SAE J3291 covers hoses and coupled hose assemblies intended for containing and circulating lubricant, liquid, and gaseous refrigerant in automotive air-conditioning systems. This recommended practice will be used to establish requirements for the validation of hoses, hose assemblies, or nonmetallic line assemblies with any new refrigerant or refrigerant blend being considered for use in automotive air-conditioning systems.
The new refrigerants and blends covered by this document do not include current refrigerants R134a, R1234yf, and R152a. This document does not cover previously used refrigerant R12 nor refrigerants used in transcritical systems, such as R744.
It is the system manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure that adequate compatibility testing is completed with new refrigerants, blends, and lubricant combinations together with intended hose materials. The recommended tests include, but are not limited to, volume swell, delamination, and rapid decompression. These tests are not included in the scope of this recommended practice.
Data gathered while testing to this recommended practice shall be acceptable as applied to the final standard when released, providing that no substantive changes to the test methods or acceptance criteria have been made in the final standard.
Details for certification per SAE J2911 will be included in a future revision.