automotive air conditioning safety
When dealing with automotive air conditioning safety is critical. This is one of the most dangerous systems on the automobile. I have seen many of my coworkers and friends injured while working on AC systems. It is my goal to help you prevent your own personal injury when diagnosing and repairing this system. When in doubt let a professional auto repair mechanic perform the repairs! Automotive refrigerant or Freon known as R12 and R134A are both colorless and invisible when they are in the vapor form. Do not breath the refrigerant vapors! Exposing yourself to the Freon gas may irritate your eyes, nose and throat. Never rub your eyes or skin, if you have been in contact with Freon.
Automobile air conditioning danger
One of the scariest injuries I have seen is when a car mechanic will get liquid Freon in their eyes. The liquid refrigerant will actually freeze the eyeball and cause frostbite damage to the eye surface. For god sakes wear safety glasses when working around refrigerant. The damage to your eyes in most cases would be permanent and could leave you blind. Liquid refrigerator can also cause frostbite damage to the skin surface. It is recommended that you wear long-sleeved shirts and pants, and also protective gloves. If you should come in contact with liquid Freon, The best advice is to run the affected area under cool water for 15 minutes and then seek immediate medical attention. The automobile AC systems, high pressure can cause severe injury to your eyes and/or skin if a hose or line were to burst. Always wear your safety gear when working around the AC system, its components and its refrigerant. It is also advisable to wear gloves when connecting gauges or installing Refrigerant in car AC systems.
Automotive AC safety
Back in the old days when I started working on cars they would use a propane torch to identify leaks in the air-conditioning system instead of a freon leak detector. Never use the torch method for any reason. Back then no one cared about automotive air conditioning safety. Exposing refrigerant to an open flame turns it into a poisonous gas known as phosgene gas. If this is inhaled, it can cause severe respiratory damage that is not reversible. I have also seen some mechanics, heat the refrigerant container with open flames, this is also not the way to do it. If you need to heat your refrigerant container to raise its inside pressure the container should be placed in warm water. Always be careful when handling refrigerant containers. This applies to the convenient one-pound sized cans or the 30-pound refrigerant containers that are found in many automotive shops.
Most manufacturers identify the type of refrigerant used by labeling the compressor as well. Also look for a label with the words caution, system to be serviced by qualified personnel. This label or plate can be found under the hood near a component of the system and will tell you what kind of refrigerant is used, as well as the type of refrigerant oil and the amount the system holds. You should always identify what type of Freon the system use before beginning any diagnosis and repair of that system.
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