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Custom AC lines

Skylarking

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There seems to be a bent on preventing anyone from doing anything themselves in this country.

The bend is in part due to ideology, industry protectionism and the e pect ation that everyone should pay GST for services.

So if you do work yourself, the government doesn’t get a 10% cut of your blood sweat and tears. When this is mixed with the protectionism ideology, it’s a forgone conclusion you are too stupid to do things yourself so you must be made to pay someone else who is licences :mad:

(such ideology brought to you from politicians who couldn’t organise a head job in a brothel :eek:)
 

lmoengnr

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You’ve got to question the reason why it’s illegal though. Is it purely to protect an industry? I think so when the excuse for it being illegal is that its bad for the environment to release the gas but you can buy freeze spray made of R134a that’s specifically for releasing into the environment!


https://www.aimsindustrial.com.au/assets/sds/A0115651.pdf
Check with the EPA, they're the draconian regulator of all the 'greenhouse gases'.
I was involved in an incident where a 737 fire bottle was accidently discharged during a maintenance check.
2 avionics engineers were stood down, 2 others received 'letters on their file'.
The company required special authority for every fire bottle in the fleet, including spares, and ended up with a $50,000 fine.
I was working under the engine cowls when it went off, and some poo came out.
In my eagerness to exit the area, I gashed my head open on the thrust reverser, and scored a free ambulance trip to the hospital for the rest of the night...
 

Skylarking

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Check with the EPA, they're the draconian regulator of all the 'greenhouse gases'.

R134a isn’t ozone depleting but it’s a greenhouse gas with a warming number of 1410 (that’s a warming effect 1410 times that of CO2). In comparison, R12 has a warming number of 8500.

But EPA weren’t interested in shoddy OEM headlock fitting failures that occur all too often in our commodores. Neither were ArcTick. Both the regulator and the licensing body just didn’t seem to care and could comprehend that such industry wide headlock failures needed addressing. Couldn’t be faffed in expressing a view on how long headlock fitting should last. Slack shits unless their was something in it for them was my take… and there wasn’t...

And there is no wonder you can freely buy R134a in a can, designed to be expelled into the environment, called freeze spray :rolleyes:

Yes, they are draconian in their rules but also very hypocritical in their defence of the environment if how they apply those rules is any guide... Accidental release = $50,000 fine yet intended release (of freeze spray) is kosher.

One can only be left with thoughts that EPA is jobs for the boys and suffers from a level of institutional incompetence that is astounding if the recent EPA failures of enforcement in Melbourne are anything to go by :mad:

Regulatory capture and institutional incompetence are bedfellows, but still, none of that helps us do our own ac work :rolleyes::mad:
 

J_D 2.0

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R134a isn’t ozone depleting but it’s a greenhouse gas with a warming number of 1410 (that’s a warming effect 1410 times that of CO2). In comparison, R12 has a warming number of 8500.

But EPA weren’t interested in shoddy OEM headlock fitting failures that occur all too often in our commodores. Neither were ArcTick. Both the regulator and the licensing body just didn’t seem to care and could comprehend that such industry wide headlock failures needed addressing. Couldn’t be faffed in expressing a view on how long headlock fitting should last. Slack shits unless their was something in it for them was my take… and there wasn’t...

And there is no wonder you can freely buy R134a in a can, designed to be expelled into the environment, called freeze spray :rolleyes:

Yes, they are draconian in their rules but also very hypocritical in their defence of the environment if how they apply those rules is any guide... Accidental release = $50,000 fine yet intended release (of freeze spray) is kosher.

One can only be left with thoughts that EPA is jobs for the boys and suffers from a level of institutional incompetence that is astounding if the recent EPA failures of enforcement in Melbourne are anything to go by :mad:

Regulatory capture and institutional incompetence are bedfellows, but still, none of that helps us do our own ac work :rolleyes::mad:
Seems to be a fair bit of shitfuckery going on with the R134a replacement as well. R1234YF has a lot lower GW potential (lower than carbon dioxide) but it breaks down into PFCAs that are harmful to human health (would you expect anything less from DuPont) and has a not negligible risk of catching fire in a car crash (according to Mercedes Benz) and it gets converted into highly toxic and corrosive gases when ignited!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,3,3-Tetrafluoropropene
 

myksomerville

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TLDR: go talk to an ac expert before you start thinking shiny shiny is the best…

Modern refrigerants are small sneaky little molecules which like to leak out of ac systems.. To combat this, modern refrigerant systems use hard lines and special hoses (as short as possible) that are crimped to the hard lines. Crimping is used as it’s supposedly the better way of sealing the system (but tell that to the many Holden owners who suffer leaks at hose crimp joint)...

