Mikee, if you could purchase the small cans of R12, the odds are your local auto chain still couldn't sell them to you because they only deal in mass market, and R12 can only be sold to certified persons these days. It just wouldn't pay for the shops to carry it.
You make a good point about "replacement" gasses, few people other than the ones who make and market various blends consider them to be effective or "proper" at all. If and when the root cause of the problem is fixed, the
price of one gas charge usually isn't a breaker on any
repair. The price of having the job done repeatedly requiring multiple charges is usually the deal breaker for the more expensive gasses like R12.
And since techs are required to keep a complete set of separate equipment for each gas type (at least in the US) including gauges, recovery
tanks, etc., folks may just not be aware that it rapidly becomes uneconomical for a shop to bother supporting every gas that ever has been used, as the equipment sits unused.
Economics and mass
marketing...who says logic or good science have any role in policy and regulation?<G>
Richard-
"
Interpreting the law...would you allow an unlicensed boater to... even though the EPA regulations specific prohibit unlicensed persons from working on a refrigeration system? "
How do you draw any conclusion about my interpretation? The laws are fairly straightforward, although you keep mis-stating parts of what they say. Mis-stating as in simple and direct contradiction or omission, there's no interpretation involved.
The folks who tested me and certified me taught me verbatim what I've said. If you don't like me being candid about loopholes and legality, that still doesn't change the truth of the matter.
When the law prohibits an unlicensed person from working on a system, that doesn't need any "interpretation". That's why I got licensed, so I could work on my own equipment legally and properly.
When you talk about using knowledge to help people, my knowledge of existing systems is far less than yours, so I can share far less, and I make no bones about that.
"It would be more helpful if you could use your knowledge to help fellow boaters re-commission their inoperative refrigeration units while conforming to the law. "
Conforming to the law? Should we reply "on point" or to the wider issues involved with
repairs? When someone asks you about a
repair, should you always preface your remarks with the fact that a proper repair may require a substantial investment in equipment (vaccum
pump, guage set, leak test kits,
multiple gas charges), making it economically unfeasible for Joe Boater to try their own
repairs, regardless of the law?
Morality is all well and good but it changes from time to time (ask Rosa Parks if she
should have sat in the back of the bus) if someone is intending to fix their own
gear, you can make a far more effective case for "it will be cheaper to hire someone" than for "that's illegal". The problem being that many of us have spent good
money time and again on hiring some clod with all the right licenses, who winds up releasing a lot of gasses multiple times without fixing the problem.
A new sealed AC/refrig system sold on the mass market typically functions for 10-20 years without any problems, yet a repair is often only warranteed for 30-90 days and often fails inside of a year or a couple of years. Certainly part of that is just the aging and failing of older systems, but part of that also reflects on the quality of the repairmen in general. As long as that continues, folks will want to do their own repairs. Answering their questions honestly, to the best of ability, and not passing on FUD about regulations, isn't all that bad.
Protect our earth? That's an admirable goal. Drink warm
beer and learn to like it, stop using refrigeration except for vital
medical supples, and we can argue that you've taken the first step toward real protection. Morality and protection really should be split off into a separate thread, don't you think?
Can the EPA answer his question?
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