The most important part of an HVAC company is their HVAC service contract. It is an essential document required by EPA law, and the HVAC service company must keep records for at least three years in order to issue a valid invoice. When it comes to refrigerant-containing appliances, the EPA has set certain regulations that must be followed. For appliances with a charge of between 5 and 50 pounds, records must be kept for a minimum period of 3 years.
Technician certification organizations must also keep records of individuals who have passed the technician certification exam, their qualifications and dates, as well as the place where the tests were performed. These records must be kept indefinitely, unless they are transferred to another certification program or to the EPA. Organizations must also post online the names of test takers, the types of certification they received, and the date they received it. When it comes to repairing a comfortable refrigeration appliance containing 50 pounds or more of R-22 that has been found to have leaks that exceed the applicable leak limit, technicians have a maximum of 10 days to repair the leak and perform the initial leak verification test.
The engine depends on the flow of refrigerant through the compressor to cool down, and it has a higher compression ratio limit than other equipment due to its oil-free compressors. The oils used in hermetic compressors have a lower viscosity than the oils used in other equipment. Before using a recovery unit to remove a load, technicians should test the refrigerant for acid, purge the recovery unit with nitrogen, change the oil in the recovery unit and evacuate the recovery cylinder. The positions of the service valves and the recovery oil level should also be checked where appropriate.
Refrigerant should be removed from the condenser outlet when the capacitor is below the receiver, when the condenser is on the roof or when there is a small leak in the evaporator. It is important to note that purchasing recycling or recovery machines that use hermetic compressors must be reported to EPA and must be equipped with low-loss accessories. Equipment designed to recover flammable refrigerants must meet a specific UL safety standard. Before performing a major repair such as replacing the compressor, condenser or evaporator, technicians must evacuate an appliance or component containing more than 200 pounds of R-41OA to a minimum pressure of 10 psig.
Using system-dependent recovery equipment is against EPA rules when the compressor of an appliance is running, when ambient temperature is higher than 105°F, when it contains more than 15 pounds of refrigerant or when it has a leak. Refrigeration and air conditioning compressor heaters are used to reduce the amount of coolant in oil and water retained in receivers. It is recommended to use dry nitrogen to break vacuum when dehydrating using triple evacuation method. HVAC technicians and service companies must also keep track of appliances that have a refrigerant quantity of between 5 and 50 pounds when discarded.
This ensures that all necessary information is available for future reference.
