Vintage Air System not too cool????!!!!

Refrigerant blends like R-414b (Hotshot) perform well, but create a whole list of problems you may not want to deal with.

His system was sized and designed for R-134a I strongly recommend continuing to use R-134a

R-414B Performs well. While i haven't used used it. I have successfully used 409A and 409b retrofitting industrial chillers. The 409 refrigerants are a blend of R-22/124/142b. R-414b is a blend of R-22/600a/124/142b.

Here are some of the issues:

Charging can be a little more time consuming to get it right.

All of the blended refrigerants have different boiling points. Liquid charge only. If you have small leak you can not partially recharge the system. The balance between the refrigerants will be off. Same goes if you end up slightly over charged. Reclaim the system and start over with virgin refrigerant.

Where can you legally have it reclaimed? You can't knowingly mix refrigerants when reclaiming. The guy at the the corner garage is not going to have a reclaim unit and tank dedicated to 414b. If you don't tell him, he will unknowingly mess up a bunch of his customers cars that come after you. I saw this happen in Florida in the 90"s when unscrupulous guys were playing around with propane, in r-12 systems (I **** you not)


O-ring comparability. Are the compressor and system O-rings compatible??? with 414. You can't tell by looking. I would do some careful checking with the vendors that supplied the manufacturer of the system. You still may end up rebuilding the compressor and replace the system o-rings to be sure.

With all of the charging and compatibility issues, whenever we get involved with retrofits we clean and rebuild as much of the system as possible with compatible o-rings etc. Triple evacuate with nitrogen and a two stage vacuum pump. Vacuum test for several hours with a micron gauge. If you have ever used one you will realize how completely inaccurate and useless the gauges on your compound manifold are for measuring vacuum. Then perform a long nitrogen pressure test, 24 hours if possible, before you evacuate and charge.

I was never a fan of 134 at the beginning, but things have evolved in the last 20years. If you have a system designed for it, staying with it is the way to go.