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INTRODUCTION
1.0 General Service and Safety Precautions
WARNING
Never service, repair, or troubleshoot this system unless you are a professional air conditioning/refrigeration service
person. Improper servicing can lead to serious injury or death from fire, electric shock, or explosion.
Refrigeration and air conditioning devices are extremely complicated by nature. Servicing, repairing, and
Trouble-shooting these products should be done only by those with the necessary knowledge, training, and
equipment.
1.1 Refrigerants and Other Chemicals
Contact with refrigerant, mixtures of refrigerant and oil, or other chemicals can cause a variety of injuries including
burns and frostbite. For example, if refrigerant contacts skin or eyes it can cause severe frostbite. Also, in the event
of a compressor motor failure, some refrigerant and oil mixtures can be acidic and cause chemical burns.
To avoid injury, wear appropriate protective eye wear, gloves, and clothing when servicing an air conditioning or
refrigeration system. Refer to your refrigerant supplier for more information.
If refrigerant or mixtures of refrigerant and oil come in contact with skin or eyes, flush the exposed area with
water and get medical attention immediately.
1.2 System Flushing, Purging, and Pressure Testing for Leaks
Failure to properly flush, purge, or pressure test a system for leaks can result in serious injury or death from
explosion, fire or contact with acid-saturated refrigerant or oil mists.
Webasto recommends that the system be serviced using a flush and purge station such as a Robinair®
unit or similar equipment designed for R134a refrigerant systems.
Follow these precautions when flushing/purging a system or pressure testing a system for leaks:
• Use flushing products according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
• To purge a system, use only dry nitrogen.
• When pressure testing for leaks, use only regulated dry nitrogen or dry nitrogen plus trace amounts of the
serial label refrigerant, in this case, R134a.
• When purging or pressure testing any refrigeration or air conditioning system for leaks, never use air,
oxygen or acetylene. Oxygen can explode on contact with oil.
• Acetylene can decompose and explode when exposed to pressures greater than approximately 15 PSIG.
• Combining an oxidizing gas, such as oxygen or air, with an HCFC or HFC refrigerant under pressure can
result in a fire or explosion.
• Use a pressure regulating valve and pressure gauges.
Commercial cylinders of nitrogen contain pressures in excess of 2000 PSIG at 70°F. At pressures much lower than
2000 PSIG, compressors can explode and cause serious injury or death. To avoid over pressurizing the system,
always use a pressure regulating valve on the nitrogen cylinder discharge. The pressure regulator must be able to
reduce the pressure down to 1 or 2 PSIG and maintain this pressure. The regulating valve must be equipped with
two pressure gauges:
• one gauge to measure cylinder pressure, and
• one gauge to measure discharge or down-stream pressure.
In addition to a pressure regulating valve and gauges, always
install a pressure relief valve. This can also be a frangible disc
type pressure relief device. This device should have a
discharge port of at least 1/2” MPT size. The valve or
frangible disc device must be set to release at 175 PSIG.
• Do not pressurize the system beyond 150 PSIG field
leak test pressure. When field testing a system for
leaks, 150 PSIG is adequate test pressure.
• Disconnect nitrogen cylinder and evacuate the system
before connecting the refrigerant container. Disconnect
the nitrogen cylinder and release the pressure in the
system before connecting a refrigerant container to the
system. The higher-pressure gas in the system can
explode the refrigerant container.