Such methods are used to ensure best performance with the lowest leak rate (again tell that to the many owners who have leaky hose crimp junctions)…

So if you want braided hoses everywhere, you need to find stainless hard lines and hoses that are certified for modern AC gas use, else the problem becomes one of legalities and ac shops might balk at refilling your new shiny system.

Also, do note that if you reroute hoses and end up with longer pipework, this changes the amount of gas that that your modded system must be charged with (longer lines = more gas needed, but how much more ?)…

Lastly, just keep in mind that stainless and aluminium aint great bedfellows as you can get galvanic corrosion issues… So that’s something to consider as well…

Best, safest, easiest approach is to use aluminium ac line and polish them to perfection, then clear coat those lines before installation. Stick with black AC rubber/nylon hoses where required. It will still look nice and shiny, still look tidier and custom and gets away from the other problem issues..

PS: another perspective is shown in the video below, but what’s allowed in the USA may not be acceptable here so again, talk to your ac guy. But he also makes a point of only using ac hose…

That is good info. I was going to talk to my AC guy of course, just wanted to be aware of the kinds of things you mentioned. Cheers
 

afstruct

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There seems to be a bent on preventing anyone from doing anything themselves in this country. In a lot of places around the world your allowed to change your own power points and light switches but of course that’s illegal here because you might mix up three wires that are marked and colour coded so you literally can’t fuk them up!


I'm not really saying this !!!! ,but have done power points .
My last house I thought I'd do the right thing ,( rang /organized an electrician= ( so I thought ) to simply connect a new free standing oven/cooktop ) .
A couple of hours after he should have turned up = I rang =he goes I'm too busy== I knew he wasn't going to = so I did = house is still standing .
I did previously get electrician to do quite a bit of work and he told me of one place he went to where the owner had wired **** up with speaker = lite gauge = so no where near ever in this world appropriate wiring
= And these are the brain dead/tight arse dumb fxxks = why it's soo strict here.
 

J_D 2.0

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I did previously get electrician to do quite a bit of work and he told me of one place he went to where the owner had wired **** up with speaker = lite gauge = so no where near ever in this world appropriate wiring
= And these are the brain dead/tight arse dumb fxxks = why it's soo strict here.
Thing is those dickheads are still going to ******** despite the laws, so all it does is stop good people who know their **** from doing their own work!
 

Ginger Beer

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My car is currently getting some new aircon lines made up in order to tidy up the interchiller install

You want hard lines, with as little flexible lines as possible

The flexible lines need to be made from some spec stuff
 

J_D 2.0

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Thing is those dickheads are still going to ******** despite the laws, so all it does is stop good people who know their **** from doing their own work!
Meanwhile conveniently “there’s a shortage of tradespeople in Australia”. Maybe if we were allowed to breathe without one there wouldn’t be a shortage! But of course that’s not the point is it!
 

Skylarking

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I did previously get electrician to do quite a bit of work and he told me of one place he went to where the owner had wired **** up with speaker = lite gauge = so no where near ever in this world appropriate wiring
= And these are the brain dead/tight arse dumb fxxks = why it's soo strict here.
If regulators wanted to ensure quality workmanship, they can choose the industry protection method where only electricians can touch anything or they can choose an inspection routine where all work regardless of who does it is inspected for a fee and signed off by the regulator (if it’s compliant).

Down under we have taken the industry protectionist method which had nothing to do with protecting dumb brain dead tight arse people and won’t ever protect dumb brain dead right arse people… and tbis protectionist mindset has only gotten worse since privatisation… Seems our regulators simply don’t want to inspect stuff, don’t want to provide any services and choose to hide standards behind paywalls… Typical regulatory capture…

Me, I’d open things up, make info freely available and have yearly Darwin awards for the dumb fcuk s that remove themselves from the human gene pool... Those who can’t be bothered or can’t understand the standards can pay to have work done by a professional while others who are capable of doing it themselves can have the work legally inspected and signed off…
 
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