 12 and HFC 134a systems.