It may work for the DIYers but you might never get a professional to deal with it because it's considered a contaminant in the system that was supposed to contain only pure HFC134a refrigerant: 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane, Formula: CH2FCF3
A pro will NOT let that stuff go into their AC station that probably cost more than most cars that old are worth.

from the enviro safe website
Chemical Ingredients:
72.48% Propane
26.52% Butane
1% Dipentene

 

Thanks for the info ezone. I did a little research myself, after asking the questions and, with the usual disclaimer "i am not a lawyer so I'm not responsible if you get into trouble as a result of believing me," from what I can figure out, yes enviro-safe refrigerant is an effective refrigerant; it is legal for EnviroSafe to tell you it is an effective substitute for 134a, however it is illegal to actually use it on systems that are designed to use 134a

I'm assuming that has something to do with why professionals don't use it – they don't want to get into legal trouble. DIYers won't be scrutinized by the epa as diligently.

Also, propane and butane are quite flammable. Not sure how easy it is to set them aflame should you get in a fender bender and cause the condensor to leak.. Now sure how long they will burn. Enviro safe recommends using about 1/2 I think it was, the amount of enviro-safe, as the amount of 134a that is used for the system. So in a Honda Fit that would be about 1/2 a pound. Which is about 1/2 the amount that is in a little portable bottle of propane sold for home use. But i'm imagining someone's car catching fire and a professional getting sued for the consequences, even it it wasn't actually the propane that was on fire. Even as a diyer I'd be rather leary about putting it into my AC system. I'm sticking with 134a.Something about the Enviro-safe company is making me feel uneasy.

 

ezone writes "There are different sniffers (leak detectors) for each of various types of gases.
Unless someone thought they could do better (non-standard refrigerants and blends), or unless an old R12 system has been converted to R134a, automotive refrigerants will be R12 (pre 1996), R134a (~1994-current) or R1234yf (~2014-current)....and Benz may be using CO2 now as well......... and each requires a dedicated sniffer (I think someone markets a dual purpose sniffer, but I don't know anything about the quality of it)
You can find sniffers for other purposes too, like stationary refrigeration (R22, R410a, etc) and combustible gases."

My sniffer does its "speedy-beep" thing for both R12 and R134a. It is a tif 5500. It also detects sodium hypochlorite bleach. If I recall correctly it detects other hydrocarbons such as gasoline and mineral spirits. I didn't buy it. I found it lying on the side of the road about 35 years ago – at a time when it was rather expensive and cheaper China-made alternatives were not yet available in the US.– so I felt myself rather fortunate to have acquired it without having to pay for it.

 

EnviroSafe and others like it (Duracool, HC12, etc) are NOT illegal as an R-134 replacement. They are illegal as an R-12 replacement in the US ONLY in highway vehicles. It is very commonly used on farm and other off road vehicles here. I buy it at a local farm store. . The real question is why bother putting it in a R-134a system other than it is more efficient and runs cooler?. I have never installed it in R-134 vehicles but I have installed it in many, many older R-12 vehicles. Especially motor homes. There is a legal way to do this.

 

Hmm. Interesting info. Why bother putting it in a 134a system other than the fact that it is more efficient and runs cooler? No other reason than that. That's the reason I would bother. My A-C never blows as cold as I would like.

 

l have had acceptable A/C with R-134 on 4 Fits (2009 - 2017) considering that there is only a 1.5 liter engine available to drive the AC. I did have to adjust the charge level down a little on the 2009 to get better cooling. I suggest that you find someone with a set of gauges and a thermometer and adjust the charge level slightly. You are going to have to do the same thing if you go to one of the frosty cool / duracool substitutes.

 

Well, I had the refrigerant removed and then I put in 15 ounces (I have a scale).. I checked pressures with my manifold gauge set and a thermometer. It would have been nice to have a chart or charts showing hi and low pressure and temp at the vent, at 1500 engine rpm, after the AC has been on for 10 minutes – verses temp and humidity at the blower intake (with car doors open and recirculate on, this is about the same temp as the ambient temp). Instead of getting a chart, I saw someone on a youtube video using such charts – for a 2015 Fit, the same year as mine – and I did a screen shot.of his charts. I'll try and find a link. The charts weren't videographed perfectly parallel with his camera lens so accuracy would have been affected. Anyway putting in a weighed mount of refrigerant is the preferred method and that is what I did.. With the ambient temp at 90° F and humidity at 65%, with the AC running for 10 minutes and the engine at 1500 rpm, I measured the lo pressure to be at about 40 psi and the high pressure to be at about 230 psi. Also, I got the car so that with the ambient temp at 92° and 65% relative humidity – the vent temp varied between 39° and 44° F.. Stayed that way with the engine at high rpm and also with the engine at idle. Before I replaced the refrigerant the vent temp would be between 39 and 44 with the rpm over 1500, but it would go up when the engine was at idle – to about between 43 and 51. So I think I improved things a bit. Probably evacuating was not necessary because as far as I know the system has never been opened but, unfortunately I have nowhere to work where I have electricity available to run my vacuum pump.

I'm still not happy with how cool the car gets and how long it takes to get there. I did see about 75° temp in shady spots inside the cabin, after the a-c was running for about 12 minutes. That was on a mostly sunny day, not a cloudless day. When I pressed the AC button to shut off the compressor the cabin got up to about 80° F within about 2 minutes. Very poor thermal insulation; lots of radiant heating through the windows.

 

Why in the world would anyone (pro or DIY'er) want to put "Enviro-Safe" flammable refrigerant into a system designed for R134a when you can buy R134a all day long across the nation at Walmart for under five bucks a can and most cars use less than two cans? Beats me. Maybe those folks like taking chances...?

 

Reason for using Enviro-Safe replacement for 134a instead of 134a is that supposedly it will enable to ac system to cool the passenger cabin quicker, and get it to a lower temperature. As far as the price goes, I think costs just a little bit more than 134a, for a 12 ounce can, but you use much less, you use just a little bit more than half as much.